Dudley Manlove (1914-1996) Hailing from San Francisco, Dudley Manlove began his stage career as a child in the 1920s, eventually drifting into radio in the 1930s. For years he was a successful NBC radio announcer and commercial pitchman but, despite his efforts and stage experience, failed to break into movies, appearing in only four. His best known role was as an alien in Ed Wood's Plan Nine from Outer Space (1959; with Tor Johnson). He also has a sizeable role in the science fiction film The Creation of the Humanoids (1962; with Don Megowan). Manlove passed away on April 17, 1996 at age 81 and left no immediate suvivors. He was married twice in the 1940s but both marriages lasted just a few years. Hugh Marlowe (1911-1982) Hugh Marlowe starred in a vast number of science fiction cult classics in the 1950s, including The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers (1956). In 1964, he took on a role on the NBC daytime drama Another World at its inception and stayed with the show until his sudden death on May 2, 1982 at the age of 71. He was survived by his third wife, Rosemary, their son Hugh, and sons Chris and Jeffrey from his marriage to actress K.T. Stevens. Joan Marshall (1931-1992) Gorgeous Joan Marshall made her biggest splash in films as, incredibly, a man when she starred in William Castle's 1961 shocker Homicidal in the dual role of Emily and Warren. Castle billed her as "Jean Arless" in this film, but in the remainder of her film and television appearances, she used her real name. Marshall's career was busiest in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when she took on many film and television parts and had a recurring role as Sailor Duval on the 1959-1960 TV series Bold Venture. Into the 1970s, Marshall married director Hal Ashby and retired from the screen. Ashby took bits and pieces of Marshall's past life and turned them into the 1975 film Shampoo, in which Marshall makes a brief appearance. She passed away in 1992 at the age of 61. William Marshall (1924-2003) Classically trained character player William Marshall was a prominent stage actor who occasionally found work in films. His film career began with the release of the adventure Lydia Bailey (1952; with Dale Robertson and Anne Francis). Marshall's love of Shakespeare and the stage interfered with film stardom; his best known films were the blacksploitation efforts Blacula (1972; with Vonetta McGee) and Scream, Blacula, Scream (1973; with Pam Grier) in which Marshall portrayed the title character. In the 1980s, he could be seen as the 'King of Cartoons' on the CBS Saturday morning children's program Pee-wee's Playhouse. Marshall retired from acting in the 1990s and passed away on June 11, 2003 at age 78 after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. He was survived by his partner, Sylvia, and four children. Victor Mature (1913-1999) Rugged leading man Victor Mature starred in numerous costume dramas in the 1940s and 1950s, including Samson and Delilah (1949), Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), and The Robe (1953). But into the later 1950s, he was acting in smaller-budgeted films, such as Pickup Alley (1957) and Timbuktu (1959). After the release of the adventure The Tartars (1961), Mature grew bored and retired, preferring playing golf to making films. He appeared in film just a few more times in such films as Head (1968) and his final starring role in the comedy Every Little Crook and Nanny (1972; with Lynn Redgrave). Mature passed away on August 4, 1999 at age 86. He was survived by his fifth wife, Loretta, and their daughter, Victoria. Irish McCalla (1928-2002) Knockout Irish McCalla wowed TV audiences in the 1950s with her series Sheena: Queen of the Jungle. Her movie career consisted of some fun drive-in flicks, including the horror film She Demons (1958; with Victor Sen Yung), the crime drama The Beat Generation (1959; with Mamie Van Doren and Steve Cochran), and the horror film Hands of a Stranger (1962; with Paul Lukather). By 1963, McCalla was 35 years old with a career going nowhere fast, so she walked away from acting to become a successful artist and married actor Patrick Horgan in 1964. In 1969, doctors discovered a brain tumor; McCalla fought back and regained her health. Years later, in the early 1980s, she suffered through another tumor. McCalla passed away at age 73 on February 1, 2002 from brain tumor and stroke complications. She was survived by two children from her first marriage. Tim McCoy (1891-1978) Western star Tim McCoy didn't enter films until the waning days of the silents. When sound films came in, McCoy became famous in a series of westerns produced by MGM. By the time that World War II broke out, McCoy was putting the wraps on his career. Having been in the Army years before, McCoy went back into the Army for the duration of the war. Well into his 50s at this point, McCoy mostly retired, doing just a few films and a short-lived television series. McCoy lived out the remainder of his life in comfort, passing away in 1978 at the age of 86. Dorothy McGuire (1916-2001) Pretty Dorothy McGuire was a stage actress before making the move to the big screen in the early 1940s with the film Claudia (1943). More good roles followed in such big-budget films as Till the End of Time (1946; with Guy Madison), Gentleman's Agreement (1947; with Gregory Peck), and Friendly Persuasion (1956; with Gary Cooper). Her career was often marked by large gaps of time between films, and by the 1960s her film career was comprised mostly of Disney films and B movies such as the tearjerker Susan Slade(1961; with Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens). In the 1970s and 1980s, she did quite a bit of television, finally retiring in 1990. McGuire passed away on September 13, 2001 at age 83 and was survived by a son and daughter. Gardner McKay (1932-2001) Best known as Captain Adam Troy on the 1959-1962 TV series Adventures in Paradise, Gardner McKay left acting as quickly as he got into it. After Paradise left the air, McKay walked away from his career and became a writer. He acted in only a few films, including The Pleasure Seekers (1964; with Ann-Margret, Carol Lynley, and Pamela Tiffin), and his final acting job came in the comedy I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (1969; with Diane McBain). McKay passed away at age 69 in November 2001 from cancer and was survived by his wife and two children. Russ Meyer (1922-2004)A California native, famed exploitation director Russ Meyer got his start in the film business making training films for the Army during World War II and later graduated to making industrial films and indulging in still photography, taking many pin-up pictures in the 1950s and selling them to magazines. Meyer's first film for release was the 1959 release The Immoral Mr. Teas. With the success of his first sexploitation film, Meyer cranked them out in the 1960s. His best films are Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965; with Tura Satana and Haji), Motor Psycho (1965; with Haji and Coleman Francis), and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970; with Edy Williams). Meyer's soft-core films went out of vogue in the early 1970s, and by the end of the decade, Meyer retired to count the proceeds from his films. Sadly, the sexploitation pioneer passed away on September 19, 2004, at the age of 82. Married several times, Meyer's most famous wife was actress Edy Williams. He also had a long-term relationship with actress Kitten Natividad.Ann Miller (1923-2004) Texas-born beauty Ann Miller started in films as a child dancer and singer. Working in films from the mid 1930s through the mid 1950s, Miller signed her first movie contract, with RKO, while still a teenager. In the 1940s she left RKO for Columbia but never got a breakthrough role. After more than ten years of toiling on soundstages, her big break came when MGM signed her to a lengthy contract. However, Miller was only allowed to play second leads, and when her contract lapsed in 1956, she took her act to Las Vegas and later Broadway. Miller made a comeback in the 1970s with television appearances, commercials, and her Broadway smash Sugar Babies. After 45 years away from the big screen, Miller made one final film appearance in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive (2001; with Naomi Watts and Justin Theroux). Sadly, Miller passed away after a bout with lung cancer on January 22, 2004 at age 80. Andy Milligan (1929-1991)Those people who claim that Ed Wood was the world's worst film director have likely never seen an Andy Milligan film. But much like Wood's movies, for die-hard horror fans Milligan's are great fun to watch. Born in Minnesota in 1929, Milligan's home life was as horrific as his films. He fled Minnesota in the 1940s and eventually wound up in New York. Handsome enough to be a leading man, Milligan found work as an actor in early television shows, such as NBC's Armstrong Circle Theatre, on which he appeared several times. However, his private life began to overshadow his acting career, which fizzled by the mid 1950s. He then turned to dressmaking and clothing design, while also working in underground theatre. After a few years of cultivating friends and contacts, Milligan made his first film in 1963, the fascinating short Vapors that was shot in a gay bathhouse in New York. Soon Milligan was directing sexploitation flicks but quickly switched to horror films by the late 1960s. My personal favorites include The Body Beneath (1970; with Gavin Reed) and The Ghastly Ones (1968; with Hal Borske). While most of Milligan's films fall under the heading of 'so-bad-they're-good' mostly due to to their miniscule budgets (usually under $10,000), The Body Beneath is reasonably well acted, genuinely creepy, and highly effective. When exploitation films petered out in the 1970s, Milligan's directoral career faded. Sadly, he passed away from complications due to the AIDS virus in 1991 at the age of 62.Alvy Moore (1921-1997) Although everyone recognizes Alvy Moore as the character of Hank Kimball from TV's first surreal sit-com, Green Acres, Moore broke into film in the early 1950s with small roles in such films as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and There's No Business Like Show Business (1954). He found larger roles in B pictures, including 5 Against the House (1955; with Guy Madison and Kerwin Mathews) and Twist Around the Clock (1961; with Chubby Checker). In the 1960s, he was appeared in the low-budget release Three Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964; with Mamie Van Doren and Tommy Noonan). During his tenure on Green Acres (1965-1971), Moore began producing low-budget drive-in movies with fellow actor L.Q. Jones; the pair usually acted in the movies as well, including The Witchmaker (1969; with Anthony Eisley) and Brotherhood of Satan (1971; with Strother Martin). After several more films and dozens of TV appearances, Moore retired in the late 1980s. He passed away at age 75 from heart failure on May 4, 1997. The above photo is from A Boy and His Dog (1975). Clayton Moore (1914-1999) Chicago-born Clayton Moore entered films in the late 1930s as a bit player but moved up the food chain in the early 1940s to supporting roles in westerns and serials. Military service during World War II interrupted his career. After the war, he went back to work in such films as Jesse James Rides Again (1947; with Linda Stirling), Sheriff of Wichita (1949; with Allan 'Rocky' Lane), and Bandits of El Dorado (1949; with Charles Starrett). In 1949, Moore was cast as the title character in the television series The Lone Ranger (1949-1957), the role for which he's best known today. The role typecast Moore, yet the actor didn't seem to mind. Sadly, he passed away in December 1999 at the age of 85. Constance Moore (1920-2005) Born in Iowa in January 1920, Moore grew up in Texas and studied to be a singer. She began singing on the radio in the mid 1930s and was soon offered a contract by Universal Studios in 1937. Moore headed for Hollywood and was soon appearing in a number of Universal's 'B' features, including The Missing Guest (1938; with Paul Kelly and William Lundigan), Buck Rogers (1939; with Buster Crabbe, and You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939; with W.C. Fields and Edgar Bergen). At the age of 19, Moore married a talent agent, and the following year she left Universal for greener pastures at Paramount. But after lensing the comedy Take a Letter, Darling (1942; with Rosalind Russell and Fred MacMurray), Moore left Paramount and took a break from acting for a couple of years to try her luck on Broadway. Now freelancing, she returned to the screen in the musicals Show Business (1944; with Eddie Cantor and Joan Davis) and Delightfully Dangerous (1945; with Jane Powell and Ralph Bellamy), among other films, but quit films again after the release of Hit Parade of 1947 (1947; with Eddie Albert). Afterward, Moore raised a family and put her career on the back burner. She went back to work in the early 1960s on the TV series Window on Main Street (1961-1962) and The Young Marrieds (1964-1966) before calling it a day. Sadly, Moore passed away in September 2005 at the age of 85. She is survived by a son and daughter and grandchildren. The photo above is from Moore's 1945 film Delightfully Dangerous. Duke Moore (1913-1976)James 'Duke' Moore worked exclusively in Ed Wood's films. Moore appeared in several of Wood's productions, including Plan Nine from Outer Space (1959) and Night of the Ghouls (1959). He succombed to a heart attack at age 63.Joanna Moore (1934-1997) Beautiful Joanna Moore acted in several B movies from the late 1950s through the late 1960s, including Monster on the Campus (1958; with Troy Donahue) and Follow That Dream (1962; with Elvis Presley). She had more success on television, where she made more than 70 appearances on popular TV series from the 1950s through the 1970s. Moore was actor Ryan O'Neal's first wife and the mother of Tatum O'Neal and Griffin O'Neal. Sadly, she passed away at the age of 63 from lung cancer. The above photo is from Appointment with a Shadow (1958; with George Nader). Agnes Moorehead (1900-1974) Although Agnes Moorehead is most commonly associated with the role of Endora on ABC-TV's Bewitched, she had a long and distinguished career as an actress. Before becoming an actress, Moorehead was a schoolteacher in Wisconsin who taught drama and speech. In the 1930s, she left teaching behind and went into radio as a dramatic actress, eventually working for Orson Welles' Mercury Theater. When Welles went to Hollywood to film Citizen Kane (1941), Moorehead followed along for a role in the film, her first. This began her lengthy film career; her most active period came in the 1950s, when she acted in more than 30 A and B films including Magnificent Obsession (1954), The Conqueror (1956), and Night of the Quarter Moon (1959; with Julie London). After signing on as a Bewitched cast member, Moorehead did few films. Her last movie was the low-budget axe-murder horror flick Dear Dead Delilah (1972; with Dennis Patrick). Moorehead died in 1974 from cancer at the age of 73. Chester Morris (1901-1970) Best known for his "Boston Blackie" series of films, Chester Morris started his career during the days of silent films, having been successful beforehand on the stage. He appeared in dozens of films during the 1920s and 1930s, but he was most successful in the 1940s, thanks to the "Boston Blackie" series of films, released by Paramount. However, when the series wore out its franchise in the late 1940s, Morris found himself typecast. He made few films afterward, retreating to the stage. Sadly, suffering from cancer, Morris committed suicide on September 11, 1970 at age 69. Wayne Morris (1914-1959) California-born Wayne Morris took up acting in college and honed his craft at the famed Pasadena Playhouse, where he was spotted by a talent agent from Warner Bros. The studio quickly signed him to a contract, and after just a year of supporting roles Morris landed the title role in Kid Galahad (1937; with Bette Davis). Morris went on to headline many of Warner's B movies, including The Kid from Kokomo (1939) and The Return of Doctor X (1939). With the onset of World War II, Morris joined the Navy as a pilot, making no more films until Deep Valley (1947). Six years of screen absence did Morris's career no favors; when Warner Bros. let his contract expire in the late 1940s, Morris wound up doing westerns and action pictures at lesser studios, including Monogram and Republic. With his film career winding down in the late 1950s, Morris transitioned to television, making guest appearances on a number of series. He died suddenly of a heart attack in September 1959 at the age of 45. The photo above is from Kid Galahad. Tommy Noonan (1922-1968) The younger half-brother of actor John Ireland, Tommy Noonan acted in a number of 'A' and 'B' pictures from the 1940s through the 1960s. The brothers acted in three films together, including I Shot Jesse James (1949; with Tom Tyler), and Noonan did a great turn as Marilyn Monroe's boyfriend in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953; with Jane Russell). He teamed with Peter Marshall to form a comedy team in the 1950s, but the duo went their separate ways in the early 1960s. Afterward, Noonan appeared in a few 'B' films, such as Promises, Promises (1963; with Jayne Mansfield); also he produced, directed, wrote, and starred in Three Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964; with Mamie Van Doren). Not long after the release of Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers (1967; with Sonny Tufts), Noonan was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died in April 1968, just a few days shy of his 46th birthday. Maila Nurmi, aka Vampira (1921-2008) Maila Nurmi, better known as Vampira, was born in Finland and emigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s with her family. Beginning her entertainment career as a chorus girl, she first gained prominence in Mae West's stage play Catherine was Great in the 1940s but was fired when Nurmi garnered very favorable reviews, upstaging West. In 1954, a chance costume contest found Nurmi made up much like Morticia Addams from Charles Addams' cartoon strip; she was then offered a horror hostess job at KABC Channel 7 in Los Angeles for which she created the character Vampira by borrowing bits and pieces from Charles Addam's cartoon strip. In 1955, Nurmi caused quite a public stir after meeting James Dean, attempting but failing to strike up a relationship. Sadly, she was blacklisted and fired by KABC in 1956. She agreed to appear in Ed Wood's Plan Nine from Outer Space (1959; with Tor Johnson) as the ghoul's wife, for a sum of $200. In addition, she made a few other films before qutting acting, including the campy Sex Kittens Go to College (1960; with Mamie Van Doren). Nurmi was once married to screenwriter Dean Reisner and later married actor Fabrizio Mioni in the early 1960s. After her career dried up, Nurmi turned her attentions to art and jewlery making. After Wood's films became a cult sensation in the 1980s, Nurmi became a frequent interview subject. Sadly, she passed away at age 86 in January 2008. |
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