Jump to content

Mara Corday

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2600:387:4:803::7f (talk) at 19:29, 15 October 2018 (→Personal life: Added Content). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mara Corday
Playboy centerfold appearance
October 1958
Preceded byTeri Hope
Succeeded byJoan Staley
Personal details
BornMarilyn Joan Watts
(1930-01-03) January 3, 1930 (age 94)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Official website

Mara Corday (born Marilyn Joan Watts; January 3, 1930) is a showgirl, model, actress, Playboy Playmate and 1950s cult figure.

Early life

Corday was born in Santa Monica, California. Wanting a career in films, she came to Hollywood while still in her teens and found work as a showgirl at the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard.[1] Her physical beauty brought jobs as a photographer's model that led to a bit part as a showgirl in the 1951 film Two Tickets to Broadway.

Dancing

One of Corday's first professional jobs was being a dancer in Earl Carroll's Vanities.[2] Accompanied by her mother, Corday auditioned when she was 15 years old. During the two and a half years that she was in the show, she advanced "from showgirl to actress in the sketches."[3] This was also when she adopted the stage name Mara Corday, because it made her seem more exotic. The name Mara came from a bongo player who called her Marita when she was working as an usher at the Mayan Theater, while Corday was lifted from a perfume bottle.[4]

Film

Corday signed on as a Universal International Pictures (UI) contract player. With UI, Corday was given small roles in various B-movies and television series. In 1954 on the set of Playgirl she met actor Richard Long.[5]

Her roles were small until 1955 when she was cast opposite John Agar and Leo G. Carroll in Tarantula,[6][7] a [science-fiction]] film that proved successful (with Clint Eastwood in a brief role). She had two other co-starring roles in that genre with The Black Scorpion and The Giant Claw (both 1957), as well as in a number of Western films such as Man Without a Star and Raw Edge. Film critic Leonard Maltin said Corday had "more acting ability than she was permitted to exhibit."

A few years after her husband's death in 1974, Corday's friend Eastwood offered her a chance to return to filmmaking with a role in his 1977 film The Gauntlet. She had a brief-but-significant role in Sudden Impact (1983), where she played the waitress dumping sugar into Harry Callahan's coffee in that movie's iconic "Go ahead, make my day" sequence.[8] And she acted with Eastwood again in Pink Cadillac (1989) as well as in her last film, 1990's The Rookie.

Modeling

Corday appeared as a pinup girl in numerous men's magazines during the 1950s and was the Playmate of the October 1958 issue of Playboy, along with famous model and showgirl Pat Sheehan.[9][10][11]

Television

In 1956, Corday had a recurring role in the ABC television series Combat Sergeant.[12] From 1959 to early 1961, Corday worked exclusively doing guest spots on various television series.

Personal life

Following the 1955 death of Suzan Ball, the first wife of actor Richard Long, Corday began dating Long. Although in August 1956 Dick Long is her frequent escort, he has no plans on remarrying. Their dates are "just fun," not "serious." On January 26 1957 with Mara 7 weeks pregnant she marries Long at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. He's 29; she's 27. Best man and matron of honor are Mr. and Mrs. Richard Canning. Canning is a Los Angeles insurance man. No family of Richard's would witness for him knowing he had been tricked into matrimony.

Mara is married to Long for only two weeks before she moves home to her mother demanding a divorce. Something she does 10 times before delivering a son, Carey Richard Long September 11, 1957. Richard is told by Mara in February 1958 she is expecting again the following September. Richard halts divorce to keep near by even though Mara boasts she had contacted a divorce lawyer 13 times during her second pregnancy. Sadly the turmoil resulted in the little girl arriving incredibly underweight with a heart defect. A third child was born, again in the month of September, the 3rd, 1960 after Mara had continuously threatend divorce to Richard with him finally agreeing to separation.

Richard was arrested in 1961 after an altercation with Corday in their home after learning she posed naked for Playboy. A pictorial their three children would be shamed and embarrassed of. Richard's brother in law actor Marshall Thompson bailed him out, taking him to his home where the Long family held an intervention with hope Richard would finalize a divorce.something

Sadly the toxic relationship continued.

Corday brought her business manager as her escort to the funeral of Richard Long. An act that further ostrisized her from the entertainment industry. At Richard's funeral, the father of Richard's beloved first wife Susan demanded Mara transfer the $10,000 held in trust by Richard to Susan's brother who it was designated for. Richard had faithfully kept the sum untouched waiting for Susan's brother to come forward.

Mara continued to belittle Richard for decades. She sarcastically fronted he was intimidated by her career, was a meek man who abandoned his children to bar hop. Mara told farfetched tales of the first Mrs. Long including on Susan's deathbed her calling out for a man other than her devoted husband who was by her side during her last breath. A ridiculous claim that further estranged Mara from Hollywood.

Mara moved make up artist Pam Luly in her home after Richard's death. They remain roommates to this day sharing a residence in Valencia, California.

As Mara Corday Long she owns and operates two corporations in the state of California with headquartered located at 25932 Mendoza Dr Valencia, CA 91355 LIQUIDITY GROUP #20 A LIMITED PARTNERSHIP & MULHOLLAND ASSOCIATES #2, A LIMITED PARTNERSHIP


[8]

Partial filmography

See also

References

  1. ^ Weaver, Tom (April 2017). "The Sci-Fi Stalwarts: Mara Corday". Classic Images (502): 73.
  2. ^ Henniger, Paul (February 1, 1976). "Undaunted, Mara Corday returns to TV". Ohio, Hamilton. The Journal News. p. 25. Retrieved March 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ Thomas, Bob (October 6, 1954). "Dreams Help Mara Corday Make Decisions on Career". Texas, Corpus Christi. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. p. 25. Retrieved March 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ Weaver, Tom (2004). It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the Sf and Horror Tradition. McFarland & Company. p. 67. ISBN 9780786420698.
  5. ^ Magers, Boyd; Fitzgerald, Michael G. (2004-07-31). Westerns Women: Interviews With 50 Leading Ladies Of Movie And Television Westerns From The 1930s To The 1960s. McFarland & Company. pp. 62–. ISBN 9780786420285. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  6. ^ Weaver, Tom; Brunas, John; Brunas, Michael (2006-09-30). Interviews With B Science Fiction And Horror Movie Makers: Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, Moguls and Makeup. McFarland. pp. 2–. ISBN 9780786428588. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  7. ^ Williams, Tony (November 1985). "Female Oppression in "Attack of the 50-Foot Woman" (L'oppression des femmes dans "Attack of the 50-Foot Woman")". Science Fiction Studies. 12 (3): 264–273. JSTOR 4239701.
  8. ^ a b O'Brien, Daniel (1996-08-08). Clint Eastwood: film-maker. B.T. Batsford. p. 153. ISBN 9780713478396. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  9. ^ Connors, Martin; Craddock, James, eds. (1996). VideoHound's golden movie retriever. Visible Ink Press. p. cxcviii. ISBN 978-0787607807.
  10. ^ Lisanti, Tom (2001). Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach, and Elvis Movies. McFarland & Company. p. 12. ISBN 978-0786408689.
  11. ^ Petersen, James R. (2005). Playboy Redheads. Chronicle Books. p. 16. ISBN 978-0811848589.
  12. ^ Terrace, Vincent (2009). Encyclopedia of television shows, 1925 through 2007. McFarland. p. 300. ISBN 9780786433056. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mara_Corday&oldid=864204402"