Lee and Lyn Wilde
{{short description|American actresses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lee and Lyn Wilde
| image = Wilde Twins in Till the Clouds Roll By cropped.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Lyn (left) and Lee Wilde in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lee Wilde
| birth_date = October 10, 1922
| birth_place = East St. Louis, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = September 7, 2015 (aged 92)
| death_place =
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1940–1949
| spouse = Thomas Matthew Cathcart (1947–2010) (his death)
| birth_name = Marion Lee Wilde
|nocat_wdimage=yes
}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lyn Wilde
| birth_date = October 11, 1922
| birth_place = East St. Louis, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = September 11, 2016 (aged 93)
| death_place = Michigan City, Indiana, U.S.
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1940–1953
| spouse = Jim Cathcart (1942–1970) (his death) 2 children
Dwight Oberlink (1973–1996) (his death)
| children = Carter and Lee Ann
| birth_name = Mary Lyn Wilde
|nocat_wdimage=yes
}}
Lee and Lyn Wilde, sometimes billed as The Wilde Twins, were twin sisters, who appeared in films of the early to mid-1940s.
Early years
Born in East St. Louis, Illinois, Lee was the older of the two, born shortly before midnight of October 10, 1922, with Lyn born in the early hours of the following morning.
They began singing with their siblings in church, and by their teens were singing hymns for their local radio station, as well as performing in Illinois and Kentucky. They graduated from East St. Louis Senior High School in 1939.
Singing
By 1940 they were band singers, and in 1942 they made their film debuts, as vocalists for the Charlie Barnet Band, performing one song in the Harriet Hilliard film Juke Box Jenny. They also performed with Bob Crosby for a short while.
Film
The twins' live performances led to another featured film appearance in the Judy Garland film Presenting Lily Mars in 1942. Joe Pasternak was very impressed by them and signed them to a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. They played roles in Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944), followed by Twice Blessed, a film written specifically to introduce them to a wider audience.
The sisters appeared in nine films together up until 1949. Lyn briefly continued her film career after that, appearing in six more films until 1953.
Personal lives
The twins married brothers, Jim (who married Lyn in 1942) and Tom Cathcart (who married Lee February 22, 1947, in Michigan City, Indiana).{{cite news|title=Lee Wilde Bride|newspaper=The Post-Standard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3432581/the_poststandard/|agency=The Post-Standard|date=February 23, 1947|page=32|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 17, 2015}} {{Open access}} They focused their attentions on family life, rather than continuing in show business, but they retained a love of music.
In 1948, Lee was reported to be "seriously ill following a caesarian operation" at Good Samaritan Hospital in Hollywood.{{cite news|title=Wilde Twin Seriously Ill|newspaper=Statesman Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3432632/the_oregon_statesman/|agency=The Oregon Statesman|date=September 29, 1948|page=9|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 17, 2015}} {{Open access}} She had given birth to a daughter September 28, 1948.
After leaving show business, Lee pursued many activities, including flying. She earned her pilot's license in 1961. She also attended college in Palm Desert, earning an associate degree from College of the Desert, and later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Foreign Languages from the University of California at Irvine.{{Cite web|url=http://www.zianet.com/jjohnson/wt2.htm|title = Wilde Twins Biography}} In 1989, they recorded a reunion album titled Back to Together Once Again and continued to perform occasionally into the 1990s.
Lyn died on September 11, 2016, at the age of 93. Her twin sister Lee predeceased her in 2015.[https://www.lakeviewfhc.com/obituaries/Lyn-Oberlink?obId=1083915 Lyn Cathcart Oberlink Oct. 10, 1922 - Sept. 11, 2016]
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Feature films |
| Year
! Film ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1942
| Snowtime Serenade | | Universal Musical Short, with Gloria Jean and the Sportsmen |
| 1942
| Juke Box Jenny | Themselves | Universal, singing "Fifty Million Nickels" with the Charlie Barnett Band |
| 1943
| Themselves | Columbia, singing "Big Noise From Winetka" with Bob Crosby & His Band |
| 1943
| Themselves | MGM, singing "When You Think of Lovin', Baby, Think of Me" w/Bob Crosby and His Band |
| 1944
| Themselves | MGM, singing "Take It Easy" w/Lina Romay & Virginia O'Brien |
| 1944
| Lyn and Lee Walker | MGM |
| 1945
| Lyn: Stephanie Hale | MGM |
| 1946
| Themselves | MGM, singing "She Didn't Say Yes, She Didn't Say No" |
| 1947
| Lee: Patricia Hughes | Republic |
| 1949
| Lee: Claire Miller | Warner Bros. |
| 1949
| Tucson | Gertie Peck | Lyn only |
| 1949
| Nancy Bishop | Lyn only |
| 1951
| chorus girl | MGM, Lyn only |
| 1952
| chorus girl | MGM, Lyn only |
| 1952
| Charleston Dancer | Lyn only |
| 1952
| one of Frenchie's Girls | Lyn only |
| 1953
| Peggy | Lyn only |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0928469|name=Lee Wilde}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0928476|name=Lyn Wilde}}
- [http://www.zianet.com/jjohnson/wt2.htm Wilde Twins Biography], Lee Wilde Cathcart.
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilde, Lee and Lyn}}
Category:American vocal groups
Category:American women singers
Category:American film actresses
Category:American identical twin actors
Category:Identical twin females
Category:Identical twin actresses
Category:People from East St. Louis, Illinois
Category:Actresses from Illinois