Mala Powers | |
|---|---|
 Powers in 1955 | |
| Born | Mary Ellen Powers (1931-12-20)December 20, 1931 |
| Died | June 11, 2007(2007-06-11) (aged 75) Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1942–2005 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
Mary Ellen "Mala"Powers (December 20, 1931 – June 11, 2007) was an American actress.
Powers was born in San Francisco. Her father was aUnited Press Associations executive, while her mother was a minister.[1] In 1940, her family moved to Los Angeles.[2] That summer, Powers attended theMax Reinhardt Junior Workshop, where she played her first role in a play before a live audience.[2] She continued with her drama lessons, and a year later, aged 10, she auditioned and won a part in the 1942Little Tough Guys filmTough as They Come.[2]
Powers later told a reporter, "I've worked in show business since I've been seven."[3]
At the age of 16, Powers began working in radio drama, before becoming a film actress in 1950. Her first movie roles were inOutrage andEdge of Doom in 1950. The same year,Stanley Kramer signed Powers to star withJosé Ferrer in what may be her most-remembered role as Roxane inCyrano de Bergerac.[4] She was nominated for aGolden Globe Award for her part in this movie.[5]
At age 19, while on aUSO entertainment tour in Korea in 1951, she contracted a blood disease and nearly died. She was treated withchloromycetin, but a severe allergic reaction resulted in the loss of much of herbone marrow. Powers barely survived, and her recovery took nearly nine months.[5]
She began working again in 1952, including the lead inRose of Cimarron (1952) and co-starring roles inCity Beneath the Sea (1953) andCity That Never Sleeps (1953), but she still was taking medication.[citation needed]
Following her recovery, she appeared inBengazi (1955) andB-movies such asRage at Dawn (1955),The Storm Rider (1957), andSierra Baron (1958), and science-fiction films, includingThe Unknown Terror (1957),The Colossus of New York (1958),Flight of the Lost Balloon (1961), andDoomsday Machine (1972). She had larger roles inTammy and the Bachelor (1957) andDaddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969). In 1957, she was cast inMan on the Prowl.
She appeared in more than 100 TV episodes, includingAppointment with Adventure,Crossroads,Mr. Adams and Eve,The Restless Gun,Wagon Train,Bourbon Street Beat,The Rebel,Maverick (in an episode called "Dutchman's Gold" withRoger Moore),The Everglades,Bonanza,The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (The Virtue Affair),Mission: Impossible,Bewitched,The Wild Wild West,The Silent Force,Cheyenne (episodes "Alibi for the Scalped Man" (1960) and "Trouble Street" (1961)), and theWanted: Dead or Alive episode "Till Death Do Us Part", withSteve McQueen. In 1962, she portrayed Loretta Opel, a woman with leprosy, in the episode "A Woman's Place" on CBS'sRawhide.
OnPerry 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 secretaryDella 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 ofHazel (1965–66). In 1971, Powers was cast in 15 episodes of the television seriesThe Man and the City. Powers narratedFollow the Star, a Christmas album fromRCA Victor.[1]
Powers was a successful children's author ofFollow the Star,[6]Follow the Year, andDial a Story. She also revised and edited two books byEnid Blyton after the author's death.[7]
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Powers trained directly underMichael Chekhov 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 namedexecutrix 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 booksOn the Technique of Acting,To the Actor, andThe 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 withGregory Peck a documentary on Chekhov titledFrom Russia to Hollywood, which was co-produced by her colleagueLisa Loving.
From 1993 to 2006, Mala Powers taught the Chekhov technique at the University of Southern Maine’s summer acting programme as part of the Michael Chekhov Theatre Institute, where she instructed both actors and acting teachers. Throughout this period, Powers co-founded the National Michael Chekhov Association with her colleagues Wil Kilroy and Lisa Dalton. Kilroy and Dalton continue to teach the curriculum originally developed by the trio in Maine.[8]
Powers was theMichael Chekhov estateexecutrix.[citation needed] She was patron of theMichael Chekhov Studio[9] in London.[citation needed]
In 1954, Mala Powers married Monte Vanton, with whom she had a son, Toren Vanton. The couple divorced in 1962. In 1970, Powers married M. Hughes Miller, a book publisher; he died in 1989.[10][11]
Powers died from complications of leukemia on June 11, 2007, atProvidence Saint Joseph Medical Center inBurbank, California. She was survived by her son.[12] Shortly before her death, she had been on a lecture tour at universities.
She has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 6360 Hollywood Boulevard.[2] She was cremated at the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn Memorial Park and her ashes returned to family.[13]
| Year | Program | Episode/source |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Stars over Hollywood | Command Performance[14] |
