Margia Dean | |
---|---|
Born | Marguerite Louise Skliris April 7, 1922 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Died | June 23, 2023 101) | (aged
Occupation(s) | Beauty queen, actress |
Years active | 1929–1964 (Actress and model) |
Spouses | Hal Fischer (m. 1939–1945)Felipe Alvarez (m. 1965) |
Marguerite Louise Skliris-Alvarez ( née Skliris; April 7, 1922 – June 23, 2023), known by her stage name Margia Dean (name is pronounced as Mar-juh) [1] was an American beauty queen and stage and screen actress of royal Greek descent, [1] who had a career in Hollywood films from the 1940s until the early 1960s, appearing in 30 starring roles and 20 bit parts. [2]
Marguerite Louise Skliris-Alvarez was born in Chicago, to Evangelis Skliris, a lawyer, and his wife who studied in Paris, France, her grandfather owned all of the railroads in Greece, her great great grandfather had risen to become the regent of Greece, the family had emigrated from Athens to the United States in 1913, settling in Chicago before Margia was born, but moved to San Francisco, California [2] when she was at a young age. [1]
Dean began acting at the age of 7, appearing on stage in many child roles and later won the Women's National Shakespeare Contest for her role as Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet . [1] She also took up modelling and was named "Miss San Francisco" and "Miss California" in 1939. [3] [4] She was a top-five runner-up to Patricia Donnelly in the "Miss America 1939" competition. [1]
After her modelling, she was told that had she stayed in New York, she would have been on Broadway, but as her mum was working returned back to San Francisco, to finish her education. She did, however, start her career in the theatre genre, working with the Geary and Curren Theatre and then with the Biltmore Theatre in Los Angeles. [1]
Dean made her feature film debut in Casanova in Burlesque (1944) and adopted her stage name, Margia Dean. [1]
Although never under contract to any studio, she worked variously at Republic Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures, although for the majority of her films, was with both 20th Century Fox and some 16 in all, [2] for Lippert Pictures under the producer Robert L. Lippert, and she became known as the Queen of Lippert. [1]
Her first leading role was in Shep Comes Home (1948) [5] and roles followed in Red Desert (1949), [6] FBI Girl (1951), [7] The Lonesome Trail (1955), [8] Villa!! (1958) [9] and Seven Women from Hell (1961). [10] Dean starred in a 1958 Western, Ambush at Cimarron Pass , featuring a very young Clint Eastwood in one of his earliest film roles. She also portrayed a trapeze artist in the 1961 circus tale The Big Show , which starred Esther Williams, Cliff Robertson, Nehemiah Persoff, David Nelson and Robert Vaughn. [11] [12]
Her association with Lippert led to her being cast in The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), the first Hammer horror film. [13]
Frustrated that her roles were predominantly in B movies, she eventually retired from acting following her marriage in 1965 to her second husband, architect Felipe Alvarez. Her final film was Moro Witch Doctor . [1] She briefly became involved in movie production, creating Margo Productions and producing The Long Rope (1961) with Hugh Marlowe as well as a number of television pilots. [1]
Dean was later a vice-president in a real estate firm and worked in costume design and interior decoration. [1] Dean died at her apartment in Rancho Cucamonga, California, on June 23, 2023, at the age of 101. [14] [15] [16]
Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classic horror characters such as Baron Victor Frankenstein, Count Dracula, and the Mummy, which Hammer reintroduced to audiences by filming them in vivid colour for the first time. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies, as well as, in later years, television series.
The Quatermass Xperiment is a 1955 British science fiction horror film from Hammer Film Productions, based on the 1953 BBC Television serial The Quatermass Experiment written by Nigel Kneale. The film was produced by Anthony Hinds, directed by Val Guest, and stars Brian Donlevy as the titular Professor Bernard Quatermass and Richard Wordsworth as the tormented Carroon. Jack Warner, David King-Wood, and Margia Dean appear in co-starring roles.
Quatermass 2 is a 1957 black-and-white British science fiction horror film drama from Hammer Film Productions. It was originally released in the UK as Quatermass II and was produced by Anthony Hinds, directed by Val Guest, and stars Brian Donlevy with co-stars John Longden, Sidney James, Bryan Forbes, Vera Day, and William Franklyn. Quatermass 2 is a sequel to Hammer's earlier film The Quatermass Xperiment (1955). Like its predecessor, it is based on the BBC Television serial Quatermass II written by Nigel Kneale. Brian Donlevy reprises his role as the eponymous Professor Bernard Quatermass, making him the only actor to play the character twice in a film. It is often erroneously considered as the first film sequel to use the '2' / 'II' suffix within the title, though this distinction belongs to Sanshiro Sugata Part II.
Cecil André Mesritz, known professionally as André Morell, was an English actor. He appeared frequently in theatre, film and on television from the 1930s to the 1970s. His best known screen roles were as Professor Bernard Quatermass in the BBC Television serial Quatermass and the Pit (1958–59), and as Doctor Watson in the Hammer Film Productions version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959).
Waldo Brian Donlevy was an American actor, who was noted for playing dangerous and tough characters. Usually appearing in supporting roles, among his best-known films are Beau Geste (1939), The Great McGinty (1940) and Wake Island (1942). For his role as the sadistic Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Val Guest was an English film director and screenwriter. Beginning as a writer of comedy films, he is best known for his work for Hammer, for whom he directed 14 films, and for his science fiction films. He enjoyed a long career in the film industry from the early 1930s until the early 1980s.
Lois Collier was an American actress born in Salley, South Carolina. She was sometimes credited as Lois Collyer.
Monica Elizabeth "Mona" Freeman was an American actress and painter.
Anthony Frank Hinds, also known as Tony Hinds and John Elder, was an English screenwriter and producer.
Victoria Shaw was an Australian film and television actress.
Sir James Enrique Carreras was a British film producer and executive who, together with William Hinds, founded the British company Hammer Film Productions. His career spanned nearly 45 years, in multiple facets of the entertainment industry until retiring in 1972.
Marianne Stone was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone appeared in nine of the Carry On films, and took part in an episode of the Carry On Laughing television series. She also had supporting roles with comedian Norman Wisdom.
Robert Lenard Lippert was an American film producer and cinema chain owner. He was president and chief operating officer of Lippert Theatres, Affiliated Theatres and Transcontinental Theatres, all based in San Francisco, and at his height, he owned a chain of 139 movie theaters.
The Bandit Queen is a 1950 American Western film directed by William Berke. and starring Barbara Britton and Phillip Reed as the leaders of two Robin Hood types of bands.
James Needs was a British film editor associated with his work at Hammer Film Productions.
Myrna Dell was an American actress, model, and writer who appeared in numerous motion pictures and television programs over four decades. A Hollywood glamour girl in the early part of her career, she is best known today for her work in B-pictures, particularly film noir thrillers and Westerns.
Carole Mathews was an American film and television actress.
Robert B. Williams was an American character actor from the 1940s through the 1970s. During his 37-year career, he appeared in over 150 feature films, as well as numerous film shorts, television films, and television shows. He did not break into the film business until he was in his 30s.
Shep Comes Home is a 1948 American film written and directed by Ford Beebe for Lippert Pictures. It was a sequel to My Dog Shep (1946).
Edna Milton Holland was an American actress. Her stage, screen and television career lasted from the beginning of the 20th century to 1965.