Dina Merrill (born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton; December 29, 1923 – May 22, 2017) was an American actress. She had more than a hundred film and television credits from the late 1950s until 2000s. She married three times.

Early life

Merrill was born in New York City on December 29, 1923, but for many years, her date of birth was given as December 9, 1925. She was the only child of

Post Cereals Post Consumer Brands, LLC (previously Post Cereals and Postum Cereals; also known simply as Post) is an American consumer packaged goods food manufacturer headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota. The company, founded in 1895 by C. W. Post, own ...

heiress

Marjorie Merriweather Post Marjorie Merriweather Post (March 15, 1887 – September 12, 1973) was an American businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist. She was the daughter of C. W. Post and the owner of General Foods, General Foods Corporation. For much of Post's l ...

and her second husband,

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

stockbroker Edward Francis Hutton, founder of E. F. Hutton & Co. Merrill had two older half-sisters, Adelaide Brevoort Close (July 26, 1908 – December 31, 1998) and Eleanor Post Hutton (December 3, 1909 – November 27, 2006), by her mother's first marriage to Edward Bennett Close, grandfather of actress

Glenn Close Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning over five decades on Glenn Close on screen and stage, screen and stage, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Glenn Close, numerous ac ...

. Merrill was also first cousin—and first cousin once removed, respectively—to heiress

Barbara Hutton Barbara Woolworth Hutton (November 14, 1912 – May 11, 1979) was an American debutante, socialite, heiress and philanthropist. She was dubbed the "Poor Little Rich Girl"—first when she was given a lavish and expensive debutante ball in 1930 ...

and her son Lance Reventlow. Merrill graduated from

Miss Porter's School Miss Porter's School (MPS) is a private college preparatory school for girls founded in 1843 in Farmington, Connecticut. The school draws students from many of the 50 U.S. states, as well as from abroad. International students comprised 14% i ...

, then attended George Washington University in Washington, DC for one term, but then enrolled at the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...

in New York City. She studied acting at

HB Studio The HB Studio (Herbert Berghof Studio) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization offering professional training in the performing arts through classes, workshops, free lectures, theater productions, theater rentals, a theater artist residency prog ...

under

Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a ...

Acting career

On advice from her half-sister's (then) husband, she adopted the stage name Dina Merrill, borrowing from Charles E. Merrill, a famous stockbroker like her father. Merrill made her debut on the stage in the play ''The Mermaid Singing'' in 1945. During the late 1950s and 1960s, Merrill was believed to have been marketed as a replacement for

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...

, and in 1959, she was proclaimed "Hollywood's new Grace Kelly". Merrill's film credits included ''

Desk Set ''Desk Set'' (released as ''His Other Woman'' in the UK) is a 1957 American romantic comedy film starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Directed by Walter Lang, the picture's screenplay was written by Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron, ada ...

'' (1957), '' A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed'' (1958), '' Don't Give Up the Ship'' (1959), '' Operation Petticoat'' (1959, with

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...

, who had been married to her cousin, Woolworth heiress

), '' The Sundowners'' (1960), ''

Butterfield 8 ''BUtterfield 8'' is a 1960 American drama film directed by Daniel Mann, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey. Taylor won her first Academy Award for her performance in a leading role. The film was based on a 1935 novel of the same ...

'' (1960), ''

The Young Savages ''The Young Savages'' is a 1961 American crime drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usual ...

'' (1961), '' The Courtship of Eddie's Father'' (1963), ''

I'll Take Sweden ''I'll Take Sweden'' is a 1965 American comedy film. It was directed by Frederick de Cordova, and stars Bob Hope, Frankie Avalon, and Tuesday Weld. Plot Single father Bob Holcomb, a widower, is unhappy with the guitar-playing boy Kenny his d ...

'' (1965), '' The Greatest'' (1977), '' A Wedding'' (1978), '' Just Tell Me What You Want'' (1980), '' Anna to the Infinite Power'' (1983), '' Twisted'' (1986), '' Caddyshack II'' (1988), ''

Fear Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...

'' (1990), '' True Colors'' (1991), '' The Player'' (1992), '' Suture'' (1993), and ''

Shade Shade, Shades or Shading may refer to: * Shade (color), a mixture of a color with black (often generalized as any variety of a color) * Shade (shadow), the blocking of sunlight * Shades or sunglasses * Shading, a process used in art and graphic ...

'' (2003). She also appeared in made-for-TV movies, such as '' Seven in Darkness'' (1969), '' The Lonely Profession'' (1969), '' Family Flight'' (1972), and '' The Tenth Month'' (1979). Dina Merrill

Merrill appeared in numerous television series in the 1960s, such as playing the villain Calamity Jan in two 1968 episodes of ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' with then-husband

Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film ''PT 109 (film), PT 109'', a ...

. She also made guest appearances on two ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'' episodes as Susannah Clauson, ''

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 a ...

'' episode "Bonfire" (1962), '' The Investigators'', ''

The Bold Ones ''The Bold Ones'' is the umbrella title for several television series. It was produced by Universal Television and broadcast on NBC from 1969 to 1973. It was a wheel series, wheel format series, an NBC programming approach also used by that net ...

'', ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...

'' (1964), '' Mission: Impossible'', ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

''; '' Quincy, M.E.''; ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

''; ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams (producer), Matt Williams that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May ...

'', and ''

The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish wikt:fashionista, fashionista from Flushing, Queens, who becomes the nanny of three children ...

'', as Maxwell Sheffield's disapproving and distant British mother. In 1971, Merrill appeared as Laura Duff in ''The Men from Shiloh'' (rebranded name for the TV Western '' The Virginian'') in the episode titled "The Angus Killer". Her stage credits include the 1983 Broadway revival of the

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart's ...

musical ''

On Your Toes ''On Your Toes'' (1936) is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939. While teaching music at Knickerbocker University, Phil "Junior" Dol ...

'', starring Russian prima ballerina

Natalia Makarova Natalia Romanovna Makarova (, born 21 November 1940) is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. ''The History of Dance'', published in 1981, notes that "her performances set standards of artistry and aristocracy of dance which mark her a ...

. In 1991, she appeared in the rotating cast of the off-Broadway staged reading of '' Wit & Wisdom''. In 1991, Merrill and her third husband Ted Hartley merged their company Pavilion Communications with RKO to form

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

, which owns the intellectual property of the RKO Radio Pictures movie studio. In the 1960s and 1970s, Merrill was a recurring guest on several network television game and panel shows, including ''

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity paneli ...

'', ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'', ''

What's My Line ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists to questi ...

'', and ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'', later stylized as ''H2: Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show originally aired as a ...

''.

Board memberships

Merrill was a presidential appointee to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a trustee of the

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. It is commonly referred to as The O'Neill, seating just over 1,000 guests. The center has received two ...

, and a vice president of the New York City Mission Society. In 1980, Merrill joined the board of directors of her father's E. F. Hutton & Co., continuing on the board and the compensation committee of

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

when it acquired Hutton, for over 18 years.

Personal life and death

Merrill was married three times. In 1946, she wed Stanley M. Rumbough Jr., an heir to the

Colgate-Palmolive The Colgate-Palmolive Company, commonly known as Colgate-Palmolive, is an American multinational corporation, multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in ...

toothpaste fortune and entrepreneur. They had three children, Nedenia Colgate Rumbough; David Post Rumbough; and Stanley Rumbough III, before divorcing in 1966. Later that year, she wed actor

, with whom she had a daughter, Heather Robertson. The couple divorced in 1986. In 1989, she married producer Ted Hartley, and they remained married until her death. On May 22, 2017, Merrill died at her home in East Hampton, New York at age 93. She had been suffering from

Lewy Body Dementia Lewy body dementia (LBD) is an umbrella term for two similar and common subtypes of dementia: dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). Both are characterized by changes in thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. The ...

. Two of Merrill's four children predeceased her. David died in a boating accident a few weeks before his 24th birthday, and Heather died from ovarian cancer at the age of 38. She was a registered Republican, though she headed a pro-abortion group called "Republican Majority for Choice."

Honors

Merrill received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award, in 1994, and a lifetime achievement award from the

in April 2005.

Filmography

Feature films

Television films

Television

References

External links

*
In Step with: Dina Merrill
news.google.com; accessed 2014-07-09. {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrill, Dina 1923 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New York City American billionaires American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Philanthropists from New York (state) American socialites American debutantes California Republicans Deaths from dementia in New York (state) Deaths from Lewy body dementia Florida Republicans George Washington University alumni Hutton family Miss Porter's School alumni New York (state) Republicans People from Palm Beach, Florida