Belated recognition for actress Marilyn Maxwell (1920-72)
deb...@comcast.net
Marilyn Maxwell will receive belated recognition
SHERYL KRIEG
A soundman. A distant memory. A phone call from out of the blue. An odd
set of circumstances put into motion a quest to recognize an actress
who has long since passed away from this generation's thoughts, but not
from Fort Wayne's heart.
Late actress Marvel Marilyn Maxwell - Marilyn Maxwell at the urging of
MGM's Louis B. Mayer during the early 1940s - will have her name added
to the historic Embassy Theatre's Walk of Recognition. She joins other
former area residents honored by the Embassy, such as actresses Carole
Lombard and Shelley Long, director and producer David Anspaugh, and
sportscaster Chris Schenkel.
The $200,000 Embassy sidewalk is similar in concept to Hollywood's Walk
of Fame. A 1-square-foot bronze diamond recognizes a person with a Fort
Wayne connection who has achieved outstanding success in the arts.
The bronze diamond is normally dedicated in May. Maxwell's will be
Friday to accommodate her family's reunion here this weekend. The
actress, who died of a heart attack in 1972, would have been 85 years
old today.
The phone call
As Lori Lobsiger, executive director of the Embassy Theatre, explained,
Maxwell's addition to the Embassy sidewalk would not be possible if it
were not for a phone call a year ago from Matt Davis, the son Maxwell
had with her third husband, screenwriter and "Bewitched" TV series
producer Jerry Davis.
"Her son called out of the blue, and I had been looking for the
family," Lobsiger said. "He said he found his mother dead when he was
15 and wanted to know more about his mother."
Davis, a Los Angeles resident, was working on a production a year ago
in New York when a soundman told him about working a production at a
theater in Fort Wayne where he saw a picture of Maxwell on the wall.
Davis said he vaguely remembered the theater for which his grandmother
- Marilyn's mother, Anne Maxwell - played the Grande Page organ during
the 1930s when the Embassy was known as the Emboyd.
After Davis finished the New York production and started home to
California, he traveled toward Indiana and thought he would make a call
to verify his memory.
Within an hour, they absolutely gave me the king's tour," he said.
"Here I was in shorts and a crummy T-shirt, getting a tour of this
magnificent theater."
During the tour, conversation turned to the bronze diamond. Davis
thought it was a wonderful idea, and Lobsiger jumped on the opportunity
to pay homage to the Hollywood actress who grew up at 1218 W.
Washington Blvd.
"It was a feel-good kind of day." Lobsiger said. " Suddenly, he was a
little boy again. It was a private moment for him."
A star is born
Born Aug. 3, 1920, in Clarinda, Iowa, Marilyn Maxwell was named Marvel
because her mother, Anne, thought that was the perfect name for a movie
star.
Maxwell's father, Harold, deserted the family shortly after her birth.
Anne supported her children, Paul, Leland and Marvel, by working in
department stores, giving piano lessons and playing the organ for
silent-movie houses.
Around 1930, the family moved to Fort Wayne to take care of Marvel's
oldest brother, Paul, an engineer at WOWO radio station, who had a leg
amputated in a car accident.
The young Marilyn spent her formative years in Fort Wayne, attending
Washington Elementary School and taking singing and dancing lessons. As
a teenager, she performed at the Berghoff Gardens, the Chatterbox and
on WOWO's "Modern Home Forum." She left Central High School during her
sophomore year to join Amos Otstot's band in Indianapolis. She later
joined the orchestras of Ted Weems and Buddy Rogers.
Rogers and his actress-wife Mary Pickford sent Maxwell to the Pasadena
Playhouse for acting lessons. She landed her first role in 1942
opposite Robert Taylor in "Stand By for Action."
She later starred in movies with Kirk Douglas, Van Johnson, Clark Gable
and Bob Hope. In one of her most popular films, "The Lemon Drop Kid,"
Maxwell portrayed Hope's girlfriend, Brainy Baxter, in the story about
a racetrack bookie (Hope) who owes money to a gangster. She performed
the song "Silver Bells" in the film, and made the song a Christmas
classic.
The first Hollywood actress to go overseas during the Korean War,
Maxwell adorned Bob Hope's side as he entertained U.S. troops. The pair
also performed Nov. 22, 1953, at the Memorial Coliseum.
Maxwell said in a News-Sentinel interview at the time, "I've played in
London and before President Eisenhower, but it is more difficult to
play before the home folks, because they expect more from you."
The duo had attended the dedication ceremony for Fort Wayne's first
television station, WKJG, an NBC affiliate, the day before. Harry W.
Baals, Fort Wayne mayor at the time, proclaimed Nov. 19, 1953, as Bob
Hope and Marilyn Maxwell Day.
By the 1960s, however, Maxwell's star had begun to fade.
Memories of Mom and Aunt Marv
At home, Davis, 49, said his mother encouraged him in his musical
pursuits, a love they both shared.
When he expressed an interest in playing guitar, his mother got
world-renowned classical guitarist Christopher Parkening to give him
lessons. When he formed a band with some friends, his mother shooed
away female admirers so the boys could practice. "She took it very
serious When I made a decision, she was right there."
Davis still remembers when his mother gave him the surprise of a
lifetime, one he has yet to figure out how she accomplished. He had
wanted a clubhouse in his back yard, and when he awoke one Christmas
morning, there it was.
"She always did things first-rate," he said.
Davis, who has done background music for "America's Funniest Home
Videos" (1990s) and has done parody musical arrangements for other
projects, said Rock Hudson was one of Maxwell's closest friends.
Maxwell and Hudson were constant companions the last 20 years of her
life, matched by the studio to conceal Hudson's homosexuality.
Hudson once threw a birthday party, complete with a merry-go-round, for
Davis when he was about 5 or 6. Hudson also would come over to the
house and play piano for hours with his mother.
"They'd play Beethoven, make a mistake and fall off the bench
laughing," Davis recalled.
It was Hudson who also restored sanity to Davis' life the day his
mother died. The house was in utter chaos, and Hudson took care of
Davis until he was reunited with his father.
Maxwell's niece and namesake, Marilyn Gaffen, of Enfield, Conn., fondly
remembered a warm and lively aunt. "She's a lot like Auntie Mame; a
whoosh of energy and enthusiasm."
Gaffen, 60, said her family came from the East to spend every summer at
Winona Lake while they were growing up. The summer of 1954, Maxwell
brought Jerry Davis to meet the family, and Gaffen was the flower girl
at their wedding.
While home in Connecticut, Gaffen remembered Aunt Marv coming to do
summer stock theater there in 1962. It was the custom for stars to stay
with family and friends instead of in hotel rooms, so Gaffen had to
give up her bed for Rock Hudson. She was 17 years old at that time and
the envy of all her friends.
"This was the high point in his career at the time because of all the
films he was doing," she said.
Gaffen, who will attend the dedication ceremony on Friday, also
remembered the time she received a congratulatory phone call from her
aunt at the nurse's station after having given birth to her first son,
Adam. "It was typical Aunt Marv."
Walk of Fame
Unfortunately for Maxwell, she left MGM just days before its list of
stars was submitted for consideration on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
Maxwell was devastated by the omission, but the Embassy Theatre's
bronze diamond will come a long way toward recognizing the actress that
Hollywood did not.
Walk of Recognition
What: Exhibit of Marilyn Maxwell's personal belongings on loan from her
family, bronze diamond unveiling and reception.
When: Exhibit, 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and during reception Friday, with
bronze diamond unveiling at 5 p.m. and reception 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Where: Embassy Theatre, 121 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Cost: Free admission.