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Mary Murphy Profile
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| (Mary Louise Murphy) |
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| 26 January 31 | is born in Washington, D.C. She has two older sisters and a brother. |
| is raised in Cleveland, Ohio |
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| 41 | when her father dies, she and her mother settle in Los Angeles |
| c. 42 | her family moves to Long Beach, California, when she is 11 years old |
| ? | on her days off from her job as a package wrapper at Saks, she takes diction lessons at Paramount |
| April 50 | stops for a cup of coffee at the Milton F. Kreis drugstore and luncheonette in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, where she is spotted by Milton Lewis, head of the talent department at Paramount |
| 51 | is in the background in When Worlds Collide |
| is crowned "Miss Haystack" |
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| April 51 | is the new romance of movie tycoon Adolph Zukor |
| May 51 | is named fashion queen of California cotton during National Cotton week |
| 52 | is crowned "Miss Industrial Safety" |
| June 52 | is seen at Ciro’s with G. David Schine |
| October 52 | is seen at the Mocambo and at the Encore Room with Nicky Hilton. There are rumors that things are getting serious between her and Nicky, but he denies any wedding plans. |
| December 52 | actor Richard Shannon, who used to date her, is now dating TV actress Mary Sinclair |
| 53 | is crowned "Miss Eight Ball" |
| Tom Morton, a dancer friend of hers, lands her a role in Main Street to Broadway, made in cooperation with the Council of the Living Theater. While filming Main Street to Broadway, she meets sound man John Kean, who will later become her boyfriend. |
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| Otto Preminger wants her to replace pregnant Barbara Bel Geddes in his Broadway hit The Moon is Blue, but premature publicity kills that plan |
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| March 53 | will star with Marlon Brando in the upcoming Cyclist’s Raid |
| April 53 | dates Marlon Brando |
| 8 October 53 | she and Bing Crosby are a dinner duo at La Rue |
| December 53 | her escort at the Luau is Nicky Hilton |
| is the quiet romance of Bing Crosby |
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| 54 | meets her co-star, Dale Robertson, on a plane bound for Mexico City, where they are to film Sitting Bull |
| learns more about Robertson during the nine weeks it takes to film the picture |
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| ? | John Brahm, her director on The Mad Magician, gives her a bad time on the set |
| ? | doesn't get along with director Stuart Heisler while filming Beachhead. He wants to mold her into a model of his wife. Co-star Frank Lovejoy and his wife become very good friends of hers afterwards. |
| February 54 | dates Nicky Hilton again |
| there are rumors Bing Crosby is dating her and actress Mona Freeman simultaneously |
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| July 54 | is the big romance in Dale Robertson's life now, not Moulin Rouge chorus girl Cherie de Castro. Robertson gets into a saloon brawl over Mary while on location in Mexico City for Sitting Bull. |
| on her first day of Love is a Weapon, co-star Dale Robertson escorts her to her new portable dressing room. Inside is a huge bouquet of flowers. She promptly kisses Robertson, then she discovers the flowers are from director Phil Karlson. |
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| 14 July 54 | tosses a birthday party for Dale Robertson; the festivities include horseback riding, a barbecue, and a swim rodeo |
| ? | for approximately six weeks she is in Mexico City, where she stays at the Reforma Hotel. Eventually she becomes so ill that she has to be fed intravenously. |
| October 54 | her escorts include Bing Crosby and Dale Robertson |
| February 55 | is crowned "Tomato Glamour Queen" at the Desert Inn, Las Vegas |
| May 55 | seems to keep the inside track with Dale Robertson |
| July 55 | she and Robertson plan to marry, but there are legal snarls with Dale's ex-wife to be untangled |
| August 55 | her romance with Robertson seems to have cooled. Both are dating others. |
| resumes dating Robertson |
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| November 55 | is signed to a long-term contract by Republic Pictures |
| December 55 | resumes her romance with Robertson |
| 56 | after six years with Paramount, she is off to England for three movies |
| dates Dale Robertson for many months. They plan to marry in the future. |
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| January 56 | does a publicity layout with co-star Dewey Martin for their upcoming The Desperate Hours |
| while filming With All My Heart in Great Britain, she hops to Paris to buy pretties for Robertson. She will become his wife the day after his divorce in May. |
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| April 56 | expects to marry Robertson on June 8 in Oklahoma City |
| 4 June 56 | she and Robertson drive alone to Yuma, Arizona, where they marry. The ceremony is performed by a Baptist minister in a wedding chapel. He’s 32; she’s 25. |
| October 56 | she and Robertson end those rumors of reconciliation. They sign a property settlement, and she signs an annulment complaint in San Fernando, California, before leaving for movie making in London. She charges that her husband doesn’t want children. |
| November 56 | Robertson’s home from the hospital without ever hearing from her. The lady visiting him, since his leg injury on a film set, is his ex-wife, Jacqueline Wilson. |
| 58 | divorces Robertson after only three months of marriage. He will later marry actress Jackie Lou Harding. |
| has a young and hysterical time in her life while filming Live Fast, Die Young |
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| February 58 | is a surprise twosome with her ex-husband, Dale Robertson. But she assures the press that it means nothing. "We occasionally see each other." |
| September 58 | Andrew Prine, the star of Look Homeward Angel, switches his affections from Sharon Frye to her |
| 59 | has a long-running relationship with her agent Kurt Frings, who is married to Ketti Frings, writer of the Broadway play Look Homeward Angel. He promises to marry her. Local newspapers report he kicked her which she will deny later. |
| March 60 | she and Yale Wexler are a new item |
| June 60 | becomes the target of tax man Robert A Riddell, district director of the IRS. He claims she owns the government $13,390 in federal income taxes. |
| 20 May 62 | marries Alan L. Specht, a Los Angeles lighting fixtures retailer, in Los Angeles. He's 32; she's 30. |
| October 66 | divorces Specht in Los Angeles. Her regret about the marriage is that she complied with her husband's request that she retire from acting. Specht will marry Anna L. Basso in 1971. |
| 7 May 68 | her daughter, Stephanie L., is born in Los Angeles |
| Late 80s | her daughter studies acting |
| 4 May 11 | as Mary Louise Murphy, she dies at age 80 from heart disease at her home in Beverly Hills. Her daughter, Stephanie Specht, is her only survivor. |
| Sources: Mansfield News-Journal, Reno Evening Gazette, Van Nuys News, The Monessen Daily Independent, Pottstown Mercury, Nevada State Journal, The Lethbridge Herald, Syracuse Herald-Journal, The Zanesville Signal, Record-Eagle, The Frederick Post, The News, Williamsport Sun-Gazette, The Bismarck Tribune, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, Burlington Daily Times-News, The Vidette-Messenger, Whatever became of...? # 11 by Richard Lamparski, Screen Sirens Scream! by Paul Parla and Charles P. Mitchell, Picture Show Who's Who on the Screen, Screen Annual, The New Film Show, Modern Screen, Screenland, Silver Screen, Modern Screen, www.Ancestry.com | |
| Recommended Books: Screen Sirens Scream! by Paul Parla and Charles P. Mitchell | |
| Links: Filmography | |