Marie Wilson (American actress)

Marie Wilson
200px Wilson Gag Publicity Photo.
Born	Katherine Elisabeth White (1916-08-19)August 19, 1916 Anaheim, California, U.S.
Died	Hollywood, California, U.S.
Cause of death	cancer
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1934–1972
Spouse(s)	Robert Fallon (1951-1972) (her death) Allan Nixon (1942-1950) (divorced) Nick Grinde (? - ?) (divorced)

Katherine Elisabeth White (August 19, 1916 – November 23, 1972), better known by her stage name, Marie Wilson, was an American radio, film, and television actress. She may be best remembered as the title character in My Friend Irma.

Career

Wilson in 1954

Born in Anaheim, California, Wilson began her career in New York City as a dancer on the Broadway stage. She gained national prominence with My Friend Irma on radio, film and later, television. The show made her a star but typecast her almost interminably as the quintessential dumb blonde, which she played in numerous comedies and in Ken Murray's famous Hollywood "Blackouts". During World War II, she was a volunteer performer at the Hollywood Canteen. She was also a popular wartime pin-up.

Wilson's performance in Satan Met a Lady, the second film adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's detective novel The Maltese Falcon, is a virtual template for Marilyn Monroe's later onscreen persona.

Wilson appeared in more than 40 films and was a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show on four occasions. She was a television performer during the 1960s, working until her untimely death.

Wilson's talents have been recognized with three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: for radio at 6301 Hollywood Boulevard, for television at 6765 Hollywood Boulevard and for movies at 6601 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

Wilson married four times: Nick Grinde (early 1930s), LA golf pro Bob Stevens (1938–39), Allan Nixon (1942–50) and Robert Fallon (1951–72).

She died of cancer in 1972 at age 56 and was interred in the Columbarium of Remembrance at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills.

Filmography

Features:

• Down to Their Last Yacht (1934)
• Babes in Toyland (1934)
• Ladies Crave Excitement (1935)
• The Girl Friend (1935)
• Stars Over Broadway (1935)
• Miss Pacific Fleet (1935)
• Broadway Hostess (1935)
• Colleen (1936)
• The Big Noise (1936)
• Satan Met a Lady (1936)
• China Clipper (1936)
• King of Hockey (1936)
• Melody for Two (1937)
• Public Wedding (1937)
• Over the Goal (1937)
• The Great Garrick (1937)
• The Invisible Menace (1938)
• Fools for Scandal (1938)
• Boy Meets Girl (1938)
• Broadway Musketeers (1938)
• Sweepstakes Winner (1939)
• Waterfront (1939)
• Should Husbands Work? (1939)
• The Cowboy Quarterback (1939)
• Virginia (1941)
• Rookies on Parade (1941)
• Flying Blind (1941)
• Harvard, Here I Come! (1941)
• Broadway (1942)
• She's in the Army (1942)
• You Can't Ration Love (1944)
• Shine On Harvest Moon (1944)
• Music for Millions (1944)
• Young Widow (1946)
• No Leave, No Love (1946)
• The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947)
• The Fabulous Joe (1947)
• Linda Be Good (1947)
• My Friend Irma (1949)
• My Friend Irma Goes West (1950)
• Never Wave at a WAC (1952)
• A Girl in Every Port (1952)
• Marry Me Again (1953)
• The Story of Mankind (1957)
• Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962)

Short subjects:

• My Gal Sally (1935)
• Swingtime in the Movies (1938)
• For Auld Lang Syne #3 (1938)
• Vitaphone Pictorial Revue No. 12 (1938)
• Screen Snapshots: The Great Showman (1950)
• Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Stars on Parade (1954)

Television credits

• My Friend Irma (1952–54)
• Ernestine (1962) (unsold pilot)
• Where's Huddles? (1970) (voice) (canceled after ten episodes)

Further reading

• Tranberg, Charles. Not So Dumb: The Life and Career of Marie Wilson. Albany: BearManor Media, 2007. ISBN 1-59393-049-6

External links

• Marie Wilson at the Internet Movie Database
• Marie Wilson at Find a Grave
• Photographs and literature
• "Everybody’s Friend: Remembering Stan Lee and Dan DeCarlo’s 'My Friend Irma,'" Hogan's Alley #16, 2009