Marli Renfro
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Marli Renfro (born April 3, 1938 in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
) is an American former showgirl, model,
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...
cover girl A cover girl is a woman whose photograph features on the front cover of a magazine. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a casual, once-off appearance by a person on the cover of a maga ...
and actress. She was the
body double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...
for
Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...
in the shower scene of the 1960 film '' Psycho''.


Early career

Renfro, described as a free spirit with a lifelong commitment to nudism, appeared in many
men's magazines This is a list of magazines primarily marketed to men. The list has been split into subcategories according to the target audience of the magazines. This list includes mostly mainstream magazines as well as adult ones. Not included here are autom ...
including ''Ace'', ''Adam'', ''Beau'', ''Dude'', ''Escapade'', ''Follies'', ''Gala'' and '' Modern Man''. She also appeared on the cover of the September 1960 edition of ''Playboy''. Renfro spent some time working as a showgirl in Las Vegas, and also worked as a
Playboy Bunny A Playboy Bunny is a waitress who works at a Playboy Club and selected through standardized training. Their costumes were made up of lingerie, inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot. This costume consisted of a strapless corset te ...
.


Film career

Unperturbed by working nude, Renfro was hired as the
body double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...
for the actress
Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...
in
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's 1960 film '' Psycho''. She was paid $500. The shower scene in ''Psycho'' is considered one of the most famous scenes in cinema history. It features more than 50 camera cuts in three minutes and took six days to film. Although nudity is implied in the rapid cuts, none is seen. Hitchcock and Leigh initially maintained that only Leigh appeared in the shower. Only later did Hitchcock acknowledge that when Leigh's face is seen it is her, otherwise it is Renfro. Although Leigh's account of the shower scene says all the actual shower footage in the film was of her and the only time Renfro was used was in an overhead shot that was eventually cut due to censors' concerns Renfro subsequently appeared in
Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...
's 1962 film '' Tonight for Sure''. Decades later, Renfro was interviewed and featured in ''78/52'', director
Alexandre O. Philippe Alexandre O. Philippe is a Swiss film director whose films include the documentaries '' Doc of the Dead'', '' The People vs. George Lucas'', and ''78/52''. Philippe is Creative Director and co-owner of Denver-based Cinema Vertige and his most re ...
's 2017 documentary film that examines ''Psycho'' and the shower scene.


Confusion regarding death

During the filming of ''Psycho'', Janet Leigh also had a
stand-in A stand-in for film and television is a person who substitutes for the actor before filming, for technical purposes such as lighting and camera setup. Stand-ins are helpful in the initial processes of film and television production. Stand-ins a ...
to check lighting. Her name was Myra Davis, also known as Myra Jones. In 1988 Davis was raped and murdered by her neighbor and handyman Kenneth Dean Hunt. Possibly due to fascination with the shower scene, sections of the media confused Davis's role and published that she had been Leigh's body double. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
went further and not only asserted that Davis was Leigh's body double, but also that Davis was the voice of
Norman Bates Norman Bates is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch as the main antagonist in his 1959 thriller novel '' Psycho''. He has an alter, Mother, who takes from the form of his abusive mother, and later victim, Norma, wh ...
' mother, although this character had been voiced by
Virginia Gregg Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
and
Jeanette Nolan Jeanette Nolan (December 30, 1911 – June 5, 1998) was an American actress. Nominated for four Emmy Awards, she had roles in the television series '' The Virginian'' (1962–1971) and ''Dirty Sally'' (1974), and in films such as ''Macbeth'' ...
. In his 2002 book ''Body Double'', author Don Lasseter compounded the confusion and wrote that Davis and Renfro were the same person, meaning that Renfro was dead. Author
Robert Graysmith Robert Graysmith (born Robert Gray Smith; September 17, 1942) is an American true crime author and former cartoonist. He is known for his work on the Zodiac killer case. Career Graysmith worked as a political cartoonist for the ''San Francisc ...
, who had a lifelong fascination with Renfro, noted a comment by Davis's granddaughter that Davis would never have done nude work. He set out to find Renfro and discovered that she was living in California. He subsequently wrote a book, ''The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower'' (2010), about Renfro's role in ''Psycho'' and the confusion over Davis's death.


Personal life

Renfro married and is known as Marli Renfro Peterson. She has lived in the
Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...
since 1970.


References


Further reading

* Graysmith, Robert (2010), ''The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower'' * Rebello, Stephen (1990), ''
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho ''Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho'' is a 1990 non-fiction book by Stephen Rebello. It details the creation of director Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller ''Psycho (1960 film), Psycho''. The 2012 American Biographical film, biographical d ...
''


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Renfro, Marli 1938 births 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles American female models Living people 21st-century American women