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Marilyn Miller | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Miller inc. 1925 | |
| Born | Mary Ellen Reynolds (1898-09-01)September 1, 1898 Evansville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | April 7, 1936(1936-04-07) (aged 37) New York City, U.S. |
| Resting place | Woodlawn Cemetery |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1902–1936 |
| Spouses | |
Marilyn Miller (bornMary Ellen Reynolds; September 1, 1898 – April 7, 1936) was one of the most popular Broadway musical stars of the 1920s and early 1930s. She was an accomplishedtap dancer,singer andactress, and the combination of these talents endeared her to audiences. On stage, she usually played rags-to-riches Cinderella characters who lived happily ever after. She died suddenly from complications ofnasal surgery at age 37.
Marilyn Miller was born in 1898 in Evansville, Indiana, the youngest daughter of Edwin D. Reynolds, a telephone lineman, and his first wife, the former Ada Lynn Thompson.[1][2] The tiny, delicately featured blonde was only four years old when she debuted in the role of Mademoiselle Sugarlump at Lakeside Park in Dayton, Ohio, performing as a member of her family'svaudeville act, named The Columbian Trio. That act, which included her stepfather Oscar Caro Miller and her older sisters Ruth and Claire, was renamed the Five Columbians after she and her mother joined the routine. From their home base in Findlay, Ohio, the five toured the Midwest and Europe for ten years and managed to skirt the child labor authorities untilLee Shubert discovered Miller at the Lotus Club in London in 1914.
Miller appeared in New York City for theShuberts in the 1914 and 1915 editions ofThe Passing Show, a Broadway revue at theWinter Garden Theatre, as well as inThe Show of Wonders (1916) andFancy Free (1918). It was, however,Florenz Ziegfeld who made her a star after she performed in hisZiegfeld Follies of 1918 in Manhattan at theNew Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street, with music byIrving Berlin. Sharing billing withEddie Cantor,Will Rogers andW. C. Fields, she brought the house down with her impersonation ofBillie Burke, Ziegfeld's wife, in a number titled "Mine Was a Marriage of Convenience."
Miller followed as a headliner in theFollies of 1919, dancing to Berlin's"Mandy" and reputedly became Ziegfeld's mistress, though this was never proven. She attained legendary status in the Ziegfeld productionSally (1920) with music byJerome Kern, especially for her performance of Kern's "Look for the Silver Lining". The musical, about a dishwasher who joins the Follies and marries a millionaire, ran 570 performances at the New Amsterdam. In 1921, the still-obscureDorothy Parker memorialized her performance in verse:
From the alley's gloom and chill / Up to fame dancedSally. / Which was nice for her, but still / Rough upon the alley. / How it must regret her wiles. / All her ways and glances. / Now the theatre owns her smiles, / Sallies, songs, and dances. ...[3][4]
After a rift with Ziegfeld, Miller signed with rival producerCharles Dillingham and starred asPeter Pan in a 1924 Broadway revival, then as a circus queen inSunny (1925), with music by Kern and lyrics byOscar Hammerstein. A box-office smash, it featured the classic "Who?" and made her the highest-paid star on Broadway. In 1928, after reuniting with Ziegfeld, she starred in his production of the successfulGeorge Gershwin musicalRosalie, then inSmiles (1930) withFred Astaire, one of Ziegfeld's rare box-office failures.
Miller's movie career was short-lived and less successful than her stage career. She made only three films: adaptations ofSally (1929),Sunny (1930), andHer Majesty, Love (1931), with W. C. Fields. Her last Broadway show, marking a major comeback, was the innovative 1933-1934Irving Berlin/Moss Hart musicalAs Thousands Cheer, in which she appeared in the production number "Easter Parade".
Miller's last professional outing was her appearance inAs Thousands Cheer. In 1936, she quit the show after her boyfriend and future husband Chester O'Brien – a chorus dancer who served as the production's second assistant stage manager – was fired for allowing the Woolworth department store heirJimmy Donahue to sneak onstage during a scene in which Miller was impersonating his cousin, the heiressBarbara Hutton.[5] After her death, this incident gave Irving Berlin the inspiration for a film musicalOn the Avenue, for which he received a script credit in addition to writing the songs.
At the time of her death, Miller was described as being in retirement.
Miller's last name was adopted from her stepfather's surname, Oscar Caro Miller. In contrast, her first name was formed by combining her birth name, Mary, with her mother's middle name, Lynn.[1][2] Initially calling herself Marilynn, she would drop one "n" at the urging of Florenz Ziegfeld.
In the late 1940s, Norma Jeane Baker (née Mortenson) changed her name toMarilyn Monroe at the urging ofBen Lyon, a one-time actor turned casting director at20th Century Fox, who said she reminded him of Miller – he had played Miller's love interest inHer Majesty, Love. Monroe was named Marilyn Miller when she married the playwrightArthur Miller in 1956.
Miller was married to:
In 1930, Miller briefly was engaged to Michael Farmer,[12] who later became a husband ofGloria Swanson. In 1932, she announced her intention to marryDon Alvarado, but the wedding did not occur.[13]
Miller had a long history ofsinus infections, and her health was compromised by an increasing dependence on alcohol. In mid-March 1936, Miller entered New York'sDoctors Hospital following a nervous breakdown,[14] and a sinus condition.[15] In late March, she developed a toxic condition, pushing her to near death, but she rallied back. Treatment included three blood transfusions.[16][17] She died at age 37 on April 7, 1936.[15]
Miller's funeral was held atSaint Bartholomew Church on Park Avenue, which drew 2,500-3,000 people, including former mayorJimmy Walker,Beatrice Lillie, andBillie Burke. Another 5,000 people lined the streets.[18][19][20] The procession led toWoodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, where Miller was buried.[21]
A statue of Miller, in the title role ofSunny, can still be seen atop the former I. Miller (no relation) Shoe Company Building at1552 Broadway, in Times Square, Manhattan. It is one of four sculpted byAlexander Stirling Calder between 1927 and 1929 for the building's facade, representing famous theatrical professionals of the time.[22]In 2013, after years of neglect, the building and statues were restored.[23]
One of the poems inPatti Smith's 1972 bookSeventh Heaven is titled "Marilyn Miller".
In 1949, a biopic titledLook for the Silver Lining, starredJune Haver as Miller. She was portrayed byJudy Garland inTill the Clouds Roll By, MGM's biopic ofJerome Kern. In 1978, the story of her turbulent relationship with Ziegfeld was portrayed in theEmmy-winning made-for-TV biopicZiegfeld: The Man and His Women, starring Pamela Peadin as Miller,Paul Shenar as Ziegfeld, andWalter Willison as Frank Carter. Rare film footage of Miller in the 1929 film version ofSally can also be seen in the 2004 PBS documentary seriesBroadway, the American Musical.
In the only published biography of Miller,The Other Marilyn (1985), author Warren G. Harris describes her as "Ziegfeld's most dazzling star" and the premier musical comedy star of theJazz Age. He adds, "She had rivals who may have been better dancers, singers, actresses, or mimics, but no one individual could equal her when it came to combining all those talents."[24]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | Sally | Sally/Noskerova | Filmed entirely in two-color Technicolor, now exists only in black-and-white, except for one fragment – most of the "Wild Rose" musical number – that has survived from an original Technicolor print. |
| 1930 | Sunny | Sunny Peters | |
| 1931 | Her Majesty, Love | Lia Toerrek |
