Wednesday 3 August 2016

Marilyn Maxwell born 3 August 1921


Marilyn Maxwell (August 3, 1921 – March 20, 1972), born Marvel Marilyn Maxwell, was an American actress and entertainer. A sex symbol of the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in several radio programs and films as a curvaceous, platinum-haired, sparkling-eyed leading lady and entertained the troops during World War II and the Korean War on USO tours with Bob Hope. She was often called "the other Marilyn", and like Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Maxwell had an equally short and tragic life.
Maxwell was born Marvel Marilyn Maxwell on August 3, 1921. Her parents tried to get her in show business at a young age, and she was trained as a dancer as early as age 3. Miss Maxwell's show business career began when she was a child under the tutelage of her piano-teacher mother, Mrs. Harry E. Maxwell of Clarinda. After leaving Clarinda when Marilyn was five, Mrs. Maxwell toured the country as an accompanist. Harry Maxwell died in 1950 at Tabor, where he farmed. Mrs. Maxwell died in 1951. Miss Maxwell missed the funerals of both her parents because she was on USO tours for American servicemen around the world. 
 
Maxwell started her professional entertaining career as a radio singer while still a teenager before signing with MGM in 1942 as a contract player. The head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer, insisted she change the "Marvel" part of her real name. She dropped her first name and kept the middle. During the 1940s, she also appeared with Bing Crosby on his "Kraft Music Hall" radio program. Maxwell never made it really big in Hollywood but some of her film roles included Lost in a Harem (1944), Champion (1949), The Lemon Drop Kid (1951), and Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958). The Christmas carol classic "Silver Bells" made its debut in The Lemon Drop Kid, sung by Maxwell and Hope. 
 

                 Here's "Tess's Torch Song" from above album.

                                 

On television, Maxwell appeared twice as a singer in the second season (1955–1956) of NBC's The Jimmy Durante Show. On May 16, 1957, she guest starred on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. In the 1961-1962 television season, Maxwell played Grace Sherwood, owner of the diner on ABC's 26-episode Bus Stop, a drama about travellers passing through the fictitious town of Sunrise, Colorado.
 
 
She married MGM actor John Conte in 1944 in The Little Church Around the Corner in New York City; they divorced two years later. Her second marriage to restaurateur Anders McIntyre lasted one year. Her third marriage to writer/producer Jerry Davis produced a son, Matthew who was born on April 26, 1956. They divorced after six years of marriage.

According to Arthur Marx's Bob Hope biography "The Secret Life of Bob Hope," Marilyn Maxwell had a long term affair with 
Marilyn and Bob Hope
comedian Bob Hope. He gave her constant work in the 1940s and 1950s on radio as well as touring with him on his many USO shows. The affair with Maxwell was so open that the Hollywood community routinely referred to her as "Mrs. Bob Hope." Also during this time it was reported that Marilyn had an affair with singer Frank Sinatra. The affair was briefly touched upon in the television movie "Sinatra" in 1992. 

 
Despite finding love in all the wrong places, Maxwell was widely loved among her friends. A close friend of Rock Hudson, she helped closet his homosexuality by making frequent public appearances with him and teasing reporters about how their relationship was "only a friendship."

By the 1960s, alcohol had taken its toll on Maxwell's career and looks. At her lowest point in 1967 she was discovered to be performing in a burlesque show as a stripper in Queens, New York. On March 20, 1972, Maxwell's 15-year-old son arrived home from school and found her dead at the age of fifty of an apparent heart attack, after she had been treated for hypertension and pulmonary disease. Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Jack Benny were honorary pallbearers at her funeral. Hope gave a memorable eulogy, and Rock Hudson looked after her son during the funeral and years afterward. 
 
(Info mainly bio from David Lobosco @ greatentertainersarchives.blogspot)


4 comments:

  1. Bob
    Really liked you presentation on Marilyn Maxwell and your effords to collect her recordings. Please reup this collection, thank you :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello HP,
    I couldn’t find the original file of Marilyn Maxwell, so I compiled another one.
    Tracks 1-13 are from digital album Best Of Marilyn Maxwell (Vintage Masters 2012)
    Tracks 14-20 from digital album Those Bombastic Blonde Bombshells (PNR 2018)
    Tracks 21 & 22 from other digital albums
    Tracks 23 -30 taken from YouTube

    01) Marilyn Maxwell - Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered.mp3
    02) Marilyn Maxwell - The Surrey With the Fringe On Top.mp3
    03) Marilyn Maxwell - How Come You Do Me Like You Do.mp3
    04) Marilyn Maxwell - Wish I May, Wish I Might.mp3
    05) Marilyn Maxwell - Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet.mp3
    06) Marilyn Maxwell - The Trolley Song.mp3
    07) Marilyn Maxwell - Is You Is or Is You Ain-'t My Baby.mp3
    08) Marilyn Maxwell - I Never Knew.mp3
    09) Marilyn Maxwell - Take It Easy.mp3
    10) Marilyn Maxwell - When They Ask About You.mp3
    11) Marilyn Maxwell - Tess's Torch Song.mp3
    12) Marilyn Maxwell - Easter Parade.mp3
    13) Marilyn Maxwell - There's a Small Hotel.mp3
    14) Marilyn Maxwell - Side By Side.mp3
    15) Marilyn Maxwell - Something To Remember You By.mp3
    16) Marilyn Maxwell - You Won't Be Satisfied.mp3
    17) Marilyn Maxwell - I Thought He Was A Good Man.mp3
    18) Marilyn Maxwell - Then It Isn't Love.mp3
    19) Marilyn Maxwell - This Years Kisses.mp3
    20) Marilyn Maxwell - Goodnight My Love.mp3
    21) Bing Crosby & Marilyn Maxwell - A Lot in Common with You.mp3
    22) Bob Hope & Marilyn Maxwell - Silver Bells.mp3
    23) Accentuate The Positive (1945) - Marilyn Maxwell.mp3
    24) Dance With A Dolly (1944) - Marilyn Maxwell.mp3
    25) I Got Rhythm (1945) - Marilyn Maxwell.mp3
    26) Lullaby Of Broadway (1945) - Marilyn Maxwell.mp3
    27) Marilyn Maxwell - I Love the Guys (1950).mp3
    28) Shoo Shoo Baby (1944) - Marilyn Maxwell.mp3
    29) Tabby The Cat (1945) - Marilyn Maxwell.mp3
    30) Zip (1958) - Marilyn Maxwell.mp3





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  3. OOps, Well it was rather late when I finished. 10 past 11 in the evening, so I was rather tired. Here' the link....valid for 50 days. Regards, Bob.

    https://www.imagenetz.de/c6JBd

    ReplyDelete