Marilyn Maxwell was an actress and singer known for her sexy persona
She was born Marvel Marilyn Maxwell on August 3, 1920 in Clarinda, Iowa. When she was a child her parents divorced and her mother moved the family to Ft. Wayne, Indiana. At the age of seventeen she dropped out of high school so she could go on tour with Ted Weems' band. Marilyn often worked on the radio where she became known for her lovely singing voice. In 1942 she was signed by MGM and made her film debut in Stand By For Action. Then she appeared in the films Swing Fever and Three Men In White. With her platinum blonde hair and curvaceous figure she was usually cast as a sexy bombshell. She married John Conte, her co-star in Lost In A Harem, in 1944. The following year she began having an affair with Frank Sinatra. It ended when Frank's wife confronted her at a Christmas party. After divorcing her husband she married Anders McIntyre, a restaurant owner. Their marriage only lasted a year. Marilyn was cast opposite Bob Hope in the 1951 holiday movie The Lemon Drop Kid. Off screen she and Bob went on several USO trips to entertain the troops. They also started a love affair that lasted for years.
Their romance was so serious that their friends started calling her "Mrs. Bob Hope'. In 1954 she married her third husband, producer Jerry Davis. Two years later they had a son named Matt. During the 1950s she appeared on numerous television shows including The Red Skelton Hour and The Jimmy Durante Show. When critics started comparing her to Marilyn Monroe she replied "Hey, I'm the blonde with her clothes on." Her marriage to Jerry ended in 1960. One of her closest friends was gay actor Rock Hudson. She accompanied him to many events and let the press think she was his girlfriend. Marilyn landed a starring role in the television series Bus Stop but it was cancelled after one season. By the late 1960s her career was in trouble and she had to perform in nightclubs to make a living. Her final acting role was in a 1971 episode of O'Hara, U.S. Treasury. Tragically on March 20, 1972 she died from a heart attack. She was only fifty-one years old. Marilyn was cremated and her ashes were scattered at sea.
