Donna Martell | |
|---|---|
 Martell in The Lineup | |
| Born | December 24, 1927 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Los Angeles City College |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1947–1963, 1983 |
| Spouse | Gene Corso (1953–1996) (his death) |
| Children | 3 [1] |
Donna Kay Martell (born December 24, 1927) is an American former actress who starred in film and television during the Golden Age Era in the 1950s and 1960s.
Born on December 24, 1927, in Los Angeles, California, to Louis and Margaret de Maria, [2] Martell was active in athletics in high school and attended Los Angeles City College. [3]
Martell began her film career in 1947 when she was cast in the Republic Pictures western Apache Rose , starring Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. She continued making appearances throughout the late 1940s, signing a contract with Universal Studios. [4] In 1951, Columbia Pictures signed her to play the female lead opposite Gene Autry in The Hills of Utah . [5]
By the time the 1950s arrived, Martell's career shifted towards television. She portrayed Marie DiPaolo in The Bob Cummings Show [6] and appeared in shows such as Shotgun Slade , [3] Cavalcade of America , The Range Rider , Bat Masterson and Cheyenne . [7]
Martell was also in Project Moonbase (also known as Project Moon Base), a 1953 black-and-white science-fiction film directed by Richard Talmadge. The film is unusual for its time in both attempting to portray space travel in a "realistic" manner, and for depicting a future in which women hold positions of authority and responsibility equal to men; in the script Martell's character, Briteis (pronounced “bright-eyes”), is a colonel who has made the first orbital flight around the Earth four years earlier and outranks her fellow male astronaut, a major. Colonel Briteis' given name is never stated.
Martell's acting career officially ended in 1963, but made a brief comeback in the 1983 TV movie Grace Kelly, playing the part of Mrs. Edie Austin, a friend of the Kelly family who, along with her husband Russell Austin, was instrumental in advancing the real-life relationship between Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco. [8] [9] Donna Martell appeared in a television episode of Hopalong Cassidy as a Mexican sister trying to save her wrongfully accused brother.
Martell married professional baseball player [3] Gene Edgar Corso on June 27, 1953. [10] The couple had three children. [11] Corso pre-deceased his wife in 1996.
Martell was presented with one of the 2002 Golden Boot Awards for her contributions to western television and cinema. [12]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Apache Rose | Rosa Vega | |
| Twilight on the Rio Grande | 1st telephone operator | Uncredited | |
| Robin Hood of Monterey | Lolita | ||
| The Lost Moment | Pretty Girl | Uncredited | |
| Secret Beyond the Door | Young Mexican girl | Uncredited | |
| 1948 | The Woman from Tangier | Flo-Flo | |
| The Saxon Charm | Flower girl | Uncredited | |
| Mexican Hayride | Girl | Uncredited | |
| 1949 | Illegal Entry | Maria | |
| Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff | Betty Crandall | ||
| 1950 | I Was a Shoplifter | Sales clerk | Uncredited |
| Peggy | Contestant | ||
| Kim | Haikun | Uncredited | |
| 1951 | The Hills of Utah | Nola French | |
| Elephant Stampede | Lola | ||
| 1952 | Last Train from Bombay | Nawob's daughter | |
| The Golden Hawk | Emilie Savonez | ||
| 1953 | Project Moonbase | Colonel Briteis | |
| Give a Girl a Break | Janet Hallson | ||
| 1954 | The Egyptian | Lady in waiting | Uncredited |
| 1955 | Ten Wanted Men | Maria Segura | |
| Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing | Suchen | ||
| Last of the Desperados | Felice | ||
| 1957 | Hell on Devil's Island | Giselle Renault | |
| House of Numbers | Lois | Uncredited | |
Grace Patricia Kelly, also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death. Prior to her marriage, she starred in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s. She received an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards and was ranked 13th on the American Film Institute's 25 Greatest Female Stars list.
Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry, nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades, beginning in the early 1930s. During that time, he personified the straight-shooting hero — honest, brave, and true.
Roy Rogers, nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and rodeo performer.
Gloria Winters was an actress most remembered for having portrayed the well-mannered niece, Penny King, in the 1950s–1960s American television series Sky King.
Gail Davis was an American actress and singer, best known for her starring role as Annie Oakley in the 1950s television series Annie Oakley.
Ann Robinson is an American former actress and stunt horse rider, perhaps best known for her work in the science-fiction classic The War of the Worlds (1953) and in the 1954 film Dragnet, in which she starred as a Los Angeles police officer opposite Jack Webb and Ben Alexander.
Lynne Roberts, also credited as Mary Hart, born Theda May Roberts was an American film actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She appeared exclusively in what were referred to as B movies.
Barbara Britton was an American film and television actress. She is best known for her Western film roles opposite Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Gene Autry and for her two-year tenure as inquisitive amateur sleuth Pam North on the television and radio series Mr. and Mrs. North.
Sue Ane Langdon is an American actress. She has appeared in dozens of television series and had featured roles in films such as A Guide for the Married Man and The Cheyenne Social Club, both directed by Gene Kelly, as well as The Rounders opposite Henry Fonda and Glenn Ford and two Elvis Presley movies, Roustabout and Frankie and Johnny.
Kathleen Crowley was an American actress. She appeared in over 100 movies and television series in the 1950s and 1960s, almost always as a leading lady.
Ray Elgin Teal was an American actor. His most famous role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on the television series Bonanza (1959–1972), which was only one of dozens of sheriffs on television and in movies that he played during his long and prolific career stretching from 1937 to 1970. He appeared in pictures such as Western Jamboree (1938) with Gene Autry, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) with Fredric March and Myrna Loy, The Black Arrow (1948), Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole (1951) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) with Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster.
The Golden Boot Awards were an American acknowledgement of achievement honoring actors, actresses, and crew members who made significant contributions to the genre of Westerns in television and film. The award was sponsored and presented by the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Money raised at the award banquet was used to help finance various services offered by the Fund to those in the entertainment industry.
Adele Mara was an American actress, singer, and dancer, who appeared in films during the 1940s and 1950s and on television in the 1950s and 1960s.
Jasper Joseph Inman Kane was an American film director, film producer, film editor and screenwriter. He is best known for his extensive directorship and focus on Western films.
Joan Weldon was an American actress and singer in film, television, and theatre.
Peggy Stewart was an American actress known for her roles in Western B movies and television series.
Mary Lee was a big band singer and B movie actress from the late 1930s into the 1940s, appearing mostly in Westerns. She did not make any screen appearances after 1944.
Elaine Riley was an American film and television actress.
This Gene Autry filmography lists the films and television episodes starring the American singing cowboy Gene Autry.
Elizabeth Beecher was an American screenwriter best known for her work on Western-themed movies and television shows in the 1940s and 1950s.
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