Of the various actresses of the 1950s, I always found Marilyn Simms (1928-2023) to be one of the most fascinating. This gorgeous blue-eyed redhead didn’t have much of an impact on Hollywood, but she did have a lengthy career that included film, television, theater, and modeling. I’ve wanted to write something about this interesting, talented, and overlooked person for years. I am glad to finally have the opportunity to do so. Marylin Jean Symons was born in Chicago, Illinois. In contrast to the upbringings of stars like Marilyn Monroe and Jacquelyn Park, Marylin grew up in an affluent household.
Her father William was a wealthy businessman, while her mother Verena (née Boll) was an heiress to a brand of hotels in the midwest. They lived on North Elm Drive in the heart of Beverly Hills. They even had a live-in housekeeper named Anne.
Unfortunately, Marylin’s father died when she was eight years old. She would be cared for by her widowed mother. After graduating from Beverly Hills High School, Marylin embarked on a career in the performing arts. She won a beauty contest and was awarded a scholarship to the Geller Workshop where she studied acting. She later starred in several stage productions at the Geller Theater including Room Service, Brother Rat, and Tin Pan Alec. She was more successful at modeling though, doing advertisements with Del Manufacturing, Commodore Stockton, Chevrolet, Stanyer and Edmondson, and various brands of apparel. After years of effort, she got her first onscreen role in the film Two Tickets to Broadway (1951). She joined the Mary Webb Davis Modeling Agency the following year.
She eventually changed her name to Marilyn Simms, often using variations of it like Marilyn Sims, Marylin Simms, Marylin Sims, and Marylinn Simms. It seemed to be a good decision, as her career went into overdrive. She was cast on the television series Glamour Girl alongside Harry Babbitt, where she would model outfits and jewelry. She flew to New York City on occasion to do modeling gigs when she was offered the role of Jamie Dawn in Three For Jamie Dawn (1956). It sounded a lot better than it actually was though, as anybody who’s seen the film knows that Jamie Dawn has no dialogue nor an onscreen credit. She was a character on trial for murder, appearing in various scenes in the courtroom while the story focuses on the lawyers and jurors.
The 1950s provided a lot of good fortune for Marylin, but her greatest achievement of that decade was being hired as the Color Test Girl on NBC. Since a lot of readers don’t understand what that is, it’s essentially someone who stands in front of the camera to test its ability to film colors before filming begins. She thought it was the easiest gig in the world. The best part was that she was filmed minutes before the daily filming of Matinee Theater, which was one of the most-watched dramas of the 1950s. That meant that she got to sit in on the live-action filming and study the acting of some of Hollywood’s greatest actors. She urged the producers of the series to cast her in an episode. After a year with the network, they obliged. She starred in an episode titled The Waiting Swan with a plot that consists of an aging playboy’s contentious relationship with his son.
Other than a walk-on role in Gigi (1958) and an appearance on Kraft Theater, she wasn’t offered anything else. On April 18, 1960, Marylin wed an actor-turned-screenwriter named Jerry Devine. They had a daughter named Brigid.
I’ve located a lot of lost actresses the last few years, but I can say that Marilyn Simms was the most difficult to find because of the different variations of her name. When I finally found her, I was in the process of arranging an interview with her with the help of her daughter Brigid Kolbrenner. Sadly, Marylin passed away in Santa Barbara, California in June 2023 before things were finalized. Her granddaughter Jamie Kolbrenner is carrying the torch though, as she has ambitions of being a producer. I’m sure that her late-grandmother will be proud of her.
“It [Matinee Theater] is the greatest acting course in the world, and I’m getting paid for attending it.” - Marilyn Simms Measurements: 36-24-36
