Marie Windsor (born Emily Marie Bertelsen; December , â€" December ,
) was an actress known for her femme fatale characters in the classic
film noir features Force of Evil and The Narrow Margin. Windsor's
height created problems for her in scenes with all but the tallest
actors. She was the female lead in so many B movies that she became
dubbed the "Queen" of the genre.The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lane
Bertelsen, Windsor was born in in Marysvale, Utah. She graduated from
Marysvale High School in , doing a "musical reading" as part of the
graduation exercises. She attended Brigham Young University, where she
participated in dramatic productions. She was described in a
newspaper article as "an accomplished athlete ... expert as a dancer,
swimmer, horsewoman, and plays golf, tennis and skis."In , Windsor was
chosen from a group of contestants to be queen of Covered Wagon Days
in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was unofficially appointed "Miss Utah of
" by her hometown Chamber of Commerce, and trained for the stage under
famed Hollywood actress and coach Maria Ouspenskaya. Voluptuous and
leggy, but unusually tall for a starlet of her generation, Windsor
felt that she was handicapped when playing opposite actors of average
stature (claiming that she had to progressively bend at the knees
walking across the room in scene with John Garfield). As she later
recalled, a production with Forrest Tucker as co-star made her happy
with finally getting male lead who was her 'own size'.
) was an actress known for her femme fatale characters in the classic
film noir features Force of Evil and The Narrow Margin. Windsor's
height created problems for her in scenes with all but the tallest
actors. She was the female lead in so many B movies that she became
dubbed the "Queen" of the genre.The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lane
Bertelsen, Windsor was born in in Marysvale, Utah. She graduated from
Marysvale High School in , doing a "musical reading" as part of the
graduation exercises. She attended Brigham Young University, where she
participated in dramatic productions. She was described in a
newspaper article as "an accomplished athlete ... expert as a dancer,
swimmer, horsewoman, and plays golf, tennis and skis."In , Windsor was
chosen from a group of contestants to be queen of Covered Wagon Days
in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was unofficially appointed "Miss Utah of
" by her hometown Chamber of Commerce, and trained for the stage under
famed Hollywood actress and coach Maria Ouspenskaya. Voluptuous and
leggy, but unusually tall for a starlet of her generation, Windsor
felt that she was handicapped when playing opposite actors of average
stature (claiming that she had to progressively bend at the knees
walking across the room in scene with John Garfield). As she later
recalled, a production with Forrest Tucker as co-star made her happy
with finally getting male lead who was her 'own size'.
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