Mary Carlisle

Mary Carlisle
Born	Gwendolyn Witter (1914-02-03) February 3, 1914 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.[a]
Years active	1923–1943
Spouse(s)	James Blakeley (1942–2007; his death); 1 child

Mary Carlisle (born Gwendolyn Witter on February 3, 1914) is a retired American actress, singer and dancer. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she starred in several B movie-grade Hollywood films in the 1930s, having been one of fifteen girls selected as "WAMPAS Baby Stars" in 1932. She became a centenarian in 2014.

Biography

Career

Mary Carlisle was born as Gwendolyn Witter on February 3, 1914^[1] in Back Bay, Boston.^[2] Her mother was Leona Ella Witter.^[3] Being born into a religious family, she was educated in a convent in Boston.^[4] Her father died when she was four years old.^[5] Leona Witter later remarried, to industrialist Henry J. Kaiser.^[6] Carlisle and her mother then relocated to Los Angeles, where her uncle lived. He gave her the opportunity to appear in the Jackie Coogan vehicle Long Live the King in 1923. She was uncredited.^[2]

Carlisle was discovered by studio executive Carl Laemmle, Jr. at the age of 14 when she was eating lunch with her mother at the Universal Studios commissionary. Carlisle , a petite 5 feet tall, with ash blonde hair, dimples and big round blue eyes, was praised for her angelic looks, and Laemmle offered her a screen test. Though she passed the test and started doing extra work at Universal, she was stopped by a welfare officer who noted that she was underaged and had to finish school first.^[5]

After completing her education two years later, she headed to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio for work in movies. The casting director asked if she could dance; when she replied that she could, he arranged for an audition to take place two days later. Carlisle, who had lied about her good dancing abilities, took a one-day basic tap dancing lesson. She signed a one-year contract with MGM^[4] in 1930 and was used as a back-up dancer.^[5]

In the beginning of her movie career, she had small parts in movies such as Madam Satan and Passion Flower. She also had a role in Grand Hotel in 1932.^[4] She gained recognition when she was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars (young actresses believed to be on their way to stardom) in 1932.^[7] Her major acting break came when Paramount Studios loaned her for the movie College Humor, where she played opposite Bing Crosby. The performance was critically acclaimed and she later went on making two more movies with him: Double or Nothing and Doctor Rhythm.^[8] She continued working for different studios, mainly in B-movies as a leading lady.

Marriage

Carlisle married actor James Edward Blakeley (1910-2007) on March 14, 1942,^[9] who later became an executive producer at 20th Century-Fox. Carlisle retired from films shortly after getting married. The couple had one child during their nearly 65-year marriage. In her later life, she was in charge of the Elizabeth Arden Salon in Beverly Hills, California.^[6]

Honours

On February 8, 1960, aged 46, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[10] With the deaths of Gloria Stuart and Barbara Kent, Carlisle became the only surviving "WAMPAS Baby Star".^[7]

Carlisle is the model for the heroine, Starshine Hart, in Jacob Appel's novel, The Biology of Luck (2013).^[11]

Filmography

Film

See also

• List of surviving silent film actors

References

a^ Her birth record indicates Los Angeles as place of birth