Marlin Perkins (1905 - 1986)

Marlin Perkins was born on March 28, 1905, in Carthage, Missouri, the youngest of three sons of Joseph Dudley Perkins and Mynta Mae (née Miller) Perkins. When he was 7 years old, his mother nursed him through a serious bout of pneumonia and sadly died of the illness herself. His grieving father sent his two […]

Marlon Brando (1924 - 2004)

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando was born in 1924 in Omaha, Nebraska, to Marlon Brando, Sr., a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer, and his wife, Dorothy Julia (née Pennebaker). Brando had two older sisters, Jocelyn (1919–2005) and Frances (1922–1994). Brando’s ancestry included German, Dutch, English and Irish. His patrilineal immigrant ancestor, Johann Wilhelm Brandau, arrived in […]

Marlow Cook (1926 - 2016)

Marlow Cook was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1957 and again in 1959. He served on a special committee analyzing education in the state and also on a planning committee. Cook was elected to two terms as Jefferson County Judge, the equivalent of a mayoral position administering populous Jefferson County, which, by the […]

Marly Marley (1938 - 2014)

Actress, Singer. A noted performer, music critic, and theatre director, she shall probably be best remembered as a music judge on the long running reality television show “The Raul Gil Program”. Born in the small interior village of Tres Lagos, she was raised in the Sao Paulo suburbs, and though educated as a teacher and […]

Marsden J. Perry (1850 - 1935)

Prominent Industrialist, and Banker; Notable Art Collector and Philanthropist.  Direct descendant of Anthony Perry (d. 1683), one of the original settlers of Rehoboth, Mass.  Son of Horatio Perry (1814-1853), and Malvina Wilson Perry (b. 1829).  Born in Rehoboth, he attended district schools.  When twelve years old he enlisted in a Massachusetts Company and served throughout […]

Marshall Bradford (1885 - 1971)

Actor. He played the Sheriff in a number of “Lone Ranger” television episodes, he also appeared in episodes of “Dragnet,” “Annie Oakley” and “Medic.” He played in 40 films including: “Blondie for Victory,” “White Heat,” “Batman and Robin,” “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “A Star is Born,” “It Conquered the World,” “Band of Angels,” […]

Marshall Field, III (1893 - 1956)

Businessman, Newspaper Publisher. He was the grandson and heir of Marshall Field, who founded the Chicago, Illinois-based Marshall Field and Company department stores. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 28, 1963 to Marshall Field, Jr. and Albertine Huck Field, and was raised primarily in England where he received his education at Eton College […]

Marshall Herff Applewhite (1931 - 1997)

Cult Leader. Born in Spur, Texas, grew up with a very religious background. As a young man he frequently attended church gatherings and even sang in the church choir. His later life was troubled by bouts with the law and frequent other problems. In 1974 on one of his arrests, his mugshot was taken and […]

Marshall M. Fredericks (1908 - 1998)

Atrist and sculptor. Knighted by the King of Denmark.  Academician of the National Academy of Design.  Some of this artist’s known works include Christ on the Cross, Indian River, Michigan; The Fountain of Eternal Life: Peace Arising from the Flames of War, Cleveland, Ohio; The Expanding Universe Fountain, United States Department of State Building, Washington, […]

Marshall Neilan (1891 - 1958)

Born in San Bernardino, California, Marshall Neilan was known by most as “Mickey.” Following the death of his father, the eleven-year-old Mickey Neilan had to give up on school to work at whatever he could find in order to help support his mother. As a teenager, he began acting in bit parts in live theatre, […]

Marshall Thompson (1925 - 1992)

Marshall Thompson was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. He and his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Laurence B. Thompson, moved to California when he was one year old. Thompson enrolled at Occidental College with plans to become a dentist. He attended University High School where he was a classmate of Norma Jean Baker, later […]

Marta Heflin (1945 - 2013)

Actress. A versatile performer, she is probably best remembered for her roles in two of Robert Altman’s films. The niece of actor Van Heflin, she was raised in Washington by a well-off family and as a young adult journeyed to New York hoping for success in show business. Marta got her big break in a […]

Marta Toren (1925 - 1957)

Actress. She is remembered for her films “Rospiggar” (1942), “Rogue’s Regiment” (1948), “Casbah” (1948), “Sword in the Desert” (1949), “Spy Hunt” (1950), “Sirocco” (1951), “The Man Who Watched Trains Go By” (1953), “Maddalena” (1954), “Casa Ricordi” (1954), “Carta a Sara” (1956) and “La Puerta Abierta” (1957). (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni) Cause of death: […]

Martha Bamattre (1891 - 1970)

Actress. Born in Switzerland, she was most noted for her roles as the French peasant woman in “Battleground” (1949) and as Mathilde Mattieu in “An American in Paris” (1951). Her other credits included “Bolero” (1934), “Champagne Waltz” (1937), “Reunion in France” (1942), “Thunderbirds” (1952) and “To Catch a Thief” (1955). (bio by: John “J-Cat” Griffith)

Martha Beall Mitchell (1918 - 1976)

Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to cotton broker George V. Beall and teacher Arie Beall (née Ferguson), Martha Beall Mitchell graduated from Pine Bluff High School in 1937, She attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Miami, from which she received a BA in history. She […]

Martha Carson (1921 - 2004)

Martha Carson Things began to change after Carson met Fred Rose in Nashville. He helped convince Capitol to let her record alone, and in 1951 she made her solo-single debut with “Satisfied”, a gospel song she had written in response to audience disapproval over her divorce. The combination of Carson’s powerful alto voice and the […]

Martha Chase (1927 - 2003)

Martha Chase was born in 1927 in Cleveland, Ohio. She had only one sister, Ruth Chase. In 1950 she received her bachelor’s degree from the College of Wooster and in 1964 her PhD from the University of Southern California. In 1952 Chase met the American bacteriophage expert Alfred Hershey at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory from […]

Martha Graham (1894 - 1991)

Graham was born in Allegheny City – later to became part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – in 1894. Her father George Graham practiced as what in the Victorian era was known as an “alienist”, a practitioner of an early form of psychiatry. The Grahams were strict Presbyterians. Dr. Graham was a third-generation American of Irish descent. […]

Martha Hyer (1924 - 2014)

Martha Hyer was born in Fort Worth, Texas into a wealthy family, the daughter of Julien Capers Hyer (1894–1974), an attorney and judge, and Agnes Rebecca (née Barnhart; 1892–1969). She was the middle of three sisters, with Agnes Ann (1920–2014) and Jeanne (b. 1928). The Hyers were active in the Methodist church where her father […]

Martha Mansfield (1900 - 1923)

Actress. Born Martha Ehrlich, she took her professional name from her hometown of Mansfield, Ohio. In 1912 she moved with her mother to the Bronx and became a popular model for fashion photographer Alfred Cheney Johnson and illustrator Harrison Fisher. This led to mostly decorative roles in such Broadway shows as “The Century Girl” (1916), […]

Martha Mason (1908 - 1994)

Motion picture actress. Wife of actor Sydney Mason. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Martha McChesney Berry (1866 - 1942)

Educator. She was home schooled at her plantation home in Rome, Georgia until as a teenager she went to a girls school in Baltimore, Maryland. Her interest in education was piqued when she began teaching Bible stories to poor children who lived around the mountain retreat cabin that she inherited from her father. Concerned by […]

Martha Moxley (1960 - 1975)

On the evening of October 30, 1975, Martha Moxley left with friends to attend a Halloween party at the Skakel home. According to friends, Moxley began flirting with and eventually kissed Thomas Skakel, Michael’s brother. Martha Moxley was last seen “falling together behind the fence” with Thomas Skakel near the pool in the Skakel backyard […]

Martha Needle (1864 - 1894)

Martha Needle was born near Morgan, South Australia in 1863. An attractive woman with a kindly disposition, she grew up in a violent and abusive household, and she showed signs of mental instability from an early age. At 17 she married Henry Needle at North Adelaide and in 1882 gave birth to a daughter, Mabel, […]

Martha O’Driscoll (1922 - 1998)

Actress. She appear in over 30 films from 1938 to 1947, including “Li’l Abner” (1940, as Daisy Mae), “Ghost Catchers” (1944), “Here Come the Co-Eds”, “House of Dracula”, “The Daltons Ride Again” and “Under Western Skies” (1945). (bio by: Ginny M)

Martha Raye (1916 - 1994)

Entertainer, Actress. Born Margaret Yvonne Teresa Reed, she joined her parents’ vaudeville act at three years old. The singer, dancer, actress, comedienne performed on Broadway, in movies and on television. Beginning in 1942, she entertained American troops through World War II, Korea and Viet Nam. For nine years she made trips to Viet Nam, sometimes […]

Martha Rendell (1871 - 1909)

Martha Rendell killed 7-year-old Annie first. Her method was to put something in the child’s food that would result in a sore throat. It was alleged that she killed the children by swabbing hydrochloric acid on the backs of their throats, claiming it was medicine. This would inflame the throat until the child could no […]

Martha Scott (1912 - 2003)

Scott was born in Jamesport, Missouri, the daughter of Letha (née McKinley) and Walter Alva Scott, an engineer and garage owner. Her mother was a second-cousin of U.S. President William McKinley. The Scott family remained in Jamesport until Martha was thirteen years old when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri and eventually to Detroit Michigan. […]

Martha Scott Powell (1912 - 2003)

Actress. Best remembered for her television roles including, ‘Jennifer Talbot’ on “General Hospital” from 1985 to 1986, ‘Margaret Millington’ on “Secrets Of Midland Heights” from 1980 to 1981, ‘Helen Elgin’ on “The Bionic Woman” from 1976 to 1977, and from 1954 to 1958 she was the host/narrator for the series, “Modern Romances.” She appeared in […]

Martha Sleeper (1910 - 1983)

Martha Sleeper reputedly spent her first years on a sheep ranch in Wyoming. Her father, William B. Sleeper, was an official of the Keith-Albee-Orpheum vaudeville circuit in New York City. Her mother was Minnie Akass. He retired to Los Angeles, California in 1923 because of ill health. She was under contract to Hal Roach studios […]