Myrna Fahey
{{Short description|American actress (1933–1973)}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Myrna Fahey
| image = Myrna Fahey 1959.jpg
| caption = Fahey in 1959
| birth_place = Carmel, Maine, U.S.
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|03|12|mf=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1973|05|06|1933|03|12|mf=y}}
| death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.
| known_for = House of Usher
Walt Disney's Zorro
Father of the Bride
Batman
| resting_place = Mount Pleasant Catholic Cemetery, Bangor, Maine
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1954–1973
}}
Myrna Fahey (March 12, 1933 – May 6, 1973) was an American actress known for her role as Maria Crespo in Walt Disney's Zorro and as Madeline Usher in The Fall of the House of Usher.
She appeared in episodes of 37 television series from the 1950s into the 1970s, including Bonanza, Wagon Train, The Time Tunnel, Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, Laramie, Gunsmoke, The Adventures of Superman, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Daniel Boone, Perry Mason, and Batman.
Early years
Myrna Elisabeth Fahey was born in Carmel, Maine, near Bangor, the youngest of three children for Francis Edward Fahey and Olivia Newcomb. She attended Carmel Grammar School until age six, along with her older brothers.{{cite news |title=Entertainment at Carmel Town all by Grade School Pupils |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=April 22, 1938 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=11 |via = Newspapers.com}} By early 1940{{cite news |title=Present "Tom Sawyer" at Southwest Harbor |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=May 16, 1940 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=10 |via = Newspapers.com}} the family had moved to Southwest Harbor, where her father took a job at the Manset Boat Yard.{{cite news |title=Emblem of Honor |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=September 7, 1942 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=1 |via = Newspapers.com}}
As a youngster, Myrna was active in the Girl Scouts,{{cite news |title=Girl Scouts Have Week's Outing |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65886873/future-actress-myrna-fahey-as-a-girl/ |access-date=December 23, 2020 |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=June 26, 1944 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=8 |via = Newspapers.com}} swimming,{{cite news |title=Girl Scout Honors |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=July 13, 1943 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=16 |via = Newspapers.com}} and acrobatics, and took dancing lessons.{{cite news |title=Old Town Bible School Closes Sunday Night |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=July 10, 1943 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=7 |via = Newspapers.com}} Fahey did her secondary education at Pemetic High School in Southwest Harbor, where she performed in musicals, plays, and took part in public speaking events.{{cite news |title=Pemetic High Notes |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=January 29, 1951 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=6 |via = Newspapers.com}} Despite her short stature, she was athletic, outscoring all other girls in her school to win a state-level Girls Athletic Association award.{{cite news |title=Award Assembly Held at Pemetic |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=June 9, 1950 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=27 |via = Newspapers.com}} Fahey took part in her school's wilderness exploring club, was a cheerleader for four years, and captain of the girls' undefeated varsity basketball team.{{cite news |title=Pemetic Girls |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66082255/pemetic-high-girls-basketball-team/ |access-date=December 26, 2020 |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=January 17, 1951 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=10 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Drama school and beauty pageants
Fahey graduated from high school in June 1951{{cite news |title=Pemetic High Has Graduation |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=June 11, 1951 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=3 |via = Newspapers.com}} and worked briefly at a retail job in Bangor.{{cite news |title=Maine Born Myrna Fahey Has Role in Hollywood Film |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66617139/maine-born-myrna-fahey-has-part-in/ |access-date=January 1, 2021 |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=May 17, 1955 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=10 |via = Newspapers.com}} The following October, she enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse{{cite news |title=Southwest Harbor News |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=October 12, 1951 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=9 |via = Newspapers.com}} Unable to find acting work after her drama school stint, Fahey returned to Maine in late spring 1952. Having been chosen Miss Mount Desert Island 1950 and Miss Poultry Queen of Hancock County 1951 while in high school, she decided to enter the Miss Maine pageant. At the state fair in August 1952, representing Bangor, Fahey came in first runner-up to winner Norma Lee Collins.{{cite news |title=Caribou Girl Chosen at Skowhegen as 'Miss Maine' |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=August 13, 1952 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=1 |via = Newspapers.com}} Fahey immediately entered another beauty pageant the following month, winning the Miss Maine Cosmetology 1952 title.{{cite news |title=Lovely Rabbit! |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=September 25, 1952 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=4 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Start in television
Fahey's placement in the Miss Maine contests brought her to the attention of Hollywood scouts. Encouraged by their overtures, she returned to California and found work at local television station KHJ in Los Angeles. Fahey served as one of the fashion model hostesses on Queen for a Day and did photo shoots and general publicity events for the station's advertisers and other programs.{{cite news |title=New Olds |work=Hollywood Citizen-News |date=July 13, 1954 |location=Hollywood, California |page=10 |via = Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |title=She's in Print |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66090425/shes-in-print-miss-newspaper-of-the/ |access-date=December 26, 2020 |work=Pasadena Independent |date=February 28, 1955 |location=Pasadena, California |page=68 |via = Newspapers.com}} Her first real acting job was for a television anthology series, Cavalcade of America, appearing on episode "Margin for Victory".{{cite news |title=Television Programs |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=February 16, 1954 |location=Baltimore, Maryland |page=8 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Fahey continued doing occasional work on KHJ through 1954. She also did fashion modeling for the Broadway department store.{{cite news |last1= |first1= |title=An Elegant Look for the Spring Style Parade |url= |access-date= |work=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News |date=February 24, 1955 |location=Hollywood, California |page=14 |via = Newspapers.com}} Fahey's first real break came in March 1955, when Warner Brothers gave her a small, uncredited part in what was then called A Handful of Clouds, but was later released as I Died a Thousand Times. She did well enough in her first film that the studio also used her for its premiere television program, Warner Brothers Presents. This show had three rotating series; Myrna Fahey had a feature role in the first episode of King's Row starring Jack Kelly and Robert Horton.{{cite news |title=New Accents on TV... 'Warner Bros. Presents' |work=St. Louis Globe-Democrat |date=September 11, 1955 |location=St. Louis, Missouri |page=67 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Interlude
However, the Warners job finished during summer 1955, so Myrna Fahey committed to an extended publicity campaign for the title of Miss Rheingold.{{cite news |last1= |first1= |title=Six Lovely Miss Rheingold Finalists |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22537484/the-san-bernardino-county-sun/ |access-date=December 29, 2020 |work=The San Bernardino County Sun |date=August 15, 1955 |location=San Bernardino, California |page=10 |via = Newspapers.com}} This commercial beauty contest lasted from August through October 1955. It featured six "finalists", all aspiring actresses, whom the general public could vote for at various venues around the country. Although she didn't win, Fahey received a lot of national publicity from personal appearances and newspaper photos. Publicity of a different sort came from syndicated columnist Harrison Carroll, who reported in December 1955 that she was at the Cocoanut Grove night club with Frank Sinatra associate Nick Sevano.{{cite news |last1=Carroll |first1=Harrison |title=Behind the Scenes in Hollywood |work=Greenburg Daily News |date=December 21, 1955 |location=Greenburg, Indiana |page=4 |via = Newspapers.com}}
In January 1956, Fahey was selected to be a "Baby Star", a short-lived attempt to revive the old WAMPAS annual tradition.{{cite news |title=Veterans of the Silver Screen |work=New York Daily News |date=January 8, 1956 |location=New York, New York |page=293 |via = Newspapers.com}} It fizzled, and so did Myrna's career for the rest of the year. She had no performing work, and was relegated to doing "hostess" bits for public events.{{cite news |title=Starlets to Aid 'Moby Dick' Bow |work=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News |date=June 30, 1956 |location=Hollywood, California |page=6 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Breakthrough
With the beginning of 1957 Myrna had a steady stream of film and television work, though her roles in the former were still small and uncredited. She moved from Burbank to a large apartment in Beverly Hills that she shared with her mother, and registered as a Republican.{{cite news |title=Former Pemetic Cheerleader Hollywood Figure |work=Bangor Daily News |date=March 1, 1957 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=4 |via = Newspapers.com}} {{cite news |last1=Osborne |first1=Owen |title=Speaking of Sports |work=The Bangor Daily News |date=March 20, 1957 |location=Bangor, Maine |page=19 |via = Newspapers.com}} Los Angeles County Voters Registration for 1958, retrieved from [https://www.ancestry.com/ Ancestry.com]
Matinee Theater, an anthology series that presented a new hour-long movie every afternoon, was Fahey's mainstay for television work at this time. She did many of these live original productions during 1957, though the titles of some are no longer known.{{cite news |last=Schallert |first=Edwin |title=Carson-Morgan Comedy Reunion Due |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=August 26, 1957 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=75 (Part IV - 9) |via = Newspapers.com}} Myrna Fahey also did a lot of work for Disney Studios in the fall of 1957 that would not be released or broadcast until the following year. Starting about this time some columnists compared Myrna Fahey's looks with those of Elizabeth Taylor,{{cite news |title=Another Liz? |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=August 13, 1957 |location=Fort Worth, Texas |page=26 |via = Newspapers.com}} though Myrna had bright green eyes{{cite news |last=Shain |first=Percy |title=Home Grown Talent Stars This Season |work=The Boston Globe |date=September 14, 1961 |location=Boston Massachusetts |page=23 |via = Newspapers.com}} quite unlike Taylor's distinctive violet.
At the end of 1957, Myrna Fahey had her first professional stage role, with a principal part in the Pasadena Playhouse production of Holiday for Lovers, later made into a 1959 film. Reviewer Franklin Argyle said "Myrna Fahey (Betsy Dean) is a fine actress confined to a lightweight part".{{cite news |last=Argyle |first=Franklin |title='Holiday For Lovers' Success in Pasadena |work=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News |date=December 27, 1957 |location=Hollywood, California |page=16 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Film and television work
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.Evening Independent, Nov. 6, 1960, p. 49 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 1958 (an episode entitled: "Innocent Broad"). Fahey also appeared in a supporting role in "Duel at Sundown", a notable episode of Maverick with James Garner, featuring Clint Eastwood as a trigger-happy villain. In another appearance in ‘‘Maverick’’ she starred as Dee Cooper, the owner of a cattle ranch, in conflict with Maverick's herd of sheep. She starred in two episodes of Wagon Train, "The Jane Hawkins Story" (1960) and "The Melanie Craig Story" (1964), and an episode of Straightaway, "Troubleshooter," in 1961. Fahey's image branched out in the 1960s, helped by House of Usher and a role on the Boris Karloff TV series Thriller that same year titled "Girl with a Secret". Even her Western parts became "darker." After a rough love scene in the 1960 episode of Bonanza "Breed of Violence", in which Fahey cut her lip, the cast presented her with an award for "Best Slapper in a Filmed Series".St. Petersburg Times, June 24, 1961, p. 21
File:Father of the Bride TV Series 1961.jpg TV series, 1961]]
Fahey's most sustained television work was a starring role in the one-season (1961–62) series Father of the Bride, based on a film of the same name starring Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor.{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|pages=336–337|edition=2nd}} Fahey likely got the role because, as one newspaper reviewer pointed out, she "looks enough like Liz Taylor to be her sister."Chicago Tribune, Jan 16, 1961 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."Lakeland Ledger, Oct. 6, 1961, p. 10 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".Youngstown Vindicator, Mar 19, 1962, p. 14 She also portrayed Jennifer Ivers on the TV version of Peyton Place.{{r|etvs|page1=828-829}}
Fahey made four guest appearances on the drama series Perry Mason: Lydia Logan in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Nimble Nephew"; defendant Grace Halley in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Violent Vest"; murder victim Myrna Warren in the 1965 episode "The Case of the Gambling Lady"; and defendant Holly Andrews in the 1966 episode "The Case of the Midnight Howler". In 1966, she played Blaze in the Batman episodes "True or False-Face" and "Holy Rat Race".
Later life
Fahey 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. In addition to dating baseball player Joe DiMaggio, she dated actor George Hamilton.The Dispatch, Aug 2, 1963, p. 2
Fahey became the subject of death threats while dating baseball great 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.
Fahey died on May 6, 1973, at age 40, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, after a long battle with cancer. She is buried in Mount Pleasant Catholic Cemetery in Bangor, Maine.{{Cite web|url=http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/86/Myrna+Fahey/index.html|title=Myrna Fahey - The Private Life and Times of Myrna Fahey.|website=glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com|accessdate=July 27, 2023}}
Filmography
Television: 1953-1959
Television: 1960-1973
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Television: 1960 - 1973 (in original broadcast order) |
scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Series ! scope="col" | Episode ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" | Notes |
---|
rowspan=14|1960
| Who Killed Cock Robin | Lynn Wells | |
Maverick
| A Flock of Trouble | Dee Cooper | |
Hawaiian Eye
| Second Fiddle | Della Kandinsky | |
Overland Trail
| Vigilantes of Montana | Harriet Plummer | |
Perry Mason
| The Case of the Nimble Nephew | Lydia Logan | |
Bachelor Father
| Bentley and the Travel Agent | Francine Pettigrew | |
The Alaskans
| Calico | Calico | |
Maverick
| Mano Nera | Carla Marchese | |
Bonanza
| Breed of Violence | Dolly Kincaid | |
Thriller
| Girl with a Secret | Alice Page | |
Wagon Train
| The Jane Hawkins Story | Jane Hawkins | Columnist Allen Rich noted Myrna guest starred on this NBC show... {{cite news |last=Rich |first=Allen |title=Do Ratings Give True Picture |work=Valley Times |date=November 30, 1960 |location=North Hollywood, California |page=24 |via = Newspapers.com}} |
Hawaiian Eye
| The Contenders | Laura Steck | ...the same night (Nov 30th) she guest starred on this ABC series |
Surfside 6
| The International Net | Ann Trevor | |
77 Sunset Strip
| The Dresden Doll | Dolly Stewart | |
rowspan=7|1961
| The Invaders | Ruth | |
Checkmate
| Jungle Castle | Marylu Keyes | |
Acapulco
| Death is a Smiling Man | | |
Perry Mason
| The Case of the Violent Vest | Grace Halley | |
Father of the Bride
| (All 34 Episodes) | Katherine "Kay" Banks | From Sep 29th, 1961 thru Jun 2nd, 1962: Her only television role as a series regular |
Surfside 6
| Pattern for a Frame | Valerie Grant | |
Straightaway
| Troubleshooter | April Moore | |
rowspan=3|1962
|The Hour of St Francis | Episode of January 1, 1962 | Our Lady of Guadeloupe | Despite the name, this was a 30 minute anthology series made by a crew of amateur Franciscans, with the actors working pro bono{{cite news |last=Witbeck |first=Charles |title=Fathers Do Their Best |work=The Morning Call |date=December 23, 1961 |location=Allentown, Pennsylvania |page=16 |via = Newspapers.com}} |
Here's Hollywood
| Episode of May 31, 1962 | Herself | Candid interview show filmed in stars homes {{cite news |title=TV Highlights |work=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News |date=May 30, 1962 |location=Hollywood, California |page=14 |via = Newspapers.com}} |
Laramie
| Lost Allegiance | Sharon Helford | |
rowspan=2|1963
| The Night Was Six Years Long | Janie Maynor Benton | |
Hawaiian Eye
| The Sisters | Nora Cobinder | |
rowspan=3|1964
| The Melanie Craig Story | Melanie Craig | |
The Reporter
| Vote for Murder | Marilinn Shipp | |
Kraft Suspense Theatre
| The Wine-Dark Sea | Honora Malone | |
rowspan=4|1965
| The Price of Friendship | Sara | |
Kraft Suspense Theatre
| Nobody Will Ever Know | Mrs. Janet "Jan" Banning | |
Perry Mason
| The Case of the Gambling Lady | Myrna Warren | |
Laredo
| Three's Company | Emily Henderson | |
rowspan=3|1966
| The Case of the Midnight Howler | Holly Andrews | |
Batman
| Blaze | |
Batman
| Blaze | |
rowspan=2|1967
| The Walls of Jericho | Rahab | Irwin Allen cast her after seeing a screen test she did for The Chase{{cite news |title=She's Moving Up |work=Fort Lauderdale News |date=January 20, 1967 |location=Fort Lauderdale, Florida |page=77 |via = Newspapers.com}} |
Rango
| The Not So Good Train Robbery | Kit Clanton | |
rowspan=3|1969
| Episode #5.43 | Jennifer Ivers | |
Peyton Place
| Episode #5.45 | Jennifer Ivers | |
Peyton Place
| Episode #5.46 | Jennifer Ivers | |
rowspan=2|1971
| The Friendliest Town in the South | Roxanne | |
Marcus Welby, M.D.
| The Best Is Yet to Be | Grace Ashley | |
1973
|The Great American Beauty Contest | (TV Movie) | Miss Utah Chaperone | The producers devised her bit part solely to help maintain her industry health benefits during her final illness{{cite news |last=Schull |first=Richard K. |title=Producer Thinks TV Season Lacks Punch |work=Pensacola News Journal |date=August 9, 1973 |location=Pensacola, Florida |page=53 |via = Newspapers.com}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0265196}}
- {{Findagrave|6622570}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20101018211153/http://celebhost.net/stevestevens/zorro1.html Myrna Fahey on Zorro]
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Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:People from Penobscot County, Maine
Category:People from Mount Desert Island