Lynn Merrick (born Marilyn Llewelling, November 19, 1919 – March 25, 2007) was an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

who appeared in over 40 films during the 1940s, mainly for Columbia and Republic Studios.

Early life

Merrick was born Marilyn Llewelling on November 19, 1919 in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

Career

In the 1930s, she studied acting and worked as a model after moving to California. In 1940, she was one of thirteen women selected by the Motion Picture Publicists Association as a "Baby Star", a selection process which was meant to highlight the most promising new film stars. She made the bulk of her films during the 1940s, starring in 22 feature films for

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 ...

; 16 of these were Don Barry westerns. Her first Barry film was ''Two Gun Sheriff'', and her last was ''Fugutive from Senora''. She later worked for

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 ...

, where she starred in films alongside

Richard Dix Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

Chester Morris John Chester Brooks Morris (February 16, 1901 – September 11, 1970) was an American stage, film, television, and radio actor. He had some prestigious film roles early in his career, and received an Academy Award nomination for ''Alibi'' ( ...

, and

Warner Baxter Warner Leroy Baxter (March 29, 1889 – May 7, 1951) was an American film actor from the 1910s to the 1940s. Baxter is known for his role as the Cisco Kid in the 1928 film ''In Old Arizona'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor at ...

. Merrick retired from films after ''

Escape from Terror Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...

'' (1955), starring and directed by

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Charlie Chaplin's film classic ''The Kid'' (1921) made him one of the first child stars in the ...

. In 1948, Merrick and her husband at the time,

Conrad Nagel John Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 – February 24, 1970) was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1940 and ...

, appeared in

summer stock theater In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock t ...

in Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut. After retiring from acting, Merrick was an executive with the Barbizon School of Modeling.

Personal life

She was married and divorced twice. Her first marriage was to Nagel. They received an interlocutory decree on March 26, 1947, and the divorce became final on August 26, 1948. On October 26, 1949, she wed producer Robert Goelet, Jr. in Europe. Both unions were childless. In 1950, Merrick received emergency treatment at Santa Monical Hospital after taking an overdose of sleeping pills. A news story distributed by

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

described the overdose as "the climax to a spat with her husband, wealthy Robert Goelet." Merrick was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election. Merrick was of the

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

faith.

Death

Merrick died on March 25, 2007, aged 87, at her home in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

from undisclosed causes. She was

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

with her ashes scattered.

Filmography

References

B-Western Ladies, Lynn Merrick

External links

*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrick, Lynn 1919 births 2007 deaths American film actresses Actresses from Texas People from Fort Worth, Texas 20th-century American actresses California Democrats Texas Democrats Florida Democrats Baptists from the United States 20th-century Baptists 21st-century American women