Martha Vickers was an American television and film actress.

Early life and career

Born Martha MacVicar in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

, she began her career as a model and cover girl. Her first film role was a small uncredited part in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, released in 1943, is an American monster horror film produced by Universal Studios starring Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. This was the first of a series of "ensemble" monster films combining characters from several film...

in 1941.

She played minor roles in several films during the early 1940s, and by the end of the decade she had progressed to featured supporting roles, including the role of Carmen Sternwood, the nymphomaniac younger sister of Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...

's character in The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep (1946 film)

The Big Sleep is a 1946 film noir directed by Howard Hawks, the first film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The movie stars Humphrey Bogart as detective Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as the female lead in a film about the "process of a criminal investigation, not its...

(1946). During the 1950s, Vickers' film career stalled, however she continued to act in television until her final performance in 1960.

Personal life and death

Vickers was married three times; to A. C. Lyles

A. C. Lyles

Andrew Craddock "A. C." Lyles is an American movie producer for Paramount Pictures who is best known for producing a variety of westerns in the 1950s and 1960s.-Career:...

 (March 15, 1948 – May 1949), Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...

 (June 3, 1949 – September 25, 1951) and actor Manuel Rojas (October 1, 1954 – 1965). Each marriage ended in divorce. Vickers had one son with Mickey Rooney, and two daughters with Rojas.

She died of esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...

, aged 46, in California, and is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery

Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery

Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 10621 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood, California.The cemetery has a special section called the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation that is the final resting place for a number of aviation pioneers — barnstormers, daredevils and...

 in North Hollywood, California.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1943	Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, released in 1943, is an American monster horror film produced by Universal Studios starring Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. This was the first of a series of "ensemble" monster films combining characters from several film...	Margareta	Uncredited
	Captive Wild Woman Captive Wild Woman Captive Wild Woman is a sci-fi horror film, starring John Carradine, Milburn Stone, Evelyn Ankers, and Acquanetta. It was released by Universal Pictures and was directed by Edward Dmytryk.-Plot:...	Dorothy Colman	Credited as Martha MacVicar
	Top Man	High school girl	Uncredited Alternative title: Man of the Family
	Hi'ya, Sailor	Hostess	Uncredited
1944	This Is the Life	Girl	Uncredited
	Marine Raiders Marine Raiders (film) Marine Raiders is a 1944 RKO war film showing a fictional depiction of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion and 1st Marine Parachute Battalion on Guadalcanal, R&R in Australia, retraining in Camp Elliott and a fictional attack in the Solomon Islands. Produced by Robert Fellows, and directed by Harold D...	Sally Parker	Credited as Martha MacVicar
	The Mummy's Ghost The Mummy's Ghost The Mummy's Ghost is the 1944 Universal Pictures sequel to The Mummy's Tomb. Lon Chaney, Jr. again takes on the role of Kharis the mummy.-Plot:...	Miss McLean, a student	Uncredited
	The Falcon in Mexico	Barbara Wade	Credited as Martha MacVicar
1946	The Big Sleep The Big Sleep (1946 film) The Big Sleep is a 1946 film noir directed by Howard Hawks, the first film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The movie stars Humphrey Bogart as detective Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as the female lead in a film about the "process of a criminal investigation, not its...	Carmen Sternwood
	The Time, the Place and the Girl	Victoria Cassel
1947	The Man I Love The Man I Love (film) The Man I Love is a noir film made in 1947, based on the novel Night Shift by Maritta M. Wolff.-Plot:Visiting her two sisters and brother, singer Petey Brown lands a job at small-time-hood Nicky Toresca's nightclub...	Virginia "Ginny" Brown
	That Way with Women	Marcia Alden
	Love and Learn	Barbara Wyngate
1948	Ruthless Ruthless (film) Ruthless is a drama film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Zachary Scott and Louis Hayward.-Plot:Horace Vendig shows himself to the world as a rich philanthropist. In fact, the history of his rise from his unhappy broken home shows this to be far from the case...	Susan Duane
1949	Daughter of the West	Lolita Moreno
	Bad Boy	Lila Strawn	Alternative title: The Story of Danny Lester
	Alimony Alimony (film) - Cast :*Martha Vickers as Kitty Travers aka Kate Klinger*John Beal as Dan Barker*Hillary Brooke as Linda Waring*Laurie Lind as Helen Drake*Douglass Dumbrille as Burton Crail*James Guilfoyle as Paul Klinger*Marie Blake as Mrs. Nesbitt...	Kitty Travers aka Kate Klinger
1955	The Big Bluff The Big Bluff -Plot:Suave Don Juan Rick De Villa and his married lover Fritzi Darvel would like to take off together, but his lack of money prevents them from doing so. A chance encounter introduces Rick to the young, but terminally ill socialite Valerie Bancroft , in whom Rick sees the solution to his...	Valerie Bancroft	Alternative title: Worthy Detectives
1957	The Burglar The Burglar The Burglar is a 1957 crime/thriller film released by Columbia Pictures, based on the 1953 novel of the same name by David Goodis .-Production background:...	Della
1960	Four Fast Guns	Mary Hoag
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1952	The Unexpected		1 episode
1953-1951	General Electric Theater General Electric Theater General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:...	Louise Helen	2 episodes
1954	Ford Theatre Ford Theatre Ford Theatre was a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times the television series appeared on all three major television networks, while the radio version was broadcast on two separate networks and on two separate coasts...	Nancy	2 episodes
	The Whistler	Louise	1 episode
1955	Fireside Theater Fireside Theater Fireside Theater is an American anthology drama series that ran from on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. Stories were low budget and often based on public domain stories or written by freelance writers such as Rod Serling. While it was panned...	Ellen Weston Julie	2 episodes
1956	The Millionaire	Ruth Murdock	1 episode
1957	Playhouse 90 Playhouse 90 Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...		1 episode
1959	Perry Mason Perry Mason (TV series) Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...	Sheila Hayes	1 episode
1960	The Rebel The Rebel (TV series) The Rebel is an American Western television series that ran originally on the ABC network from 1959 to 1961. The program was produced by Goodson-Todman Productions, marking one of their few non-game show ventures...	Bess Weed Agnes Boley	2 episodes

External links