Michelle Triola

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Michelle Triola (born 1933 in Los Angeles, California, United States) is an actress who is mainly notable for unsuccessfully suing Lee Marvin in 1977 after her relationship with him ended. The trial, which brought about the concept of palimony, was widely covered in the media at the time. During this time, she called herself Michelle Triola Marvin. She was represented by attorney Marvin Mitchelson.

Though the couple never married, she sought financial compensation similar to that available to spouses under California's alimony and community property laws. The result was the landmark case, Marvin v. Marvin, 18 Cal. 3d 660 (1976)^[1]. The Supreme Court of California held that Triola could proceed with her suit, as it did state a cause of action and the trial court erred in granting judgment to Marvin on the pleadings.

The case was thus remanded for trial in the Superior Court in and for the County of Los Angeles. On April 18, 1979, Judge Arthur K. Marshall ordered Marvin to pay $104,000 to Triola for "rehabilitation purposes" but denied her community property claim for one-half of the $3.6 million which Marvin had earned during their six years of cohabitation. Both sides claimed victory, but in August 1981, the California Court of Appeal ruled that Triola could not show any contract between herself and Marvin to justify any payment to her. As a result, Triola recovered no money from Marvin.^[1]^[2] Supposedly other Hollywood males worried that they could also be "Marvinized," although by the end of the case it was clear that "palimony" for unmarried couples did not exist as a legal claim.

Triola's acting career was considered less than successful, with only minor roles, including a stand-in in Marvin's 1965 film Ship of Fools and later in the television series Diagnosis Murder.

She has lived with Dick Van Dyke for many years.