Madge Meredith (born Marjorie May Massow; July 15, 1921 – September 16, 2017) was an American film actress who appeared in numerous films and television series between 1944 and 1964. However, she may have been best known for her

wrongful conviction A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Inno ...

for kidnapping.

Early years

Meredith was born Marjorie May Massow in

Iowa Falls, Iowa Iowa Falls is a city in Hardin County, Iowa, United States. Iowa Falls is the home of Ellsworth Community College. It is also a regional transportation center, located along U.S. Routes 20 and 65 and the Canadian National and Union Pacific Rail ...

, the middle child of five. Her father F.A. Massow was a construction superintendent. She focused on dramatics in high school, which helped her manage her

stammer Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

. She received a tuition-only scholarship to the Rice School of the Theater in

Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the ...

. Because her family's funds were limited, Meredith worked at the school to pay for her room and board. In 1941, Meredith and her family moved to

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

in hopes of finding work for her in films. In June 1943, a friend helped her obtain a job in a coffee shop at the

20th Century-Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

studios.

Career

Actress

Jennifer Jones Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned over five decades, she was nominated ...

noticed Meredith at the coffee shop's cashier desk the late summer of 1943 and invited her to take a

screen test A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a came ...

. The test was successful, and after undergoing

rhinoplasty Rhinoplasty ( grc, ῥίς, rhī́s, nose + grc, πλάσσειν, plássein, to shape), commonly called nose job, medically called nasal reconstruction is a plastic surgery procedure for altering and reconstructing the nose. There are two typ ...

to correct a perceived problem with her nose, she signed a film contract with 20th Century-Fox. Her first film appearance came as the female lead in '' Take It or Leave It'' (1944). She was billed as Marjorie Massow in ''Take It or Leave It'' and her following film, ''

In the Meantime, Darling ''In the Meantime, Darling'' is a 1944 American drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Arthur Kober and Michael Uris focuses on a wealthy war bride (Jeanne Crain) who is forced to adjust to living in spartan condit ...

''. She changed her name to Madge Meredith in 1945. In 1946, after an uncredited appearance in the previous year's '' Kitty'', Meredith signed a contract with

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 ...

. She soon had roles in ''

Child of Divorce ''Child of Divorce'' is a 1946 American film directed by Richard O. Fleischer. It was the first film that he directed. RKO had adapted the play to film before as the 1934 film ''Wednesday's Child (film), Wednesday's Child''. Plot summary Young Ro ...

'' (1946), ''

The Falcon's Adventure ''The Falcon's Adventure'' is a 1946 film. It is the 13th of 16 films about the Falcon and the final film of RKO's Falcon series starring Tom Conway. It was directed by William Berke, who had served as producer for the previous entry in the ser ...

'' (1946) and '' Trail Street'' (1947). Following her conviction and imprisonment related to a kidnapping case, Meredith resumed her career in 1952, appearing in uncredited roles in '' To Hell and Back'' (1955), '' Tea and Sympathy'' (1956), ''

The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

'' (1956) and ''

The Guns of Fort Petticoat ''The Guns of Fort Petticoat'' is a 1957 American Western film produced by Harry Joe Brown and Audie Murphy for Brown-Murphy Pictures. It was based on the 1955 short story "Petticoat Brigade" by Chester William Harrison (1913–1994) that he exp ...

'' (1957), her final feature film. Following her film career, Meredith appeared on many television series such as ''

Sea Hunt ''Sea Hunt'' is an American action adventure television series that aired in syndication from 1958 to 1961 and was popular for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced. It stars Lloyd Bridges as ...

'', ''

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...

'', ''

Tales of the Vikings ''Tales of the Vikings'' is an American first-run syndicated television series, first telecast on 8 September 1959 and ran through June 2, 1960. The series was produced by Kirk Douglas' production company, Brynaprod. Plot Set in tenth century Sca ...

'', ''

The Best of the Post ''The Best of the Post'' is a syndicated anthology drama television series adapted from stories published in the '' Saturday Evening Post'' magazine. It was produced by John J. Enders and hosted by John Conte. A total of 26 half-hour episodes, ...

'' and ''

The Littlest Hobo ''The Littlest Hobo'' is a Canadian television series (French title: ''Le Vagabond'') based upon a 1958 well-known film of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, and was revived for ...

''.

Kidnapping case

On July 2, 1947, a warrant was issued for Meredith's arrest charging her and three men with the kidnapping and beating of Nick Gianaclis, Meredith's business manager and Verne Davis, his bodyguard. Meredith denied involvement in the kidnapping and claimed that Gianaclis was trying to exact revenge after she had sued him over the purchase of a house, a lawsuit that was decided in her favor. She also claimed that he became angry when she resisted his romantic advances. On December 12, 1947, the jury in a four-week trial found Meredith and two codefendants guilty of five felony charges. Meredith proclaimed her innocence, but her attorney's motion for a new trial was denied. Her conviction was upheld by both the district appeals court and the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

. On May 9, 1949, Meredith entered the

California Correctional Institution California Correctional Institution (CCI) is a supermax state prison in the city of Tehachapi in southern California. CCI is sometimes referred to as "Tehachapi prison" or "Tehachapi".Pepper, Art, and Laurie Pepper. ''Straight Life: The Story o ...

near Tehachapi to begin serving her sentence. In March 1951, the parole board recommended Meredith's released after it decided that she had been unjustly convicted. An interim committee on crime and corrections of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

issued a report concluding: "The case of Miss Meredith, from beginning to end, is a mockery of investigation, of defense counseling, of trial procedure, and of justice itself." On July 14, 1951, California's governor

Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presided over a major shift in American constitution ...

ordered Meredith's release from prison, commuting her sentence to time served. He observed: "This is a bizarre case, perhaps more fantastic than any moving picture in which the defendant acted, but certainly having many of the attributes of a scenario."

Personal life

On September 29, 1953, Meredith married Dr. Charles L. Corley of Los Angeles. She later married Mack Hatayama.

Later years

After retiring from acting, Meredith devoted her time to helping other victims of injustice. She died at her home in Volcano, Hawaii in 2017 at the age of 96, survived by her husband, a son and a daughter.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meredith, Madge 1921 births 2017 deaths People from Iowa Falls, Iowa American film actresses 21st-century American women