Michelle Triola (November 13, 1932 – October 30, 2009) was an American woman notable for unsuccessfully suing actor

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alt ...

in 1977, having cohabited with him from 1965 to 1970. The trial, which brought about the concept of palimony, was widely covered in the media at the time. During this time, she was Michelle Triola Marvin, having legally changed her name to add Marvin's surname to her own. She was represented by attorney Marvin Mitchelson.

Personal life and career

Triola was born in Los Angeles. She never had children. She lived with actor Dick Van Dyke from 1976 until her death in 2009. Triola was married to actor Skip Ward for six months from November 1961 to June 1962. Triola majored in theater arts at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. She was a lounge singer and dancer. She danced in the original 1958

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production of ''

Flower Drum Song ''Flower Drum Song'' was the eighth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on the 1957 novel, '' The Flower Drum Song'', by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. It premiered on Broadway in 1958 and was then performed in the ...

'', directed by Gene Kelly. Her film acting career consisted of minor roles, including a stand-in in Marvin's 1965 film ''

Ship of Fools The ship of fools is an allegory, originating from Book VI of Plato's ''Republic'', about a ship with a dysfunctional crew. The allegory is intended to represent the problems of governance prevailing in a political system not based on expert kn ...

'' and a guest role on the Dick Van Dyke television series '' Diagnosis: Murder''.

Suing Lee Marvin

Although she and Marvin never married, Triola sought financial compensation similar to that available to spouses under California's

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial sup ...

and community property laws. The result was the landmark case ''Marvin v Marvin'', 18 Cal. 3d 660 (1976). The Supreme Court of California held that Triola could proceed with her suit, as it did state a cause of action and the trial court erred in granting judgment to Marvin on the pleadings. The case went to trial. On April 18, 1979, Judge Arthur K. Marshall ordered Marvin to pay $104,000 to Triola for "rehabilitation purposes", but denied her community property claim for one half of the $3.6 million which Marvin had earned during their six years of cohabitation. Both sides claimed victory, but in August 1981, the

California Court of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

ruled that Triola could not show any contract between her and Marvin to justify any payment to her. As a result, Triola received no money from Marvin.

Death

In April 2008, she underwent surgery for

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

. The cancer caused her death on October 30, 2009, at the home she shared with Van Dyke. She was 76 years old.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Triola, Michelle 1932 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American television actresses Deaths from lung cancer in California People from Greater Los Angeles UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women