Marie Windsor

Marie Windsor

(1954)
Born Emily Marie Bertelsen
(1919-12-11)December 11, 1919
Marysvale, Utah, U.S.
Died December 10, 2000(2000-12-10) (aged 80)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Resting place Marysvale, Utah, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1941–1991
Height 5'9"
Spouse(s) Ted Steele (1946; annulled)
Jack Hupp (1954–2000, her death); 1 child
Children Richard Rodney Hupp (b. 1963)

Marie Windsor (December 11, 1919 – December 10, 2000)[1] Born as Emily Marie Bertelsen in Marysvale, Piute County, Utah, Windsor was an actress known as "The Queen of the Bs" because she appeared in so many B-movies[2] and film noirs.[3]

Early years

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lane Bertelsen,[4] Windsor was born in 1919 in Marysvale, Utah. She graduated from Marysvale High School in 1934, doing a "musical reading" as part of the graduation exercises.[5] She attended Brigham Young University, where she participated in dramatic productions.[6][7] She was described in a 1939 newspaper article as "an accomplished athlete ... expert as a dancer, swimmer, horsewoman, and plays golf, tennis and skis."[8]

In 1939, Windsor was chosen from a group of 81 contestants[9] to be queen of Covered Wagon Days in Salt Lake City, Utah.[8] She was unofficially appointed "Miss Utah of 1939" by her hometown Chamber of Commerce,[10] and trained for the stage under famed Hollywood actress and coach Maria Ouspenskaya.[11][lower-alpha 1]

Windsor worked in radio in Salt Lake City before she moved to California.[13] After moving to California, she worked as a model for glamor photographer Paul Hesse.[14]

Stage

In 1940, after moving to Hollywood, and entering Ouspenskaya's drama school, she appeared in the play Forty Thousand Smiths, her first use of the stage name Marie Windsor.[11] The next year she appeared in Once in a Lifetime at the Pasadena Playhouse.[15] She also was seen as a villainess in a New York production of Follow the Girls.[16] She returned to the stage in the 1980s.[17]

Film

After working for several years as a telephone operator, a stage and radio actress, and a bit and extra player in films, Windsor began playing feature parts on the big screen in 1947.[18]

Her first film contract, with Warner Bros. in 1942, resulted from her writing jokes and submitting them to Jack Benny. Windsor said she submitted the gags under the name M.E. Windsor "because I was afraid he might be prejudiced against a woman gag writer."[13] When Benny finally met Windsor, "he was stunned by her good looks" and had a producer sign her to a contract.[13] After a tenure with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in which the studio "signed her, put her in two small roles and then promptly forgot her", she signed a seven-year contract with The Enterprise Studios in 1948.[14]

The 5'9" actress's first memorable role was in 1948 opposite John Garfield in Force of Evil playing seductress Edna Tucker. She had roles in numerous 1950s film noirs, notably The Sniper, The Narrow Margin, City That Never Sleeps, and Stanley Kubrick's heist movie, The Killing, in which she played Elisha Cook Jr.'s scheming wife. She also made a foray into science fiction with the 1953 release of Cat-Women of the Moon.[19] Windsor co-starred with Randolph Scott in The Bounty Hunter (1954).

Television

Later, Windsor moved to television. She appeared in 1954 as Belle Starr in the premiere episode of Stories of the Century. In 1962, she played "Ann Jesse", a woman dying in childbirth, in the episode "The Wanted Man" of Lawman.[20] She appeared on such programs as Maverick, Bat Masterson, Perry Mason, Bourbon Street Beat, The Incredible Hulk, Rawhide, General Hospital, Salem's Lot (TV miniseries), and Murder, She Wrote.

Windsor worked consistently through the '60s and '70s, and remained on screen once or so annually clear up to the 1990s, playing her final role at 72 in 1991.

Recognition

Windsor has a star in at 1549 N. Vine Street in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated January 19, 1983.[21] She was among the 500 stars nominated for selection as one of the 50 greatest American screen legends, as part of the American Film Institute's 100 years.

In 1987, Windsor received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for best actress for her work in The Bar Off Melrose.[17] She also received the Ralph Morgan Award from the Screen Actors Guild for her service on the organization's board of directors.[17]

Personal life

Marie Windsor 1942

Windsor was married briefly to bandleader Ted Steele.[16] They were wed April 21, 1946, in Marysville, Utah.[22] After they divorced[17] (An item in a 1953 newspaper column says that the marriage ended in annulment -- not divorce.),[23] she married Realtor[2]Jack Hupp, a member of the 1936 U.S. Olympic basketball team. Hupp had his own family connection with show business; he was the son of actor Earle Rodney.[2]

Hupp, with whom Windsor had a son, was posthumously inducted into the University of Southern California (USC) Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.[24]

In July 1950, newspaper columnist Louella Parsons reported, "Marie Windsor has set her marriage to Alex Lunciman, Beverly Hills stock broker, for October."[25]

Windsor was politically conservative, a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.[26]

After her acting career was over, Windsor became a painter and sculptor.

Death

Windsor died of congestive heart failure on December 10, 2000 -- one day before her 81st birthday.[17] She is interred with Hupp in her native Marysvale, Utah.[27]

Survivors included her husband, a son, a brother, and a sister.[17]

Filmography

Source:[28]

Television

References

Explanatory notes
  1. ↑ In later years, thanks to her early screen success, Windsor was able to pursue her studies more extensively, primarily with Stella Adler [10] and also at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.[12]
Citations
  1. ↑ "Overview" on TCM.com
  2. 1 2 3 "Marie Windsor: Her Face Is Familiar". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Texas, Lubbock. Associated Press. April 11, 1973. p. 51. Retrieved June 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Marie Windsor at the Internet Movie Database.
  4. ↑ "Beautiful 'Y' Coeds Vie For Carnival Queen Honors". The Daily Herald. Utah, Provo. April 14, 1938. p. 2. Retrieved June 4, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "School Gives out Diplomas". The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah, Salt Lake City. May 20, 1934. p. 53. Retrieved June 4, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "'Lost Horizons' to Be Staged". The Daily Herald. Utah, Provo. December 8, 1937. p. 3. Retrieved June 4, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "'Lady of Lyons' Staged Tonight". The Daily Herald. Utah, Provo. January 18, 1938. p. 4. Retrieved June 4, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 "Marysvale Miss Wins Contest For Wagon Days Queen". The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah, Salt Lake City. June 24, 1939. p. 15. Retrieved June 4, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "B.Y.U. Girl Crowned Queen of S.L. Covered Wagon Days". The Sunday Herald. Utah, Provo. June 25, 1939. p. 1. Retrieved June 4, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 "Marie Windsor" on the Piute County, Utah website
  11. 1 2 "Screen to Claim 1939 Covered Wagon Days Queen". The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah, Salt Lake City. October 23, 1940. p. 5. Retrieved June 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Arkatov, Janice. "Windsor's 'Star' Label Still Intact". The Los Angeles Times. April 23, 1986; retrieved 2015-04-30. "Currently, the objects of that vitality include a son (Ricky, 23), tennis ('though lately I haven't been playing so well') and art (she's sold more than 100 of her paintings)--along with civic duties (the Thalians, John Tracy Clinic, Screen Actors Guild) and ongoing studies (Stella Adler, the Lee Strasberg Institute, Harvey Lembeck Workshop and a recent screen writing class at UCLA)."
  13. 1 2 3 "Marysvale Girl Wins Role In Jack Benny Movie". The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah, Salt Lake City. April 23, 1942. p. 13. Retrieved June 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. 1 2 Keele, Beth (June 24, 1948). "Utah Star Wows Filmland". The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah, Salt Lake City. p. 39. Retrieved June 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "'39 Wagon Days Queen Rehearses Coast Play". The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah, Salt Lake City. July 27, 1941. p. 13. Retrieved June 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. 1 2 Bergan, Ronald (January 23, 2001). "Marie Windsor, glamorous actress famed for bad-girl roles" (Web). London, UK: The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bernstein, Adam (December 14, 2000). "Prolific B-Movie Star Marie Windsor Dies". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  18. ↑ Katz, Ephraim. The Film Encyclopedia. (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Publishers), p. 1242.
  19. ↑ Cat-Women of the Moon profile, imdb.com; accessed July 1, 2015.
  20. ↑ ""The Wanted Man", April 8, 1962". imdb.com. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Marie Windsor". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  22. ↑ "Marie Bertelsen Is Wed To Coast Band Leader". The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah, Salt Lake City. June 2, 1946. p. 41. Retrieved June 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ Campbell, Lilian (August 14, 1953). "Today's Grab Bag". The Freeport Facts. Texas, Freeport. Central Press. p. 2. Retrieved June 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ USC Official Athletic Website: 2007 Inductees For USC Athletic Hall of Fame Announced, usctrojans.cstv.com; accessed June 24, 2015.
  25. ↑ Parsons, Louella O. (July 10, 1950). "Nunnally Johnson Confers With Widow Of Rommel On Movie Of Nazi General's Life". Lubbock Morning Avalanche. Texas, Lubbock. International News Service. p. 2. Retrieved June 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ Bergan, Ronald (January 23, 2001). "Obituary: Marie Windsor". The Guardian. London, UK.
  27. ↑ Marie Windsor at Find a Grave
  28. ↑ Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to World Film, since 1885. 2008. Index home page
Further reading
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