Often compared to Lana Turner, Marjorie Graner studied dance as a child. After dancing at The Tropicana Hotel, two producers named John Burrows and Leonard Ackerman approached her and asked her if she wanted a role in Al Capone (1959). She assumed that it'd be a walk-on role, but it ended up being a larger role with dialogue. She became an overnight sensation with newspapers reporting that she joined the Screen Actors Guild and that she would do more movies in the coming months. Sadly, that never happened. Her agency, the Betty Ames Charm Center, got her various roles of television series like Perry Mason and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
She had some success in New York, appearing on Broadway in Pal Joey and Fiorello. She was crowned Queen of the Saugus in 1959, screen-tested for the cancelled film, Bloomer Girl, that was supposed to star Shirley MacLaine, and dated Sy Devore.
She married Robert Pichel, moved to Englewood, New Jersey, and has lived there ever since.
40s
