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Margaret Tallichet
Margaret Tallichet
	Tallichet in 1937
Born	March 13, 1914; Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died	May 3, 1991 (aged 77); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Southern Methodist University
Occupation	Actress
Spouse	William Wyler (m. 1938; died 1981)
Children	5
Relatives	David Tallichet Jr. (brother)

Margaret "Talli" Tallichet (March 13, 1914 – May 3, 1991) was an American actress and longtime wife of movie director William Wyler. Her best-known leading role was with Peter Lorre in the film noir Stranger on the Third Floor (1940).

Background

She was the great-granddaughter of Albert Tallichet, an antebellum emigre from Switzerland who settled in the town of Demopolis, Alabama, where he ran a grocery store.^[1] Her parents, David Compton Tallichet and Margaret Tallichet, moved from Alabama to Dallas, Texas before her birth. Margaret graduated from Southern Methodist University. She was an active member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.^[1] Tallichet adhered to Methodism and was a registered Republican.^[2]

Movie career

Tallichet came to California from her native Texas in 1936 seeking a career in the movie business.^[3] According to her obituary in the Los Angeles Times, she was working in the publicity department at Paramount Pictures when she was befriended by actress Carole Lombard.^[3] She was introduced to producer David O. Selznick, who gave her a screen test for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. She initially was cast for the role of Scarlett's sister Careen O'Hara,^[4] but the role was given to Ann Rutherford. Selznick also cast her in a minor uncredited role in A Star is Born (1937).

At the outset of her acting career, she also appeared in A Desperate Adventure (1938) and Girls' School (1938).

Marriage and family

In 1938, an agent introduced her to Goldwyn Pictures director William Wyler, who had been divorced from his first wife Margaret Sullavan, since 1936.^[1] Three weeks later, on October 23, 1938, they were married, at the lakeside home of Walter Huston.^[5]

Before the United States entered World War II, both Tallichet and Wyler continued to work. She appeared in Stand Up and Fight (uncredited, 1939), Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), It Started with Eve (1941), and The Devil Pays Off (1941).

Also before the U.S. entered the war, her husband was an outspoken advocate for the defense of Great Britain. Mrs. Miniver (1942), his first Oscar-winning film, was a sympathetic portrayal of an English family enduring the Battle of Britain. After completing this film, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps and flew in missions over Europe in order to make documentaries about those adventures. At the 1943 Academy Awards program, Margaret accepted, in her husband's absence, his Academy Award for Best Director in Mrs. Miniver.^[6]

She and Wyler were parents of five children: Catherine Wyler (born July 25, 1939), Judy Wyler (born May 21, 1942), William Wyler Jr. (born April 4, 1946; died November 27, 1949), Melanie Ann Wyler (born November 25, 1950), and David Wyler (born September 1952). They remained married for 42 years until her husband's death.^[5]^[7] She was also the sister of aviator and restaurateur David Tallichet Jr.^[8]

Death

She died on May 3, 1991, at age 77.^[3] According to her obituary in the New York Times, the cause of her death was cancer.^[9]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1937	A Star Is Born	Marion	uncredited
1937	The Prisoner of Zenda		scenes deleted
1938	A Desperate Adventure	Betty Carrington
1938	Girls' School	Gwennie
1939	Stand Up and Fight	Fox Hunt Guest	uncredited
1940	Stranger on the Third Floor	Jane
1941	It Started with Eve	Gloria Pennington
1941	The Devil Pays Off	Joan Millard

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Demopolis Stories of Hellman & Wyler Stories Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
^ An Interview with Margaret Tallichet, Skip E. Lowe, 1990
^ ^a ^b ^c Obituary, "Margaret Tallichet; Actress, Widow of William Wyler, Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1991.
^ "Former Studio Typist Wins Part in 'Gone with the Wind,'" Syracuse Herald, p. 8D, November 28, 1937; Lucie Neville, "The Low Down on 'Gone with the Wind,'" Loredo Times, Oct. 2, 1938.
^ ^a ^b "Margaret Tallichet a Bride", New York Times, October 23, 1938.
^ Associated Press (March 5, 1943). "FILM 'OSCAR' PRIZE FOR 'MRS. MINIVER': The MGM Picture, Featuring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon, Best for 1942 CAGNEY THE 'FIRST' ACTOR Coward Honored for Leading Foreign Picture -- Wyler Is No. 1 Director". The New York Times. p. 14. ProQuest 106541907. Major William Wyler, now stationed in Europe with the Eighth Air Forces, photographing aerial bombing of Axis territory, was voted the outstanding movie director of 1942 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The award was for his megaphoning in 'Mrs. Miniver.' The award was accepted by Wyler's wife, the former Dallas (Texas) actress Margaret Tallichet.
^ Maslin, Janet (July 29, 1981). "WYLER IS DEAD AT 79; DIRECTOR HAD WON 3 ACADEMY AWARDS: [Obituary]". The New York Times. p. A1. ProQuest 424129030. Mr. Wyler is survived by his second wife, Margaret Tallichet Wyler.
^ O'Sullivan, Eleanor (October 21, 1990). "Outtakes: Catherine Wyler's Father 'Inspired' Film". Asbury Park Press. p. E2. ProQuest 2013628292. Ms. Wyler located several B17s and German fighter planes in the hands of European collectors. Her uncle, David Tallichet, supplied two B17s as well. [...] Ms. Wyler is the daughter of former actress Margaret Tallichet and Wyler.
^ Obituary, Margaret Tallichet Wyler, New York Times, May 7, 1991.