Martha Vickers Profile

Martha Vickers

	(Martha MacVicar)
28 May 25	is born to James S. and Frances MacVicar, in Ann Arbor, Michigan
?	attends schools in Chicago, Miami, Dallas, St. Petersburg, and Long Beach
?	becomes a model for still photographer William Mortensen. Her posing leads to a screen contract with David O. Selznick.
17 November 44	is on the cover of Yank, The Army Weekly
December 44	is seen cheek to cheek with director John Brahm. They're getting serious.
11 May 45	is on the cover of Yank, The Army Weekly
18 May 45	is on the cover of Yank, The Army Weekly
15 September 45	her plans to marry Hollywood automobile dealer Al Herd never materialize
November 45	is seen out with actor Jimmy Stewart
	dates actors Alexander D'Arcy and James Stewart
December 45	enjoys a quite romance with James Stewart
July 46	is seen out with actor Russell Arms
August 46	is romanced by actor Don Alvarado
November 46	carries a torch for director Freddie de Cordova during the filming of Love and Learn
February 47	is crowned "Miss Timber" by members of the Northeastern Retail Lumbermen's Association
March 48	she and studio publicist Andrew. C. Lyles, Jr., obtain a marriage license in Los Angeles
15 March 48	marries Lyles. He's 29; she's 22. It’s the first marriage for both.
July 48	she and Lyles separate
28 September 48	files for divorce in San Fernando. She claims her husband was so jealous he wouldn't allow her friends in the house.
December 48	she and Cliff Henderson discover each other
January 49	meets Mickey Rooney, the ex of Ava Gardner and Betty Jane Rase, at a party at Ciro's
	two days later Rooney asks her for a date, and she invites him for dinner, at her home in the Valley, where she still lives with her parents
	the next evening the MacVicars are invited for a duck dinner at Mickey's little bachelor house in Laurel Canyon
	the next day Mickey introduces her to his mother
	she and actor Mickey Rooney announce their engagement. She towers six inches over her future husband. They have to wait until her divorce from A. C. Lyles becomes final.
15 April 49	goes to Las Vegas, Nevada, to fasten her divorce from Lyles. Under California's one-year rule, the interlocutory decree will not be final until fall.
May 49	her divorce from Lyles becomes final
3 June 49	marries Rooney at North Hollywood Christ Memorial Unity Church. Just 6 hours earlier Rooney received his final divorce papers from former wife Betty Jane Rase.
	Mickey affectionately calls her Mart, and they move into a small bungalow at 4723 White Oak Avenue, Encino, the former home of Spencer Tracy
June 49	she and Mickey plan a Paris honeymoon in the fall
?	due to Rooney's marathon drinking, their marriage deteriorates quickly
End 49	their marriage is on the verge of total collapse
12/13 April 50	their son, Ted Michael, is born at Valley Hospital
October 50	her ailing condition has Mickey at her bedside 24 hours a day
	is fed up and asks Mickey for a divorce
December 50	the Rooneys part
16 December 50	there's a truce between her and Mickey, who returns to their White Oak Avenue house
March 51	the Rooneys reconcile
June 51	files a divorce suit from Rooney, charging cruelty and claiming custody of their son
Summer 51	the Rooneys part again
11 June 51	files for divorce, charging Rooney with extreme cruelty
24/25 September 51	her divorce is granted, giving her custody of their son, $150-a-month for his support, and a descending scale of alimony, from $2,000 a month, to $300 a month, in eight years. Rooney will later claim she was frigid.
January 52	Mickey wants to patch up their marriage and seeks reconciliation with her. Martha doesn't say yes or no.
	Mickey feuds with Martha's girlfriends and blames them for keeping her from remarrying him
December 52	is ringside at the Mocambo with cattle rancher Bob Lane
April 53	has a crush on actor Jose Garcia. They are seen frequently at the Sportsmen's Lodge.
June 53	she and Bill Josephy are ringside at Ray Anthony's opening at Ciro's
July 53	is escorted by Eddie Robinson to Charley Boy's Supper Club to see Lynn Carter and his four Cartiers
	is a twosome with actor Carl Neubert, the ex of actress Ruth Warrick
	is seen at the Tallyho with escort Blake Garner
1 October 54	marries wealthy Chilean polo player-turned-actor, Manuel F. Rojas, in Mexicali, just across the border from Calexico, California. He will play in films like The Magnificent Matador and Buchanan Rides Alone.
2 June 55	her daughter Maria Christina, "Tina," is born in Hollywood
April 57	seeks a divorce from Rojas
May 57	her friends think she and Rojas will reconcile
October 57	there's plenty of excitement around the Vickers-Rojas household, including Martha's 7-year-old son, Teddy
August 59	she and her son, Teddy, will star in a new situation comedy, "The Babysitters," backed by Music Corporation of America
6 April 64	her daughter Marta Teresa, "Tessa," is born
5 May 64 / 65	is granted a divorce from Rojas on grounds he left her four or five times during their 10-year marriage. She claims Rojas, a former actor now steel importer, "wanted his freedom and didn't want to be encumbered with the responsibility of marriage."
2 November 71	dies at age 46 after a brief bout with cancer of the esophagus at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Hollywood, California. Among her survivors are her daughters, Tina and Tessa Rojas, and her son, Ted.

Sources: Tina Rojas, David Apolloni, Nevada State Journal, The Lowell Sun, The Era, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Syracuse Herald-Journal, Herald-Journal, The Newark Advocate, Waterloo Sunday Courier, Lincoln Journal, Walla Walla Union Bulletin, Portland Press Herald, The Bridgeport Telegram, Humboldt Standard, The Monessen Daily Independent, Pottstown Mercury, The Lethbridge Herald, The Gettysburg Times, The Hammond Times, Mansfield News-Journal, Burlington Daily Times-News, Hollywood Players: The Forties by James Robert Parish, The Nine Lives of Mickey Rooney by Artur Marx, Silver Screen
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Links: Filmography