Mary Ellen "Mala" Powers (December 20, 1931 – June 11, 2007) was an American actress.

Early life

Powers was born in San Francisco. Her father was a United Press Associations executive, while her mother was a minister. In 1940, her family moved to Los Angeles. That summer, Powers attended the

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...

Junior Workshop, where she played her first role in a play before a live audience. She continued with her drama lessons, and a year later, aged 10, she auditioned and won a part in the 1942 Little Tough Guys film '' Tough as They Come''. Powers later told a reporter, "I've worked in show business since I've been seven."

Career

At the age of 16, Powers began working in radio drama, before becoming a film actress in 1950. Her first movie roles were in '' Outrage'' and '' Edge of Doom'' in 1950. The same year, Stanley Kramer signed Powers to star with

José Ferrer José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hi ...

in what may be her most-remembered role as Roxane in '' Cyrano de Bergerac''. She was nominated for a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

for her part in this movie. At age 19, while on a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

entertainment tour in Korea in 1951, she contracted a blood disease and nearly died. She was treated with chloromycetin, but a severe allergic reaction resulted in the loss of much of her

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid biological tissue, tissue found within the Spongy bone, spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It i ...

. Powers barely survived, and her recovery took nearly nine months. She began working again in 1952, including the lead in '' Rose of Cimarron'' (1952) and co-starring roles in '' City Beneath the Sea'' (1953) and '' City That Never Sleeps'' (1953), but she still was taking medication. Following her recovery, she appeared in '' Bengazi'' (1955) and

B-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

s such as '' Rage at Dawn'' (1955), '' The Storm Rider'' (1957), and '' Sierra Baron'' (1958), and science-fiction films, including '' The Unknown Terror'' (1957), '' The Colossus of New York'' (1958), '' Flight of the Lost Balloon'' (1961), and '' Doomsday Machine'' (1972). She had larger roles in '' Tammy and the Bachelor'' (1957) and '' Daddy's Gone A-Hunting'' (1969). In 1957, she was cast in '' Man on the Prowl''. She appeared in more than 100 TV episodes, including '' Appointment with Adventure'', '' Crossroads'', '' Mr. Adams and Eve'', ''

The Restless Gun ''The Restless Gun'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne (actor), John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Ci ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', '' Bourbon Street Beat'', '' The Rebel'', '' Maverick'' (in an episode called "Dutchman's Gold" with

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the actor to portray Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series, playing the ...

), '' The Everglades'', ''

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 ...

'', '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (The Virtue Affair)'', '' Mission: Impossible'', '' Bewitched'', ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western (genre), Western, spy film, spy, and science fiction on television, science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 19 ...

'', ''

The Silent Force ''The Silent Force'' is the third studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, released on 15 November 2004, by GUN Records. On 5 August 2008, ''The Silent Force'' along with ''Mother Earth (Within Temptation album), Mother Eart ...

'', ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

'' (episodes "Alibi for the Scalped Man" (1960) and "Trouble Street" (1961)), and the '' Wanted: Dead or Alive'' episode "Till Death Do Us Part", with

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture, made him a top box office draw for his films of the late ...

. In 1962, she portrayed Loretta Opel, a woman with leprosy, in the episode "A Woman's Place" on CBS's ''

Rawhide Rawhide may refer to: *Rawhide (material), a hide or animal skin that has not been tanned * Whip made from rawhide Entertainment * ''Rawhide'' (1926 film), a Western directed by Richard Thorpe * ''Rawhide'' (1938 film), a Western starring baseball ...

''. On '' Perry Mason'', Powers made five appearances in the 1950s and 1960s. She was cast as defendant Clair Allison in the 1959 episode "The Case of the Deadly Toy". She also played defendant June Sinclair in the 1960 episode "The Case of the Crying Cherub". Her most memorable role was as defendant Janet Brent, friend of Perry's secretary Della Street ( Barbara Hale), in the 1962 episode "The Case of the Weary Watchdog". In 1964, she portrayed Helen Bradshaw in "The Case of the Frightened Fisherman", and in 1966, she played murder victim Elaine Bayler in "The Case of the Scarlet Scandal". Powers played the recurring character Mona during the final season of ''

Hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...

'' (1965–66). In 1971, Powers was cast in 15 episodes of the television series '' The Man and the City''. Powers narrated ''Follow the Star'', a Christmas album from

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

. Powers was a successful children's author of ''Follow the Star'', ''Follow the Year'', and ''Dial a Story''. She also revised and edited two books by

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...

after the author's death.

Artistry

Powers trained directly under

Michael Chekhov Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov (; 16 August 1891 – 30 September 1955), known as Michael Chekhov, was a Russian-American actor, Theatre director, director, author, and theatre practitioner. He was a nephew of the playwright Anton Chekhov an ...

for many years during her time in Hollywood in both group and private sessions. During this period, Powers and Chekhov grew very close, and after his death, she was named executrix of the Chekhov estate. She continued the development and proliferation of the Chekhov technique throughout the United States and the world. Powers was instrumental in publishing Chekhov's books ''On the Technique of Acting'', ''To the Actor'', and ''The Path of the Actor''. She also published Chekhov's audio series "On Theatre and the Art of Acting", to which she added a 60-page study guide. She co-narrated with

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...

a documentary on Chekhov titled ''From Russia to Hollywood'', which was co-produced by her colleague Lisa Loving. From 1993 to 2006, Powers taught the Chekhov technique during the summer acting program at the University of Southern Maine for the Michael Chekhov Theatre Institute, training actors and teachers of acting. During this time, Powers co-founded the National Michael Chekhov Association with teaching colleagues Wil Kilroy and Lisa Dalton, who continue to teach the curriculum developed by the trio in Maine. Powers was the

estate executrix. She was patron of the

Studio in London.

Personal life

She married Monte Vanton in 1954, and they had a son, Toren Vanton. The couple divorced in 1962, and in 1970, Powers married M. Hughes Miller, a book publisher who died in 1989. Powers was a Democrat who supported

Adlai Stevenson Adlai Stevenson may refer to: * Adlai Stevenson I Adlai Ewing Stevenson (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Gr ...

's campaign during the 1952 presidential election.''Motion Picture and Television Magazine'', November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers

Death

Powers died from complications of leukemia on June 11, 2007, at

Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is a Catholic hospital in Burbank, California. The hospital has 446 beds, and is part of Providence Health & Services. Its address is 501 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California 91505. On the opposit ...

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

. She was survived by her son. Shortly before her death, she had been on a lecture tour at universities. She has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

at 6360 Hollywood Boulevard. She was cremated at the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn Memorial Park and her ashes returned to family.

Radio appearances

Partial filmography

* '' Tough as They Come'' (1942) as Esther Clark * '' Edge of Doom'' (1950) as Julie * '' Outrage'' (1950) as Ann Walton * '' Cyrano de Bergerac'' (1950) as Roxane * '' Rose of Cimarron'' (1952) as Rose of Cimarron * '' City Beneath the Sea'' (1953) as Terry McBride * '' City That Never Sleeps'' (1953) as Sally 'Angel Face' Connors * '' Geraldine'' (1953) as Janey Edwards * '' The Yellow Mountain'' (1954) as Nevada Wray * '' Rage at Dawn'' (1955) as Laura Reno * '' Bengazi'' (1955) as Aileen Donovan * '' The Storm Rider'' (1957) as Tay Rorick * '' Tammy and the Bachelor'' (1957) as Barbara Bissle * '' The Unknown Terror'' (1957) as Gina Matthews * '' Death in Small Doses'' (1957) as Val Owens * '' Man on the Prowl'' (1957) as Marian Wood * '' The Colossus of New York'' (1958) as Anne Spensser * '' Sierra Baron'' (1958) as Sue Russell * ''

'' (1958), episode "Take Me Home" * ''

'' (1959), episode "The Lady and the Gun" * ''

'' (1959), episode "The Philip Deidesheimer Story" * ''

Bronco A bucking horse is any breed of horse, male or female, with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for ro ...

'' (1960), episode "Montana Passage" as Ruth Miller * '' Fear No More'' (1961) as Sharon Carlin * '' Flight of the Lost Balloon'' (1961) as Ellen Burton * '' The Wild, Wild West'' (1966), episode "The Night of the Big Blast" as Lily Fortune * '' Rogue's Gallery'' (1968) as Maggie * '' Daddy's Gone A-Hunting'' (1969) as Meg Stone * '' Doomsday Machine'' aka ''Escape from Planet Earth'' (1972) as Major Georgianna Bronski * '' Where the Wind Dies'' (1976) * ''Six Tickets to Hell'' (1981) * ''Hitters'' (2002) as Mama Theresa

References

External links

* *
Michael Chekhov Centre UK and Michael Chekhov Studio London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powers, Mala 1931 births 2007 deaths American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from San Francisco Deaths from leukemia in California