Marion Martin (born Marion Suplee, June , â€" August , ) was an
American film and stage actress.Martin was born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, the daughter of a Bethlehem Steel executive. She became
an actress after her family fortune was lost in the Wall Street Crash
of , and appeared in the Broadway productions Lombardi Ltd. and Sweet
Adeline.She made her film debut in She's My Lillie, I'm Her Willie and
subsequently played minor roles, often as showgirls. Several of her
early roles were in musicals and she achieved some success as a
singer. By the end of the decade she had played leading female roles
in several "B" pictures, playing one of her most notable roles in
James Whale's Sinners in Paradise (). Despite her success she was
often cast in minor roles in more widely seen films such as His Girl
Friday (). The majority of her roles were in comedies but she also
appeared in dramas such as Boom Town () in which she played a dance
hall singer who is briefly romanced by Clark Gable. She played
secondary roles in three Lupe Vélez "Mexican Spitfire" films in the
early s, and was a comic foil for the Marx Brothers in The Big Store,
where the back of her skirt is cut away by Harpo.She played a ghost in
Gildersleeve's Ghost, and was the subject of a legendary fistfight
between Gildersleeve star Harold Peary and Warner Bros studio mogul
Bud Stevens at the Mocambo nightclub in . Her more substantial roles
included Alice Angel, a dizzy showgirl, in the murder mystery Lady of
Burlesque with Barbara Stanwyck and Angel on My Shoulder. She also
appeared in The Big Street () with Lucille Ball, in the western The
Woman of the Town with Claire Trevor and in The Great Mike at PRC in .
American film and stage actress.Martin was born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, the daughter of a Bethlehem Steel executive. She became
an actress after her family fortune was lost in the Wall Street Crash
of , and appeared in the Broadway productions Lombardi Ltd. and Sweet
Adeline.She made her film debut in She's My Lillie, I'm Her Willie and
subsequently played minor roles, often as showgirls. Several of her
early roles were in musicals and she achieved some success as a
singer. By the end of the decade she had played leading female roles
in several "B" pictures, playing one of her most notable roles in
James Whale's Sinners in Paradise (). Despite her success she was
often cast in minor roles in more widely seen films such as His Girl
Friday (). The majority of her roles were in comedies but she also
appeared in dramas such as Boom Town () in which she played a dance
hall singer who is briefly romanced by Clark Gable. She played
secondary roles in three Lupe Vélez "Mexican Spitfire" films in the
early s, and was a comic foil for the Marx Brothers in The Big Store,
where the back of her skirt is cut away by Harpo.She played a ghost in
Gildersleeve's Ghost, and was the subject of a legendary fistfight
between Gildersleeve star Harold Peary and Warner Bros studio mogul
Bud Stevens at the Mocambo nightclub in . Her more substantial roles
included Alice Angel, a dizzy showgirl, in the murder mystery Lady of
Burlesque with Barbara Stanwyck and Angel on My Shoulder. She also
appeared in The Big Street () with Lucille Ball, in the western The
Woman of the Town with Claire Trevor and in The Great Mike at PRC in .
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