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.

Early years

Born on December 24, 1927, in Los Angeles, California, to Louis and Margaret de Maria, Martell was active in athletics in high school and attended

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus ...

Career

Martell began her film career in 1947 when she was cast in the

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

western ''

Apache Rose ''Apache Rose'' is a 1947 American Trucolor Western film directed by William Witney and starring Roy Rogers. It was the first Roy Rogers Western shot in the process though most copies on DVD are in monochrome. Plot When oil is discovered on a ...

'', starring

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

and

Dale Evans Dale Evans Rogers (born Frances Octavia Smith; October 31, 1912 – February 7, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She was the third wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers. Early life Evans was born Frances Octavia Smith on Oc ...

. She continued making appearances throughout the late 1940s, signing a contract with

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. In 1951,

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

signed her to play the female lead opposite

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

in ''Hills of Utah''. By the time the 1950s arrived, Martell's career shifted towards television. She portrayed Marie DiPaolo in ''

The Bob Cummings Show ''The Bob Cummings Show'' (also known in reruns as ''Love That Bob'') is an American sitcom starring Bob Cummings, which was broadcast from January 2, 1955, to September 15, 1959. The program began with a half-season run on NBC, then ran for two ...

'' and appeared in shows such as ''

Shotgun Slade ''Shotgun Slade'' is an American western mystery television series starring Scott Brady that aired seventy-eight episodes in syndication from 1959 to 1961 Created by Frank Gruber, the stories were written by John Berardino, Charissa Hughes, and ...

'', ''

Cavalcade of America ''Cavalcade of America'' is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented musicals, such as an adaptation of ''Show Boat'', and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially ...

'', ''

The Range Rider ''The Range Rider'' is an American Western television series that was first broadcast in syndication from 1951 to 1953. A single lost episode surfaced and was broadcast in 1959. ''The Range Rider'' was also broadcast on British television during ...

'', ''

Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was born to ...

'' and ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

''. Martell was also in ''

Project Moonbase ''Project Moonbase'' (a.k.a. ''Project Moon Base'') is a 1953 independently made black-and-white science fiction film, produced by Jack Seaman, directed by Richard Talmadge, and starring Ross Ford, Donna Martell, Hayden Rorke. It co-stars Larry ...

'' (also known as Project Moon Base), a 1953 black-and-white science-fiction film directed by

Richard Talmadge Richard Talmadge (born Sylvester Alphonse Metz; 3 December 1892 – 25 January 1981) also known as Sylvester Metzetti, Ricardo Metzetti, or Sylvester Ricardo Metzetti, was a German-born actor, stuntman and film director. Early life Born in ...

. 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 that has made the first orbital flight around the Earth four years earlier and outranks her fellow male astronaut, who is a major. Colonel Briteis' given name is never stated. Donna Martell's acting career officially ended in 1963; but made a brief comeback in the 1983 TV movie ''

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 ...

,'' 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. Donna Martell appeared in a television episode of ''Hopalong Cassidy'' as a Mexican sister trying to save her wrongfully accused brother.

Personal life

Martell married professional baseball player Gene Edgar Corso on June 27, 1953. The couple had three children. Corso pre-deceased his wife in 1996.

Awards

Martell was presented one of the 2002

Golden Boot Awards 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 ...

for her contributions to western television and cinema.

Filmography

Television

*''

The Adventures of Kit Carson ''The Adventures of Kit Carson'' is an American Western that aired from 1951 to 1955. The show ran for four seasons and consisted of 104 episodes over four years. The original air date was Saturday, August 11, 1951. It concluded on January 22, 19 ...

'' (1952-1953) five characters in seven episodes *''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'' (1952) "She Burns Green" - Rosie Winters; (1955) "The Valencia Cake" - Charlita *'' The Lineup'' (1955) "Girl Safecrackers" *'' The West Point Story'' (1957) two different episodes *'' The Lineup'' (1958) "The Pawn Ticket Case" *''

'' (1960) as Maria, in television episode "Home Is the Brave" - Maria Prescott *''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television Private investigator#PIs in fiction, private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith (actor), Roger Smith, Richard Long (actor), Richard Long (fr ...

'' (1961) "Hot Tomale Caper", Two-part episode - Maria Rodriguez *''

Tales of Wells Fargo ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' is an American Western television series starring Dale Robertson that ran from 1957 to 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season, when it expanded to ...

'' (1961, Episode: "John Jones") - Zita Lopez *''

Hawaiian Eye ''Hawaiian Eye'' is an American detective television series that ran from October 1959 to April 1963 on the ABC television network. Premise Private investigator Tracy Steele (Anthony Eisley) and his half-Hawaiian partner, Tom Lopaka (Robert Con ...

'' (1962) "Pursuit of a Lady - Maria Orello *''

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 ...

'' (1963) "Toy Soldier" Esther Callahan

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martell, Donna 1927 births Living people American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Los Angeles 20th-century American actresses Western (genre) film actresses Los Angeles City College alumni