Marion Martin

Dubbed "The World's Most Beautiful Showgirl" on Broadway and "Hollywood's blonde menace" on film, brassy "B" singer-actress Marion Martin was a minor predecessor to Marilyn Monroe's peroxide bombshell, yet her brazen persona was closer to the seductive leanings of Mae West. Born Marion Suplee on June 7, 1909, she was the daughter of a well-to-do Philadelphia executive of Bethlehem Steel and reared in Main Line society. She attended exclusive schools, including a finishing school in Switzerland, and once intended on becoming a physician. She instead went an entirely different direction. With her knockout looks, a career in entertainment seemed logical. She made her Broadway debut in 1927 with a part in the play "Lombardi, Ltd.," Marion earned a part in the musical revue "George White Scandals" a year later before scoring another bit part in the Kern/Hammerstein musical "Sweet Adeline" starring Helen Morgan. Following the Wall Street crash of 1929, she was forced to find more work, find