Una Merkel

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Una Merkel (right) with Gary Cooper and Phyllis Brooks (1943)

Una Merkel (born December 10, 1903 in Covington , Kentucky , † January 2, 1986 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actress .

Life

Una Merkel with Henry Brandon , National Film Society Convention, May 1979

Una Merkel was born as the daughter of a tradesman and grew up in various places in the southern states during her youth. In New York, she attended the Alviene School of Dramatic Art. In Hollywood, she worked as a double for Lillian Gish on several silent films in the 1920s . However, she did not stay with film at first, but went to New York City to play on Broadway theater. There she made her debut with Two by Two in February 1923 . In 1930 success came with Girl Crazy .

She only came back to Hollywood in 1930 when she played Ann Rutledge in David Wark Griffith's biopic Abraham Lincoln . In the years that followed, Merkel concentrated on numerous, mostly comic supporting roles. She had one of her best-known appearances in 1939 in the comedy western The Great Bluff , in which she had a saloon brawl with Marlene Dietrich . She also played the chorus singer Lorraine in the Busby Berkeley musical film The 42nd Street (1933) and the annoying daughter of WC Fields in the comedy The Bank Detective (1940). In the 1940s she had to be content with roles in mostly second-rate films. The surprise success of the comedy Kill the Umpire (1950) at the side of William Bendix gave her roles in larger films again, where she now mostly played mothers or housekeepers. From the 1950s onwards, Merkel increasingly turned to the stage, especially with The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty , where she was once again successful and received the Tony Award . In 1962 she received an Academy Award nomination for her role in Summer and Smoke from Peter Glenville .

Her last film was Say Never Yes with Elvis Presley from 1966. She then retired into private life. From 1932 until the divorce in 1947, she was married to Ronald L. Burla, the couple had no children. Una Merkel was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her film work.

Filmography (selection)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Una Merkel at ImmortalEmphara
  2. ^ Awards from Una Merkel at IMDb

Web links

Commons : Una Merkel  - Collection of Images
personal data
SURNAME Merkel, Una
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH December 10, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Covington , Kentucky , United States
DATE OF DEATH 2nd January 1986
Place of death Los Angeles , California , United States