Marion Martin

 Marion Martin, born Marion Suplee (June 7, 1909 – August 13, 1985)

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 (1938). Despite her success she was often cast in minor roles in more widely seen films such as His Girl Friday (1940). The majority of her roles were in comedies but she also appeared in dramas such as Boom Town (1940) 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 1940s, 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 also appeared in The Big Street (1942) with Lucille Ball, in the western The Woman of the Town with Claire Trevor and in The Great Mike at PRC in 1944. Martin made her last film appearance in Oklahoma Annie in 1952. Married to a physicist, Martin retired, and although she expressed the desire to return to show business, suitable roles were not offered to her. She died in 1985 in Santa Monica, California. Martin is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.