Post by petrolino on Nov 10, 2018 2:32:20 GMT
Marilyn Miller was born on September 1, 1898 in Evansville, Indiana, USA. She starred in 'Sally' (1929), 'Sunny' (1930) and 'Her Majesty, Love' (1931). As a Ziegfeld girl, she drew the attention of Dorothy Parker who wrote poetry and verse inspired by her. In later years, Patti Smith wrote a poem about her.
"The great musical-comedy star Marilyn Miller sang the Jerome Kern song "Look for the Silver Lining" in the 1929 movie version of Sally, her first starring Broadway vehicle. It would became her theme song. Miller often played Cinderella roles: Sally was a waitress and dishwasher who loses her job but ends up starring on Broadway and marrying a millionaire.
Though she died before I was born, Miller was one of the first Broadway celebrities I ever heard about: My mother had seen her on the stage and loved her. When I was little, she used to sing me one of the other Kern songs Miller made famous, "Who?" -- in which a series of questions -- "Who stole my heart away? / Who makes me dream all day?" -- is finally answered by "Who? No one but you!" Being my mom, she would point her finger at my nose. So without ever seeing Marilyn Miller, I loved her too.
Nearly a decade after her death, Miller figured as a major character in a couple of 1940s biopics. One was the sappy Look for the Silver Lining, in which June Haver plays Miller and gangly Ray Bolger steals the picture as her friend and dance partner. The other was MGM's all-star Till the Clouds Roll By, a fictionalized biography of Jerome Kern, who actually led a relatively uneventful life. The dramatic climax is the tantrum Kern's young niece throws because she's replaced in a show by ... Marilyn Miller -- who's played by Judy Garland. The movie was really an excuse for big production numbers, and Garland was especially memorable singing "Look for the Silver Lining."
Two of Miller's three movies, Sally and Sunny, have just been released on Warner Archives, a new series that has put out some 400 rare or historic titles never before available on DVD. You can see that Miller wasn't a perfect fit for film. For one thing, she sings with a trained, almost operatic voice that seems disconnected from her character's down-to-earth speaking voice. It's a quality designed more for a theater, where vocal projection was more important than it is in film -- where amplified sound and intimate close-ups are more suited to realism than theatrical stylization.
The primitive staging and camera-work with which Broadway musicals were first transferred to the big screen further compromise plausibility. Miller's dancing, though, both tap and toe, comes off better, especially in her comedic numbers, and she's a touching actress. Her bright voice, canny phrasing, endearing smile, and affecting tears can still light up the screen."
Though she died before I was born, Miller was one of the first Broadway celebrities I ever heard about: My mother had seen her on the stage and loved her. When I was little, she used to sing me one of the other Kern songs Miller made famous, "Who?" -- in which a series of questions -- "Who stole my heart away? / Who makes me dream all day?" -- is finally answered by "Who? No one but you!" Being my mom, she would point her finger at my nose. So without ever seeing Marilyn Miller, I loved her too.
Nearly a decade after her death, Miller figured as a major character in a couple of 1940s biopics. One was the sappy Look for the Silver Lining, in which June Haver plays Miller and gangly Ray Bolger steals the picture as her friend and dance partner. The other was MGM's all-star Till the Clouds Roll By, a fictionalized biography of Jerome Kern, who actually led a relatively uneventful life. The dramatic climax is the tantrum Kern's young niece throws because she's replaced in a show by ... Marilyn Miller -- who's played by Judy Garland. The movie was really an excuse for big production numbers, and Garland was especially memorable singing "Look for the Silver Lining."
Two of Miller's three movies, Sally and Sunny, have just been released on Warner Archives, a new series that has put out some 400 rare or historic titles never before available on DVD. You can see that Miller wasn't a perfect fit for film. For one thing, she sings with a trained, almost operatic voice that seems disconnected from her character's down-to-earth speaking voice. It's a quality designed more for a theater, where vocal projection was more important than it is in film -- where amplified sound and intimate close-ups are more suited to realism than theatrical stylization.
The primitive staging and camera-work with which Broadway musicals were first transferred to the big screen further compromise plausibility. Miller's dancing, though, both tap and toe, comes off better, especially in her comedic numbers, and she's a touching actress. Her bright voice, canny phrasing, endearing smile, and affecting tears can still light up the screen."
- Lloyd Schwartz, NPR
'Marilyn Miller's last name was adopted from the surname of her stepfather, Oscar Caro Miller, while her first name was formed by combining her birth name, Mary, with her mother's middle name, Lynn.[1][2] Initially calling herself Marilynn, she would drop one "n" at the urging of Florenz Ziegfeld.
Census records document very few dozen people named "Marilyn" in the United States in 1900; by the 1930s, following Miller's stardom, it was the 16th most common first name among American females.
In the late 1940s, Norma Jeane Baker (née Mortenson) changed her name to Marilyn Monroe at the urging of Ben Lyon, a one-time actor turned casting director at 20th Century Fox, who said she reminded him of Miller – he had played Miller's love interest in Her Majesty, Love. Monroe would "become" Marilyn Miller herself when she married the playwright Arthur Miller in 1956.'
Census records document very few dozen people named "Marilyn" in the United States in 1900; by the 1930s, following Miller's stardom, it was the 16th most common first name among American females.
In the late 1940s, Norma Jeane Baker (née Mortenson) changed her name to Marilyn Monroe at the urging of Ben Lyon, a one-time actor turned casting director at 20th Century Fox, who said she reminded him of Miller – he had played Miller's love interest in Her Majesty, Love. Monroe would "become" Marilyn Miller herself when she married the playwright Arthur Miller in 1956.'
- Wikipedia
'Mary Jane's Last Dance' - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers