Myrna Fahey
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Myrna Fahey (March 12, 1933 – May 6, 1973) was an American actress known for her role as Maria Crespo in '' Walt Disney's Zorro'' and as Madeline Usher in ''
The Fall of the House of Usher "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839 in ''Burton's Gentleman's Magazine'', then included in the collection ''Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque'' in 1840. The short story ...
''. She appeared in episodes of 37 television series from the 1950s into the 1970s, including '' Bonanza'', ''
Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...
'', ''
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Robert Colbert Robert Colbert is an American actor most noted for his leading role portraying Dr. Doug Phillips on the ABC television series ''The Time Tunnel'' and his two appearances as Brent Maverick, a third Maverick brother in the ABC/Warner Brothers ...
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James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy ...
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Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (November 30, 1918 – May 2, 2014) was an American actor known for his starring roles in the television series ''77 Sunset Strip'' and ''The F.B.I.'' He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the se ...
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George Reeves George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series '' Adventures of Superman'' (1952–1958). His death at age 45 from a g ...
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Kraft Suspense Theatre The ''Kraft Suspense Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced and broadcast from 1963 to 1965 on NBC. Sponsored by Kraft Foods, it was seen three weeks out of every four and was pre-empted for Perry Como's '' Kraft ...
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Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...
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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 ...
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Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas ''Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career included roles ...
, and '' Batman'' with Adam West and
Burt Ward Burt Ward (born Bert John Gervis Jr. , July 6, 1945) is an American actor, animal welfare activist and businessman. He played Dick Grayson's Robin, the sidekick of Batman (played by Adam West), in the television series ''Batman'' (1966–1968), ...
.


Early years

Myrna Elisabeth Fahey was born in
Carmel Carmel may refer to: * Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea * Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea * Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order Carmel may also ...
, Maine, near Bangor, the youngest of three children for Francis Edward Fahey and Olivia Newcomb. She attended Carmel Grammar School until age six, along with her older brothers. By early 1940 the family had moved to
Southwest Harbor Southwest Harbor is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. Located on Mount Desert Island, the population was 1,756 at the 2020 census. The municipality contains within it the villages of Southwest Harbor, Manset, Seawall, Wonderland, ...
, where her father took a job at the Manset Boat Yard. As a youngster she was active in the Girl Scouts, swimming, acrobatics, and took dancing lessons. Fahey did her secondary education at Pemetic High School in Southwest Harbor, where she performed in musicals, plays, and took part in public speaking events. Despite her short stature, she was athletic, outscoring all other girls in her school to win a state-level Girls Athletic Association award. She took part in her school's wilderness exploring club, was a cheerleader for four years, and captain of the girl's undefeated varsity basketball team.


Drama school and beauty pageants

She graduated from high school in June 1951 and worked briefly at a retail job in Bangor. The following October she enrolled at the
Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engage ...
Unable to find acting work after her drama school stint, she returned to Maine in late spring 1952. Having been chosen Miss Mount Desert Island 1950 and Miss Poultry Queen of Hancock County 1951 while in high school, she decided to enter the
Miss Maine The Miss Maine competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Maine in the Miss America pageant. Maine has been represented in the pageant since 1937, although the state has never produced a winner. Madison Leslie ...
pageant. At the state fair in August 1952, representing Bangor, she came in first runner-up to winner Norma Lee Collins. Fahey immediately entered another beauty pageant the following month, winning the Miss Maine Cosmetology 1952 title.


Start in television

Her placement in the Miss Maine contests brought her to the attention of Hollywood scouts. Encouraged by their overtures, she returned to California and found work at local television station KHJ 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' ...
. She served as one of the fashion model hostesses on ''
Queen for a Day ''Queen for a Day'' is an American radio and television game show that helped to usher in American listeners' and viewers' fascination with big-prize giveaway shows. ''Queen for a Day'' originated on the Mutual Radio Network on April 30, 1945, i ...
'' and did photo shoots and general publicity events for the station's advertisers and other programs. Her first real acting job was for a television
anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...
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Cavalcade of America ''Cavalcade of America'' is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented musicals, such as an adaptation of ''Show Boat'', and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially ...
'', appearing on episode "Margin for Victory". Fahey continued doing occasional work on KHJ through 1954. She also did fashion modeling for the
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 ...
department store. Her first real break came in March 1955 when
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 ...
gave her a small uncredited part in what was then called ''A Handful of Clouds'' but was later released as '' I Died a Thousand Times''. She did well enough in her first film that the studio also used her for its premiere television program, ''
Warner Brothers Presents ''Warner Bros. Presents'' is the umbrella title for three series that were telecast as part of the 1955-56 season on ABC: ''Cheyenne'', a new Western series that originated on ''Presents'', and two based on classic Warner Bros motion picture pro ...
''. This show had three rotating series; Myrna Fahey had a feature role in the first episode of '' King's Row'' starring Jack Kelly and Robert Horton.


Interlude

However, the Warners job finished during summer 1955, so Myrna Fahey committed to an extended publicity campaign for the title of Miss Rheingold. This commercial beauty contest lasted from August through October 1955. It featured six "finalists", all aspiring actresses, whom the general public could vote for at various venues around the country. Though she didn't win, Myrna Fahey received a lot of national publicity from personal appearances and newspaper photos. Publicity of a different sort came from syndicated columnist Harrison Carroll, who reported in December 1955 that she was at the Cocoanut Grove night club with
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
associate Nick Sevano. In January 1956, Myrna Fahey was selected to be a "Baby Star", a short-lived attempt to revive the old WAMPAS annual tradition. It fizzled, and so did Myrna's career for the rest of the year. She had no performing work, and was relegated to doing "hostess" bits for public events.


Breakthrough

With the beginning of 1957 Myrna had a steady stream of film and television work, though her roles in the former were still small and uncredited. She moved from Burbank to a large apartment in Beverly Hills that she shared with her mother, and registered as a Republican. ''
Matinee Theater ''Matinee Theater'' is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from October 31, 1955, to June 27, 1958. Its name is often seen as ''Matinee Theatre''. The series, which ran daily from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ...
'', an anthology series that presented a new hour-long movie every afternoon, was her mainstay for television work at this time. She did many of these live original productions during 1957, though the titles of some are no longer known. Myrna Fahey also did a lot of work for Disney Studios in the fall of 1957 that would not be released or broadcast until the following year. Starting about this time some columnists compared Myrna Fahey's looks with Elizabeth Taylor, though Myrna had bright green eyes quite unlike Taylor's distinctive violet. At the end of 1957 Myrna Fahey had her first professional stage role, with a principal part in the Pasadena Playhouse production of ''Holiday for Lovers'', later made into a 1959 film. Reviewer Franklin Argyle said "Myrna Fahey (Betsy Dean) is a fine actress confined to a lightweight part".


Later life

Fahey became an avid skier in California. She invested in stocks and one of her contracts stipulated that she have a stock ticker in her dressing room. In addition to dating baseball player
Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...
, she dated actor George Hamilton. Fahey became the subject of death threats while dating baseball great Joe DiMaggio in 1964. The FBI determined the threats came from a patient at the
Agnews Developmental Center Agnews Developmental Center was a psychiatric and medical care facility, located in Santa Clara, California. In 1885, the center, originally known as "The Great Asylum for the Insane", was established as a facility for the care of the mentally ill ...
, a mental hospital in San Jose, California. Apparently the patient could not bear to see DiMaggio with anyone other than
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
, who died in 1962. Fahey died on May 6, 1973, at age 40, at St. John's Hospital in
Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
, after a long battle with cancer. She is buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in
Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...
.


Film and television work

Fahey complained in a 1960 interview that she was being typecast in "good girl" roles because of what directors called her "moral overtones," even though she wanted to play darker and more complicated characters. She had worked in many Westerns in the late 1950s, usually in the role of the sheriff's daughter, including an appearance on '' Gunsmoke'' in 1958 (an episode entitled: "Innocent Broad"). She also appeared in a supporting role in " Duel at Sundown", a notable episode of ''Maverick'' with
James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy ...
featuring Clint Eastwood as a trigger-happy villain. In another appearance in ‘‘Maverick’’ she starred as Dee Cooper, the owner of a cattle ranch, in conflict with Maverick’s herd of sheep. She starred in two episodes of ''
Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...
'', "The Jane Hawkins Story" (1960) and "The Melanie Craig Story" (1964), and an episode of '' Straightaway'', "Troubleshooter," in 1961. Her image branched out in the 1960s, helped by ''House of Usher'' and a role on the
Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...
TV series '' Thriller'' that same year entitled "Girl with a Secret". Even her Western parts became "darker." After a rough love scene in the 1960 episode of '' Bonanza'' "Breed of Violence", in which she cut her lip, the cast presented her with an award for "Best Slapper in a Filmed Series". Fahey's most sustained television work was a starring role in the one-season (1961–62) series ''
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'', based on a film of the same name starring
Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...
and Elizabeth Taylor. Fahey likely got the role because, as one newspaper reviewer pointed out, she "looks enough like Liz Taylor to be her sister." Fahey was not flattered by the comparison, however, telling one interviewer "the fact that I'm supposed to look like Elizabeth Whats-Her-Name had nothing to do with my getting he part because we don't really look alike I don't think, we just happen to have the same colorings." Fahey wanted to be released from the show even before it came up for renewal, reportedly feeling too much emphasis was being placed on the "father" character and not enough on her "bride".''Youngstown Vindicator'', Mar 19, 1962, p. 14 She also portrayed Jennifer Ivers on the TV version of '' Peyton Place''. Fahey made four guest appearances on the drama series ''
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 ...
'': Lydia Logan in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Nimble Nephew"; defendant Grace Halley in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Violent Vest"; murder victim Myrna Warren in the 1965 episode "The Case of the Gambling Lady"; and defendant Holly Andrews in the 1966 episode "The Case of the Midnight Howler". In 1966, she played Blaze in the '' Batman'' episodes " True or False-Face" and " Holy Rat Race".


Filmography


References


External links

* *
Myrna Fahey on ''Zorro''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahey, Myrna 1933 births 1973 deaths American film actresses American television actresses Burials in Maine People from Penobscot County, Maine People from Mount Desert Island 20th-century American actresses Deaths from cancer in California