Marguerite Chapman (March 9, 1918 – August 31, 1999) was an American film and television actress.

Biography

Born in

Chatham, New York Chatham is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 4,104 at the 2020 census, down from the 2010 census. The town has a village also called Chatham on its southern town line. The town is at the northern border of ...

, Chapman was working as a telephone

switchboard operator In the early days of telephony, companies used manual telephone switchboards, and switchboard operators connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks. They were gradually phased out and replaced by automated system ...

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

when her good looks brought about the opportunity to pursue a career in

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

ing. Signed by the John Robert Powers Agency in New York City, she modeled in product advertisements that ran nationally. During that year of modeling she was made aware that producer

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in t ...

was in New York screening for a new movie he planned to make. Unannounced, she went to Hughes and asked for a chance to be in his picture. He gave her a screen test, which went well. Though Hughes never did film the movie, he showed the screen test to a number of Hollywood studio executives. She signed with

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 ...

and moved to Hollywood in late 1939. She went on to be placed under contract with

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

in 1941, and then with

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

from 1942 to 1948. She made her film debut in 1940, working for the next two years in small roles. In 1942, her big break came with

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 a ...

when she was cast in the leading female role in the twelve-part

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

serial '' Spy Smasher'', a production that has been ranked among the best serials ever made. Chapman soon began receiving more leading roles and appeared opposite important stars such as

Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...

and

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...

. With America's entry in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, she entertained the troops, worked for the

War bond War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are ...

drive and at the

Hollywood Canteen The Hollywood Canteen operated at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard in the Los Angeles, California, neighborhood of Hollywood between October 3, 1942, and November 22, 1945 (Thanksgiving Day), as a club offering food, dancing and entertainment for serv ...

. She also starred in the famous pro-Soviet war film ''

Counter-Attack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...

'', released in 1945. In 1950, she starred opposite war-hero-turned-actor,

Audie Murphy Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was an American soldier, actor and songwriter. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. He received every military combat award for valor available from t ...

, in ''

Kansas Raiders ''Kansas Raiders'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Ray Enright, and stars Audie Murphy, Brian Donlevy, Marguerite Chapman, and Scott Brady. It is set during the American Civil War and involves Jesse James coming under the influence ...

.'' She has the distinction of being the actress who gave Audie Murphy his first on-screen kiss. During the 1950s, Chapman performed mostly in secondary film roles, including ''

The Seven Year Itch ''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, from a screenplay he co-wrote with George Axelrod from the 1952 three-act play. The film stars Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, who reprised his stage rol ...

''. In the early 1960s she appeared on television shows including '' Rawhide'', ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'', and ''

Four Star Playhouse ''Four Star Playhouse'' is an American anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956. Four Star Playhouse was owned by Four Star International. Its episodes ranged anywhere from surreal mysteries, such as "The Man on the Train", to light comedie ...

''. Outside of acting, Chapman was a

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

whose work was featured at the Beverly Hills Art League Gallery. She was also a Democrat who supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election. Chapman was reportedly asked to audition for the role of "Old Rose" Dawson-Calvert in the 1997

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post- New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability ...

epic ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...

'' but was prevented by poor health. For her contribution on television, Marguerite Chapman has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

at 6284 Hollywood Boulevard. Marguerite Chapman died August 31, 1999, aged 81, and was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California. Her funeral was held on September 4, 1999, at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in North Hollywood, California, where she was a parishioner.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Photographs and literature

by

Ned Scott Ned Scott (April 16, 1907 – November 24, 1964) was an American photographer who worked in the Hollywood film industry as a still photographer from 1935–1948. As a member of the Camera Club of New York from 1930–34, he was heavily influ ...

Marguerite Chapman
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Marguerite 1918 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from California Actresses from New York (state) Female models from California American film actresses American television actresses Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City People from Chatham, New York Warner Bros. contract players Female models from New York (state) Western (genre) film actresses Western (genre) television actors 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American painters California Democrats New York (state) Democrats Catholics from New York (state)