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Syra Marty Profile
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Photo gallery |
| (Josefina Magdalena Marty) |
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| 21 June 21 | is born in Goldau, Schwyz, Switzerland, the second of eight children of local restaurant and hotel owners |
| ? | is raised at her parents’ Gasthaus Rigi-Daechli in Feusisberg, Schwyz, Switzerland |
| 45 | goes to Zurich, Switzerland |
| ? | starts as a model and ballet dancer |
| ? | is crowned "Miss Switzerland" |
| ? | marries Swiss-born artist and acrobat Elmer A. “Billy” Frick. He’s 10 years her senior. He was noted by the media for his performance at the Swiss State Fair of 19??. During World War II Frick served as a Swiss border guard, and after going to the States he worked for such groups as the Ringling Brothers Circus. |
| ? | goes to the States |
| February 47 | columnist Dorothy Kilgallen knows: "Vic Orsatti, the Hollywood glamour boy, has found a new dream: Merle Hayden, the Swiss Miss..." |
| 47 | as Marle Hayden, she debuts on screen in Something in the Wind |
| 7 January 48 | as Lena Frick, she arrives with her husband in New York on a flight from Brussels, Belgium. She and Frick give as their address 9010 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood. |
| March 48 | in a letter sent home, she and Frick give as their address the Halifax Hotel, 6376 Yucca Street, Hollywood. He calls her Zwugly. |
| July 48 | she and her husband are noted joining the Cavalcade of Stars in Amarillo, Texas, as “Billy Frick, European acrobat and ‘Syra,’ Swiss motion picture star. Both of the performers will be seen in the San Jacinto Kiwanis Club-sponsored show at 8:15 Saturday night in the Municipal Auditorium.” |
| ? | dances in Istanbul and Smyrna, Turkey. In Smyrna she puts on a special show for the American fleet in the harbor. |
| ? | as "Syra, the Swiss Doll" she tours Europe and performs in Copenhagen, Zurich, Lausanne, Geneva, Cannes, San Remo, and London |
| ? | starts her tour at Leon & Eddie’s in New York |
| January 49 | columnist Walter Winchell tells: "Louis Nunez, the Cuban sugar heir, and starlet Marlee Hayden are an early Valentine..." |
| ? | is on Broadway in Mike Rose's Capers |
| August 49 | as Lena Marty, she’s pictured posing in Miami Beach, Florida |
| May 50 | is on stage at the Club Jamboree, 633 NE 23 |
| December 50 | is on hand to pass gifts to lucky customers at the Builders Emporium Christmas celebration at 5060 Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys, California |
| 53 | is voted "Hollywood's Most Beautiful Actress since Greta Garbo" by the European Film Press Syndicate |
| May 53 | tagged “Miss Swiss Cheese,” she starts her second and final week at the El Rey Theater in Oakland, making her first Pacific Coast appearance |
| December 53 | will be in Hugo Haas’ upcoming Tender Hearts with Francesca di Scaffa and Brooklynese June Hammerstein |
| July 54 | is billed as “most beautiful European since Greta Garbo” |
| August 54 | is on the cover of Modern Man |
| February 55 | is featured in Modern Man |
| Early 55 | has a six-month engagement at La Perla nightclub in Acapulco, Mexico |
| Spring 55 | is on the cover of Pix Annual |
| November 56 | is on the cover of and is the centerfold in Modern Man |
| April 57 | is brought to court for a lewd performance at the Torch Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She claims there “is no bump and grind in my act.” Nevertheless Syra is convicted for a misdemeanor and ordered to pay the court costs of $24.70 and never to perform her act in the county again. |
| November 57 | appears at the Lido in Frankfurt, Germany |
| is signed to a personal management contract in the United States by Jerry Lynn Productions, Inc. She is expected to return to the States in January 1958. |
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| January 58 | Uncensored magazine reveals “Why John Barrymore, Jr., flipped for the Swedish dancer named Syra” |
| c. 64 | is with her husband in the Berlin, Germany, production of Fanny Hill |
| 65 | she and her husband visit her parents in Switzerland |
| November 71 | accompanies her husband to Munich, Germany, where he will film “The Plot to Assassinate Hitler” for CBS. He plays the Fuehrer. |
| December 71 | the press reports that she and Frick returned to Naples from Germany |
| c. 72 | accompanies her husband to Martinique, where he will play Hitler in an upcoming National Lampoon comedy, Strangers in Paradise. The film never materializes, but the producers will remember: “Frick, with his wife in tow, became sick with a painful prostate condition. His frumpy spouse was unsympathetic and rode him mercilessly.” |
| October 73 | her 59-year-old husband hits the news being seized as Adolf Hitler, donning a Nazi uniform to protest the “fuehrer boom” at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany. Frick was hired for the stunt by West German humor magazine Pardon. He’s from Naples, Florida, and now lives in Switzerland. |
| 7 January 77 | becomes the widow of Frick, who dies in Zurich, Switzerland |
| 08 | as Marlene Frick, she resides in Naples, Florida |
| 09 | her life and times are depicted in the upcoming documentary movie Syra Marty - Dächli-Leni goes to Hollywood by renowned Swiss film maker Roger Bürgler, to premiere on December 4 at Goldau, Switzerland |
| 3 February 11 | as Marlene Frick, she dies at age 89 in Naples, Florida |
| Sources: Roger Bürgler, Modern Man, Syracuse Herald-Journal, The Lowell Sun, Naples Daily News, The Amarillo Globe, Van Nuys News, Oakland Tribune, The Lima News, The Stars and Stripes, www.Ancestry.com | |
| Recommended Books: | |
| Links: Filmography Syra | |