Margia Dean

Marguerite Louise Skliris-Alvarez (born April 7, 1922), known as Margia Dean, is a former American beauty queen and actress of Greek descent.[1]

Margia Dean
Born
Marguerite Louise Skliris

(1922-04-07) April 7, 1922
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationBeauty queen, actress, businesswoman
Years active1944–1964
Spouse(s)Hal Fischer (1939-1945) (divorced)
Felipe Alvarez (1965 present)

Biography

She was born in Chicago, Illinois but moved to San Francisco, California with her parents at a young age.[2] She began acting at the age of 7, appearing on stage in many child roles and later won the Women's National Shakespeare Contest for her role as Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet.[2] She also took up modeling and was named "Miss San Francisco" and "Miss California" in 1939.[3][4] She was a top-five runner-up to Patricia Donnelly in the "Miss America 1939" competition.[2]

She made her feature film debut in Casanova in Burlesque (1944) and adopted her stage name, Margia Dean.[2] Although never under contract to a studio, most of the films, some 16 in all,[1] she made were for the producer Robert L. Lippert.[2] Her first leading role was in Shep Come Home (1948) and roles followed in Red Desert (1949), FBI Girl (1951), The Lonesome Trail (1955), Villa!! (1958) and Seven Women from Hell (1961). Dean starred in a 1958 western, Ambush at Cimarron Pass, that featured Clint Eastwood in one of his earliest film roles. She also portrayed a trapeze artist in the 1961 circus tale The Big Show, which starred Esther Williams and Robert Vaughn.

Her association with Lippert had led to her being cast in The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), the first Hammer horror film.[5] Frustrated that her roles were predominantly in B movies, she eventually retired from acting following her marriage in 1965 to her second husband, architect Felipe Alvarez. Her final film was Moro Witch Doctor (1964). She briefly became involved in movie production, producing The Long Rope (1961) with Hugh Marlowe as well as a number of television pilots.[2] She has since been vice-president of a real estate firm and has worked in costume design and interior decoration.[2]

Filmography

See also

References
  1. "The Private Life and Times of Margia Dean". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  2. Fitzgerald, Mike. "An Interview with Margia Dean". Western Clippings. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  3. Cozad, W. Lee (2006). More Magnificent Mountain Movies. Lake Arrowhead, California: Sunstroke Media. pp. 196–197. ISBN 978-0-9723372-2-9. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  4. "Miss California History". Miss California. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  5. Hearn, Marcus; Barnes, Alan (2007) [1997]. The Hammer Story. The Authorised History of Hammer Films (2nd ed.). London: Titan Books. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-84576-185-1.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Claire James		 Miss California
1939		 Succeeded by
Rosemary LaPlanche
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