Myrna Fahey
Encyclopedia
Myrna Fahey was an American actress best known for her role as Maria Crespo in Walt Disney's Zorro, and as Madeline Usher in the film version of Edgar Allan Poe
's, The Fall of the House of Usher
. She appeared in episodes of 37 television series from the 1950s into the 1970s, including Bonanza
, The Time Tunnel
, Maverick
, Perry Mason
, and Batman
.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0265196/
Fahey was born in Carmel, Maine
, near Bangor
in 1933, but grew up in Southwest Harbor
near Bar Harbor, Maine
, where she was a cheerleader at Pemetic High School. She began competing in local beauty pageants in the early 1950s. She acted one season at the Pasadena Playhouse before breaking into TV, and became an avid skier in California. She invested in stocks and one of her contracts stipulated that she have a stock ticker in her dressing room. Besides Joe DiMaggio, she also dated George Hamilton
. She died on May 6, 1973, at age 40 at St. Johns Hospital, Santa Monica, California
, after a long battle with cancer. She is buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Bangor, Maine
Fahey complained in a 1960 interview that she was being typecast in 'good girl' roles because of what directors called her 'moral overtones', even though she wanted to play darker and more complicated characters. She had worked in many Westerns in the late 1950s, usually in the role of the sheriff's daughter, including an appearance on Gunsmoke
in 1957 (the episode entitled: Innocent Broad). She also appeared in Duel at Sundown, a particularly famous episode of Maverick
with James Garner
, featuring Clint Eastwood
as a trigger-happy villain. Her image branched out in the 1960s, helped by House of Usher and a role on the Boris Karloff
-hosted TV series Thriller that same year entitled 'Girl With A Secret'. Even her Western parts became "darker". After a rough love scene in Bonanza
in which she cut her lip, the cast presented her with an award for 'Best Slapper in a Filmed Series'.
Fahey's most sustained television work was a starring role in the one-season (1961-62) series, Father of the Bride
. The series was based upon a film of the same name starring Elizabeth Taylor
. Fahey likely got the role, because as one newspaper reviewer pointed out, she "looks enough like Liz Taylor to be her sister". Fahey was not flattered by the comparison, however, telling one interviewer "the fact that I'm supposed to look like Elizabeth Whats-Her-Name had nothing to do with my getting [the part], because we don't really look alike I don't think, we just happen to have the same colorings." Fahey wanted to be released from the show even before it came up for renewal, reportedly feeling too much emphasis was being placed on the "father" character and not enough on her "bride"
Fahey became the subject of death threats while dating Joe DiMaggio
in 1964. The FBI determined the threats came from a patient at the Agnews Developmental Center
, a mental hospital in San Jose, California. Apparently the patient could not bear to see DiMaggio with anyone other than Marilyn Monroe
, who died in 1962.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gitwithit/2393734552/
In 1966 she played Blaze in the Batman
episodes, "True or False Face" and "Holy Rat Race".
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's, The Fall of the House of Usher
House of Usher (film)
House of Usher is an American International Pictures horror film starring Vincent Price, Myrna Fahey, and Mark Damon: the story is about a New England family cursed with madness, criminal conduct, and debauchery...
. She appeared in episodes of 37 television series from the 1950s into the 1970s, including Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, The Time Tunnel
The Time Tunnel
The Time Tunnel is a 1966–1967 U.S. color science fiction TV series. The show was created and produced by Irwin Allen, his third science fiction television series. The show's main theme was Time Travel Adventure. The Time Tunnel was released by 20th Century Fox and broadcast on ABC. The show ran...
, Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
, Perry Mason
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, a defense attorney who was the main character in works of detective fiction authored by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason was featured in more than 80 novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial...
, and Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0265196/
Fahey was born in Carmel, Maine
Carmel, Maine
Carmel is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is located at , near the intersection of Penobscot County Road 69 and US State Highway 2 . It is part of the Bangor, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, near Bangor
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
in 1933, but grew up in Southwest Harbor
Southwest Harbor, Maine
Southwest Harbor is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. Located on Mount Desert Island, the population was 1,966 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
near Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor is a town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population is 5,235. Bar Harbor is a famous summer colony in the Down East region of Maine. It is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory and Mount Desert Island...
, where she was a cheerleader at Pemetic High School. She began competing in local beauty pageants in the early 1950s. She acted one season at the Pasadena Playhouse before breaking into TV, and became an avid skier in California. She invested in stocks and one of her contracts stipulated that she have a stock ticker in her dressing room. Besides Joe DiMaggio, she also dated George Hamilton
George Hamilton (actor)
George Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Hamilton was the youngest son of bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton and his first wife, Ann Stevens . He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Blytheville, Arkansas...
. She died on May 6, 1973, at age 40 at St. Johns Hospital, Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, after a long battle with cancer. She is buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
Fahey complained in a 1960 interview that she was being typecast in 'good girl' roles because of what directors called her 'moral overtones', even though she wanted to play darker and more complicated characters. She had worked in many Westerns in the late 1950s, usually in the role of the sheriff's daughter, including an appearance on Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
in 1957 (the episode entitled: Innocent Broad). She also appeared in Duel at Sundown, a particularly famous episode of Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
with James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
, featuring Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
as a trigger-happy villain. Her image branched out in the 1960s, helped by House of Usher and a role on the Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
-hosted TV series Thriller that same year entitled 'Girl With A Secret'. Even her Western parts became "darker". After a rough love scene in Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
in which she cut her lip, the cast presented her with an award for 'Best Slapper in a Filmed Series'.
Fahey's most sustained television work was a starring role in the one-season (1961-62) series, Father of the Bride
Father of the Bride (TV series)
Father of the Bride is an American sitcom that aired on CBS during the 1961-62 season. Produced by MGM Television, the series was based on the 1950 film of the same title...
. The series was based upon a film of the same name starring Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
. Fahey likely got the role, because as one newspaper reviewer pointed out, she "looks enough like Liz Taylor to be her sister". Fahey was not flattered by the comparison, however, telling one interviewer "the fact that I'm supposed to look like Elizabeth Whats-Her-Name had nothing to do with my getting [the part], because we don't really look alike I don't think, we just happen to have the same colorings." Fahey wanted to be released from the show even before it came up for renewal, reportedly feeling too much emphasis was being placed on the "father" character and not enough on her "bride"
Fahey became the subject of death threats while dating Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
in 1964. The FBI determined the threats came from a patient at the Agnews Developmental Center
Agnews Developmental Center
Agnews Developmental Center is a psychiatric and medical care facility, now located in San Jose, California.In 1885, the center, originally known as "The Great Asylum for the Insane", was established as a facility for the care of the mentally ill...
, a mental hospital in San Jose, California. Apparently the patient could not bear to see DiMaggio with anyone other than Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, who died in 1962.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gitwithit/2393734552/
In 1966 she played Blaze in the Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
episodes, "True or False Face" and "Holy Rat Race".
External links
- Myrna Fahey on Zorro http://www.celebhost.net/stevestevens/zorro1.html