Margo Woode (born Valeria Jean Ketcham, April 20, 1928 – September 28, 2018) was an American actress active in motion pictures and television. She was signed by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

in 1942 as a member of the studio's stock company, under the professional name Margo Woode. Her film debut was in ''

Springtime in the Rockies ''Springtime in the Rockies'' is an American Technicolor musical comedy film released by Twentieth Century Fox in 1942. It stars Betty Grable, with support from John Payne, Carmen Miranda, Cesar Romero, Charlotte Greenwood, and Edward Evere ...

'' (1942), as a bit player. She left Fox when her one-year contract expired. One day after her release, she appeared on stage in a local production of the play ''

Stage Door ''Stage Door'' is a 1937 American Tragicomedy, tragicomedy film directed by Gregory La Cava, and starring Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier, Andrea Leeds, Samuel S. Hinds, and Lucille Ball. Adapt ...

'', and Fox executive

Joseph Schenck Joseph Michael Schenck (; December 25, 1876 – October 22, 1961) was a Russian-born American film studio executive. Life and career Schenck was born to a Jewish family in Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Oblast, Russian Empire. He emigrated to New York Cit ...

reinstated her at the studio. After a year with no films to her credit, her contract again lapsed, but studio chief

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (; September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. Best known as a co-founder of 20th Century Fox, he played a ...

signed her once more in November 1944. Zanuck placed her immediately into the latest Fox production, which served as her screen test: the

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

comedy ''

The Bullfighters ''The Bullfighters'' is a feature film starring comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, the sixth and final film the duo made under 20th Century Fox as well as the last released in the United States.Dwyer, 1996 p. 239-240: Filmography Plot Private detecti ...

'' (filmed 1944, released 1945). Her small role as a glamour girl (announced by Zanuck as "the feminine lead") is perhaps her most familiar film to today's audiences. Fox renewed her contract in 1945, and she went on to play featured roles for the studio through 1947. She freelanced for various studios thereafter. Her most prominent roles were as Phyllis in '' Somewhere in the Night'' (1946) and as the other woman in the movie musical ''

Bop Girl Goes Calypso ''Bop Girl Goes Calypso'' is a 1957 American United Artists film directed by Howard W. Koch and starring Judy Tyler. It features calypso music by the Bobby Troup Trio and bassist Jim Aton. Plot Working on a thesis, college student Bob Hilton ...

'' (1957). She also appeared on television in the 1950s in such programs as ''

Racket Squad ''Racket Squad'' is an American TV crime drama series that aired from 1951 to 1953. The format was a narrated anthology drama, as each individual episode featured various ordinary citizens getting ensnared in a different confidence scheme. Ep ...

'' and '' Dragnet''.

Personal life

She married Bill E. Burton, manager of many prominent singers including

Dick Haymes Richard Benjamin Haymes (September 13, 1918 – March 28, 1980) was an Argentine singer, songwriter and actor. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, televi ...

and

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911–1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (1916–1995), and mezzo ...

, on July 19, 1947 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Burton died in 1958,''Variety'', Oct. 8, 1958, p. 79. and she married Ron Beckett in 1959, with whom she had a daughter, Gigi.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1922 births 2018 deaths American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Phoenix, Arizona 21st-century American women {{US-screen-actor-1920s-stub