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Mary Carlisle
Mary Carlisle
	Carlisle in 1933
Born	Gwendolyn Witter; February 3, 1914; Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	August 1, 2018 (aged 104); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer, dancer
Years active	1923–1943
Spouse	James Blakeley; (m. 1942; died 2007)
Children	1
Relatives	Leotta Whytock (aunt)

Mary Carlisle (born Gwendolyn Witter; February 3, 1914 – August 1, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer, best known for her roles as a wholesome ingénue in numerous 1930s musical-comedy films.

She starred in more than 60 Hollywood films, moving beyond bit parts after coming to attention, alongside the likes of Gloria Stuart and Ginger Rogers, as one of 15 girls selected by the Western Association of Motion pictures as their WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1932. Her first major role was in the 1933 film College Humor with Bing Crosby. The two performers worked together in two additional films, Double or Nothing (1937) and Doctor Rhythm (1938). After her marriage in 1942 and a starring role in Dead Men Walk (1943), she retired from acting.

Early life

Carlisle was born Gwendolyn Witter in Boston, Massachusetts, to Arthur William and Leona Ella (Wotton) Witter.^[1]^[2] Born into a religious family, she was educated in a convent in Back Bay, Boston,^[3] after her family moved to that neighborhood when she was six months old.^[4]

Some time after her father's death, when she was 4, Carlisle and her mother relocated to Los Angeles. Through her uncle Robert Carlisle, who was a film editor and producer, she learned of a casting call at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.^[5]

Hollywood career

Carlisle's uncle, who lived in California, gave Carlisle the opportunity to appear in the Jackie Coogan silent movie Long Live the King in 1923, a performance for which she was uncredited.^[2] Carlisle was discovered by studio executive Carl Laemmle Jr. at the age of 14 while she was eating lunch with her mother at the Universal Studios canteen.^[6]^[1]^[7] She was praised for her angelic looks, and Laemmle offered her a screen test.^[5]^[8] Though she passed the test and started doing extra work at Universal, she was stopped by a welfare officer who noticed that she was underage and had to finish school first.^[5]^[1]^[7]

After completing her education two years later, she headed to MGM.^[6] Carlisle, who had lied about her dancing ability, took a one-day basic tap-dancing lesson, won a part along with future star Ann Dvorak, and appeared briefly in one film.^[4] Carlisle signed a one-year contract with MGM in 1930, and was used as a back-up dancer.^[3]^[5] At the start of her movie career, Carlisle had small parts in movies such as Madam Satan and Passion Flower (both 1930).^[1]^[9] She also had a role in Grand Hotel (1932), as a bride named Mrs. Hoffman.^[3] She gained recognition when, in 1932, she was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars (young actresses believed to be on their way to stardom).^[10]

Her major acting break came when Paramount Pictures "loaned" her out to star in the musical comedy College Humor (1933) alongside Bing Crosby.^[5] (In the Hollywood "star system", stars could not work for companies other than the one to which they were contracted.) The performance was well regarded by critics, and catapulted Carlisle to leading-actress status.^[11] She made two more movies with Crosby, Double or Nothing in 1937,^[5] and Doctor Rhythm (1938).^[2] She continued working for different studios, mainly in B-movies as a leading lady. One of Carlisle's few appearances in an A-movie was in Dance, Girl, Dance (1940), opposite Lucille Ball and Maureen O'Hara.^[7]

She acted in more than 60 movies in a career that spanned about a dozen years,^[6] and retired after co-starring as the doctor's wife in Dead Men Walk (1943).^[1]^[12]

Personal life

In 1942, Carlisle married British-born actor James Edward Blakeley, who later became an executive producer at 20th Century Fox.^[13] She retired from films shortly after.^[1] The couple had one son, James, and two grandchildren during their nearly 65-year marriage.^[14]^[7] In later life, Carlisle was the manager of the Elizabeth Arden Salon in Beverly Hills, California.^[15]^[7]

A Democrat, she supported Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.^[16]

After the death of Barbara Kent at age 103 in 2011, Carlisle became the last surviving WAMPAS Baby Star.^[17] She died on August 1, 2018, at the Motion Picture & Television Fund, a retirement community for actors in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles;^[6] no cause of death was reported.^[14] She was believed to be 104, but never personally confirmed her age or birth date during her life.^[14] Carlisle is buried in Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.^{[citation needed]}

Her mother's twin sister, Leotta Whytock, was a film editor.^{[citation needed]}

Accolades

On February 8, 1960, Carlisle received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6679 Hollywood Boulevard.^[18]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Source
1923	Long Live the King	Bit part (uncredited)	^[19]
1930	Children of Pleasure	Secretary (uncredited)	^[20]
	Madam Satan	Little Bo Peep (uncredited)	^[1]
	Passion Flower	Blonde party guest (uncredited)	^[9]
1931	The Great Lover	Blonde autograph-seeker (uncredited)	^[1]
1932	This Reckless Age	Cassandra Phelps	^[21]
	Hotel Continental	Alicia	^[22]
	Grand Hotel	Mrs. Hoffman (uncredited)	^[19]^[23]
	Night Court	Elizabeth Osgood	^[24]
	Down to Earth	Jackie Harper	^[19]
	Smilin' Through	Young party guest (uncredited)	^[19]
	Her Mad Night	Constance 'Connie' Kennedy	^[19]
1933	Men Must Fight	Evelyn
	College Humor	Barbara Shirrel	^[23]
	East of Fifth Avenue	Edna Howard
	Ladies Must Love	Sally Lou Cateret	^[23]
	Saturday's Millions	Thelma Springer	^[25]
	The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi	Vivian	^[19]^[23]
	Should Ladies Behave	Leone Merrick	^[26]
1934	Palooka	Anne Howe	^[23]
	This Side of Heaven	Peggy Turner	^[23]
	Once to Every Woman	Doris Andros	^[27]
	Murder in the Private Car	Ruth	^[28]
	Handy Andy	Janice Yates	^[23]
	Kentucky Kernels	Gloria	^[23]
	Girl o' My Dreams	Gwen	^[29]
1935	Grand Old Girl	Gerry Killaine
	The Great Hotel Murder	Olive Temple	^[30]
	One Frightened Night	Doris Waverly	^[23]
	Champagne for Breakfast	Edie Reach	^[31]
	The Old Homestead	Nancy Abbott	^[32]
	It's in the Air	Grace Gridley	^[23]
	Kind Lady	Phyllis	^[1]
1936	Love in Exile	Emily Stewart	^[33]
1936	Lady Be Careful	Billie 'Stonewall' Jackson	^[34]
1937	Hotel Haywire	Phyllis	^[35]
	Double or Nothing	Vicki Clark	^[23]
	That Navy Spirit	Judy Hollan	^[23]
1938	Tip-Off Girls	Marjorie Rogers	^[1]
	Doctor Rhythm	Judy Marlowe	^[23]
	Hunted Men	Jane Harris	^[36]
	Touchdown, Army	Toni Denby	^[23]
	Illegal Traffic	Carol Butler	^[37]
	Say It in French	Phyllis Carrington	^[38]
1939	Fighting Thoroughbreds	Marian	^[39]
	Inside Information	Crystal	^[39]
	Call a Messenger	Marge Hogan	^[39]
	Beware Spooks!	Betty Lou Winters	^[39]
	Rovin' Tumbleweeds	Mary Ford	^[39]
1940	Dance, Girl, Dance	Sally	^[1]
1941	Rags to Riches	Carol Patrick	^[39]
1942	Torpedo Boat	Jane Townsend	^[39]
1942	Baby Face Morgan	Virginia Clark	^[39]
1943	Dead Men Walk	Gayle Clayton	^[23]