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Margia Dean

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Margia Dean
Born
Marguerite Louise Skliris

(1922-04-07) April 7, 1922 (age 102)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation(s)Beauty queen, actress
Years active1929–1964 (Actress and model)
Spouse(s)
Hal Fischer
​
(m. 1939⁠–⁠1945)​

Felipe Alvarez
​
(m. 1965)​

Marguerite Louise Skliris-Alvarez (née Skliris; born April 7, 1922), known as Margia Dean, is an American former beauty queen and stage and screen actress of Greek descent.[1]

Biography

She was born in Chicago, Illinois but moved to San Francisco, California with her parents at a young age.[2] She began acting at the age of 7, appearing on stage in many child roles and later won the Women's National Shakespeare Contest for her role as Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet.[2] She also took up modelling and was named "Miss San Francisco" and "Miss California" in 1939.[3][4] She was a top-five runner-up to Patricia Donnelly in the "Miss America 1939" competition.[2]

She made her feature film debut in Casanova in Burlesque (1944) and adopted her stage name, Margia Dean.[2] Although never under contract to a studio, most of the films, some 16 in all,[1] she made were for the producer Robert L. Lippert.[2] Her first leading role was in Shep Come Home (1948) and roles followed in Red Desert (1949), FBI Girl (1951), The Lonesome Trail (1955), Villa!! (1958) and Seven Women from Hell (1961).[citation needed] Dean starred in a 1958 western, Ambush at Cimarron Pass, that featured Clint Eastwood in one of his earliest film roles. She also portrayed a trapeze artist in the 1961 circus tale The Big Show, which starred Esther Williams and Robert Vaughn.[citation needed]

Her association with Lippert had led to her being cast in The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), the first Hammer horror film.[5] Frustrated that her roles were predominantly in B movies, she eventually retired from acting following her marriage in 1965 to her second husband, architect Felipe Alvarez. Her final film was Moro Witch Doctor (1964).[citation needed] She briefly became involved in movie production, producing The Long Rope (1961) with Hugh Marlowe as well as a number of television pilots.[2] She has since been vice-president of a real estate firm and has worked in costume design and interior decoration.[2]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ a b "The Private Life and Times of Margia Dean". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Fitzgerald, Mike. "An Interview with Margia Dean". Western Clippings. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  3. ^ Cozad, W. Lee (2006). More Magnificent Mountain Movies. Lake Arrowhead, California: Sunstroke Media. pp. 196–197. ISBN 978-0-9723372-2-9. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  4. ^ "Miss California History". Miss California. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  5. ^ Hearn, Marcus; Barnes, Alan (2007) [1997]. The Hammer Story. The Authorised History of Hammer Films (2nd ed.). London: Titan Books. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-84576-185-1.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Claire James
 Miss California
1939 		Succeeded by
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