Marla English

Born: 1935-01-04

She was born Marleine Gaile English in San Diego, California. As a teenager, she worked as a model and performed locally. English was originally signed to a contract by Paramount Pictures in 1952 after winning a San Diego beauty pageant to be "Fairest of the Fair". She was paid $150 per week to appear in such films as Red Garters (1954) and Rear Window (1954). She was often cut out of these films. Her contract went up to $200 a week. Her breakthrough role came when she was borrowed by Aubrey Schenck to appear in Shield for Murder (1954). She received a major break when she was cast opposite Spencer Tracy in The Mountain, a film which was to be made in France. English was given a smallpox vaccine before leaving to go on location. She quickly developed a raging fever and decided to pull out of the movie. Paramount suspended English and replaced her with Barbara Darrow. Parade Magazine questioned English about her decision in September 1955. She said it was a very dumb move and was unsure why she decided against making The Mountain. A close relative told the publication that English had fallen in love with Paramount actor Larry Pennell. She became enraged when the studio would not give Pennell a role in the film so they could travel to France together. English made mostly B films throughout her career in Hollywood. Some of these include Three Bad Sisters, Runaway Daughters, The She Creature, Flesh and the Spur, and Voodoo Woman. In 1955, she appeared with John Ireland and Pennell in Hell's Horizon.


Placeholder

Rear Window

as Girl at Songwriter's Party (uncredited)
Released: 1954-08-01

A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes...

Movie page

About Mrs. Leslie

as Minor Role
Released: 1954-08-03

A lonely, unhappy owner of a Beverly Hills boarding house reflects on her lonely, unhappy life...

Movie page

Shield for Murder

as Patty Winters
Released: 1954-08-27

A crooked detective masterminds a robbery then fights to keep his money.

Movie page

The She-Creature

as Andrea Talbott / Elizabeth Wetherby
Released: 1956-08-01

A mysterious hypnotist reverts his beautiful assistant back into the form of a prehistoric sea...

Movie page

Living It Up

as Manicurist
Released: 1954-07-15

Homer Flagg (Lewis) is a railroad worker in the small town of Desert Hole, New Mexico. One day...

Movie page

Runaway Daughters

as Audrey
Released: 1956-01-20

Three teenagers with troubled families are unable to adjust at home and in high-school. Tempted...

Movie page

Yankee Pasha

as Harem Girl
Released: 1954-04-17

Tale of an adventurer trying to rescue a damsel kidnapped by pirates.

Movie page

Casanova's Big Night

as Girl In Gondola
Released: 1954-04-07

Italy 1757, Pippo Popolino, a lowly tailor, disguises himself as the great Casanova in order to...

Movie page

Hell's Horizon

as Sami
Released: 1955-12-31

The pilot, co-pilot, and crew of a bomber try to hit a Korean bridge in bad weather.

Movie page

Voodoo Woman

as Marilyn Blanchard
Released: 1957-04-11

Deep in the jungles a mad scientist is using the natives' voodoo for his experiments to create...

Movie page

Desert Sands

as Zara
Released: 1955-11-18

The French Foreign Legion battles rebellious Arabs in North Africa.

Movie page

Flesh and the Spur

as Wild Willow
Released: 1956-09-25

A young man searches for his brother's killer with the help of a gunfighter, a native woman and...

Movie page

Three Bad Sisters

as Vicki Craig
Released: 1956-01-01

Following the death of a wealthy man, his three daughters squabble about who should be the...

Movie page

A Strange Adventure

as Lynn Novak
Released: 1956-08-24

A trio of thieves make their getaway by kidnapping a young hot-rodder, and take over a mountain...

Movie page