Dina Merrill (born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton; December 29, 1923 – May 22, 2017) was an American actress, heiress, socialite, businesswoman, and philanthropist.

Early life

Merrill was born in New York City on December 29, 1923, but for many years, her date of birth was given as December 9, 1925. She was the only child of

Post Cereals Post Consumer Brands (previously Post Cereals and Postum Cereals; also known as simply "Post") is an American breakfast cereal manufacturer headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota. The company, founded in 1895 by C. W. Post, owns a large portfoli ...

heiress

Marjorie Merriweather Post Marjorie Merriweather Post (March 15, 1887 – September 12, 1973) was an American businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist. She was also the owner of General Foods Corporation. Post used much of her fortune to collect art, particularly I ...

and her second husband,

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

stockbroker

Edward Francis Hutton Edward Francis Hutton (September 7, 1875 – July 11, 1962) was an American financier and co-founder of E. F. Hutton & Co., once one of the largest financial firms in the United States. Early life Hutton was born in Manhattan, New York City, the ...

, founder of E. F. Hutton & Co. Merrill had two older half-sisters, Adelaide Brevoort Close (July 26, 1908 – December 31, 1998) and Eleanor Post Hutton (December 3, 1909 – November 27, 2006), by her mother's first marriage to Edward Bennett Close, grandfather of actress

Glenn Close Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...

. Merrill graduated from

Miss Porter's School Miss Porter's School (MPS) is an elite American private college preparatory school for girls founded in 1843, and located in Farmington, Connecticut. The school draws students from 21 states, 31 countries (with dual-citizenship and/or residence), ...

, then attended George Washington University in Washington, DC for one term, but then enrolled at the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...

in New York City. She studied acting at

HB Studio The HB Studio (Herbert Berghof Studio) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization offering professional training in the performing arts through classes, workshops, free lectures, theater productions, theater rentals, a theater artist residency progra ...

under

Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a ...

Acting career

On advice from her half-sister's (then) husband, she adopted the stage name Dina Merrill, borrowing from

Charles E. Merrill Charles Edward Merrill (October 19, 1885 – October 6, 1956) was an American philanthropist, stockbroker, and co-founder, with Edmund C. Lynch, of Merrill Lynch (previously called Charles E. Merrill & Co.). Early years Charles E. Merrill, th ...

, a famous stockbroker like her father. Merrill made her debut on the stage in the play ''The Mermaid Singing'' in 1945. During the late 1950s and 1960s, Merrill was believed to have been marketed as a replacement for

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

, and in 1959, she was proclaimed "Hollywood's new Grace Kelly". Merrill's film credits included ''

Desk Set ''Desk Set'' (released as ''His Other Woman'' in the UK) is a 1957 American romantic comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The screenplay was written by Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron from the 1955 p ...

'' (1957), ''

A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed ''A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed'' is a 1958 American comedy film directed by Henry Levin and written by Sydney Boehm. The film stars Tom Ewell, Mickey Rooney, Mickey Shaughnessy, Dina Merrill, Madge Kennedy and Frances Bavier. The fil ...

'' (1958), '' Don't Give Up the Ship'' (1959), ''

Operation Petticoat ''Operation Petticoat'' is a 1959 American World War II submarine comedy film in Eastmancolor from Universal-International, produced by Robert Arthur, directed by Blake Edwards, that stars Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. The film tells in fla ...

'' (1959, with

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

, who had been married to her cousin, Woolworth heiress

Barbara Hutton Barbara Woolworth Hutton (November 14, 1912 – May 11, 1979) was an American debutante, socialite, heiress, and philanthropist. She was dubbed the "Poor Little Rich Girl"—first when she was given a lavish and expensive debutante ball in 1930 a ...

), '' The Sundowners'' (1960), ''

Butterfield 8 ''BUtterfield 8'' is a 1960 American drama film directed by Daniel Mann, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey. Taylor won her first Academy Award for her performance in a leading role. The film was based on a 1935 novel of the same na ...

'' (1960), ''

The Young Savages ''The Young Savages'' is a 1961 American crime drama film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Burt Lancaster. It was written by Edward Anhalt from a novel by Evan Hunter. The supporting cast includes Dina Merrill, Shelley Winters, and E ...

'' (1961), ''

The Courtship of Eddie's Father ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father'' is an American sitcom based on the 1963 film of the same name, which was based on a novel by Mark Toby (edited by Dorothy Wilson). The series is about a widower, Tom Corbett (played by Bill Bixby), who is a ...

'' (1963), ''

I'll Take Sweden ''I'll Take Sweden'' is a 1965 American comedy film directed by Frederick de Cordova, and starring Bob Hope, Frankie Avalon, and Tuesday Weld. Plot Single father Bob Holcomb, a widower, is unhappy with the guitar-playing boy Kenny his daughter ...

'' (1965), '' The Greatest'' (1977), '' A Wedding'' (1978), ''

Just Tell Me What You Want ''Just Tell Me What You Want'' is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Sidney Lumet. It stars Ali MacGraw, Peter Weller and Alan King, and was also Myrna Loy's final film. The screenplay by Jay Presson Allen, adapted from her novel, won he ...

'' (1980), '' Anna to the Infinite Power'' (1983), '' Twisted'' (1986), ''

Caddyshack II ''Caddyshack II'' is a 1988 American sports comedy film and a sequel to the 1980 film ''Caddyshack''. Directed by Allan Arkush and written by Harold Ramis (who co-wrote and directed the original ''Caddyshack'') and PJ Torokvei, it stars Jackie ...

'' (1988), ''

Fear Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...

'' (1990), '' True Colors'' (1991), '' The Player'' (1992), '' Suture'' (1993), and '' Shade'' (2003). She also appeared in made-for-TV movies, such as ''

Seven in Darkness ''Seven in Darkness'' is an American made-for-TV adventure film directed by Michael Caffey and based on the novel ''Against Heaven's Hand'' by Leonard Bishop. The premiere entry in the 1969–76 series ABC Movie of the Week, it was broadcast on S ...

'' (1969), ''

The Lonely Profession ''The Lonely Profession'', also known as ''The Savarona Syndrome'', is a 1969 American crime drama television film directed and written by Douglas Heyes, based on his 1963 novel ''The Twelfth of Never''. It stars Harry Guardino as Leo Gordon, a ...

'' (1969), '' Family Flight'' (1972), and '' The Tenth Month'' (1979). Merrill appeared in numerous television series in the 1960s, such as playing the villain Calamity Jan in two 1968 episodes of ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'' with then-husband

Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film '' PT 109'', and won the 196 ...

. She also made guest appearances on two ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

'' episodes as Susannah Clauson, ''

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was re ...

'' episode "Bonfire" (1962), '' The Investigators'', ''

The Bold Ones ''The Bold Ones'' is the umbrella title for several television series. It was produced by Universal Television and broadcast on NBC from 1969 to 1973. It was a wheel format series, an NBC programming approach also used by that network in serie ...

'', ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. It ...

'' (1964), '' Mission: Impossible'', ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...

''; ''

Quincy, M.E. ''Quincy, M.E.'' (also called ''Quincy'') is an American mystery medical drama television series from Universal Studios that aired on NBC from October 3, 1976, to May 11, 1983. Jack Klugman starred in the title role as a Los Angeles County med ...

''; ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

''; '' Roseanne'', and ''

The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from Flushing, Queens, New York, who becomes the nanny of three chi ...

'', as Maxwell Sheffield's disapproving and distant British mother. In 1971, Merrill appeared as Laura Duff in ''The Men from Shiloh'' (rebranded name for the TV Western '' The Virginian'') in the episode titled "The Angus Killer". Her stage credits include the 1983 Broadway revival of the

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart ...

musical ''

On Your Toes ''On Your Toes'' (1936) is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939. While teaching music at Knickerbocker University, Phil "Junior" Dol ...

'', starring Russian prima ballerina

Natalia Makarova Natalia Romanovna Makarova (russian: Ната́лия Рома́новна Мака́рова, born 21 November 1940) is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. ''The History of Dance'', published in 1981, notes that "her performances set ...

. In 1991, she appeared in the rotating cast of the off-Broadway staged reading of '' Wit & Wisdom''. Dina Merrill & Bobby Short

In 1991, Merrill and her third husband Ted Hartley merged their company Pavilion Communications with RKO to form

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

, which owns the intellectual property of the RKO Radio Pictures movie studio. In the 1960s and 1970s, Merrill was a recurring guest on several network television game and panel shows, including ''

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelist ...

'', '' To Tell the Truth'', ''

What's My Line ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

'', and ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debuted in 1966 on the ...

''.

Board memberships

Merrill was a presidential appointee to the board of trustees of the

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

, a trustee of the

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. It is commonly referred to as The O'Neill. The center has received two Tony Awards, the 1979 Special Awa ...

, and a vice president of the New York City Mission Society. In 1980, Merrill joined the board of directors of her father's E. F. Hutton & Co., continuing on the board and the compensation committee of

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, a ...

when it acquired Hutton, for over 18 years.

Personal life

Merrill was married three times. In 1946, she wed Stanley M. Rumbough Jr., an heir to the

Colgate-Palmolive Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in the production, distribution, and provision of household, health car ...

toothpaste fortune and entrepreneur. They had three children, Nedenia Colgate Rumbough; David Post Rumbough; and Stanley Rumbough, III, before divorcing in 1966. Later that year, she wed actor

, with whom she had a daughter, Heather Robertson. The couple divorced in 1986. In 1989, she married producer

Ted Hartley Theodore Ringwalt Hartley (born November 6, 1924) is a U.S. Navy fighter pilot, investment banker, actor, film producer, and is currently CEO of RKO Pictures. He was married to heiress, actress and philanthropist Dina Merrill until her death in ...

. On May 22, 2017, Merrill died at her home in East Hampton, New York at age 93. She had been suffering from

dementia with Lewy bodies Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a type of dementia characterized by changes in sleep, behavior, cognition, movement, and regulation of automatic bodily functions. Memory loss is not always an early symptom. The disease worsens over time an ...

. Two of Merrill's four children predeceased her.

Honors

Merrill received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award, in 1994, and a lifetime achievement award from the

in April 2005.

Filmography

Feature films

Television films

Television

References

External links

*
In Step with: Dina Merrill
news.google.com; accessed 2014-07-09.

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People ...

1981-07-31 {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrill, Dina 1923 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New York City American billionaires American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Philanthropists from New York (state) American socialites American debutantes California Republicans Deaths from dementia in New York (state) Deaths from Lewy body dementia Florida Republicans George Washington University alumni Hutton family Miss Porter's School alumni New York (state) Republicans People from Palm Beach, Florida