Mary Lee Robb
Encyclopedia
Mary Lee Robb Cline was a radio actress during the 1940s and 1950s.
As Mary Lee Robb, she's best known for playing Marjorie, Gildersleeve's niece, on The Great Gildersleeve
. A small role in a 1948 episode of that program led to the full-time role of Marjorie, which she played until 1954.
Robb made her radio debut in 1947 on the Lum and Abner
program. She also appeared on The Penny Singleton Radio Show
.
Robb was born in Streator, Illinois
. Her father, Alex S. Robb, was an executive at NBC
.
In 1939 her family moved to Los Angeles, California
, where she attended University High School and University of California, Los Angeles
.
Robb's first marriage, to Charles Vance Smith, ended in divorce. Robb left radio in the mid-1950s to raise their son, Robb Smith, and daughter Alexandra.
In 1983 she married William H. Cline, who died in 2005.
Mary Lee Robb is survived by her daughter Alexandra, son Robb, son-in-law Alex, and daughter-in-law Melissa. Robb also leaves behind her two grand children Robbyn and Tyler.
She died of heart failure at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California
.
As Mary Lee Robb, she's best known for playing Marjorie, Gildersleeve's niece, on The Great Gildersleeve
The Great Gildersleeve
The Great Gildersleeve , initially written by Leonard Lewis Levinson, was one of broadcast history's earliest spin-off programs. Built around Throckmorton Philharmonic Gildersleeve, a character who had been a staple on the classic radio situation comedy Fibber McGee and Molly, first Introduced to...
. A small role in a 1948 episode of that program led to the full-time role of Marjorie, which she played until 1954.
Robb made her radio debut in 1947 on the Lum and Abner
Lum and Abner
Lum and Abner was an American radio comedy network program created by Chester Lauck and Norris Goff that aired from 1931 to 1954. Modeled on life in the small town of Waters, Arkansas, near where Lauck and Goff grew up, the showed proved immensely popular...
program. She also appeared on The Penny Singleton Radio Show
Penny Singleton
Penny Singleton was an American film actress. Born Marianna Dorothy Agnes Letitia McNulty in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania she was the daughter of an Irish-American newspaperman Benny McNulty — from whom she received the nickname "Penny" because she was "as bright as a penny".During her sixty...
.
Robb was born in Streator, Illinois
Streator, Illinois
Streator is a city in LaSalle and partially in Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago, Illinois in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. It is the center of the geographic region known as...
. Her father, Alex S. Robb, was an executive at NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
.
In 1939 her family moved to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, where she attended University High School and University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
.
Robb's first marriage, to Charles Vance Smith, ended in divorce. Robb left radio in the mid-1950s to raise their son, Robb Smith, and daughter Alexandra.
In 1983 she married William H. Cline, who died in 2005.
Mary Lee Robb is survived by her daughter Alexandra, son Robb, son-in-law Alex, and daughter-in-law Melissa. Robb also leaves behind her two grand children Robbyn and Tyler.
She died of heart failure at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
.