Biography for
Marjorie Lord More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

26 July 1918, San Francisco, California, USA

Birth Name

Marjorie Wollenberg

Mini Biography

Poised and lovely Marjorie Lord started her long and varied career on the Broadway stage and in "B" films as a sweet-natured ingénue. Born in San Francisco in 1918, her family transported themselves to New York City when she was fifteen. Here she enrolled in both acting and ballet at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Chaliff School of Dance, respectively. Her first job was as an 18-year-old replacement on Broadway in "The Old Maid" starring Judith Anderson in 1936. Film parts from recently-signed RKO Studio started coming her way with Border Cafe (1937) and Forty Naughty Girls (1937). A few years later, she met actor John Archer after they appeared together in the stage production of "The Male Animal". Married at the end of 1941, they settled in Hollywood after playing Los Angeles in a stage tour of "Springtime for Henry" with Edward Everett Horton in 1942. She earned a Universal contract in the process and throughout the 1940s and 1950s alternated between theater and film assignments. She and Archer separated in 1951 and divorced two years later. Son Gregg became an airline pilot and daughter Anne Archer followed in her parents' footsteps as an actress. Most of Marjorie's film were inconsequential, her best being Johnny Come Lately (1943) with James Cagney and Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) starring the irrepressible sleuthing team of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Her greatest exposure came with TV as the second wife of widower Danny Thomas in "Make Room for Daddy" (1953). She lucked into the role when Danny's first wife, played by actress Jean Hagen, best known for her classic role as screechy "Lina Lamont" in Singin' in the Rain (1952), asked to leave the series. Marjorie proved an able sparring partner for the comedian for seven more seasons but was unsparingly typecast as the wholesome wife thereafter. She appeared in dinner theater productions and TV guest spots but would indelibly remain Kathy ("Clancy") Williams to her public. Marjorie gently phased her career out for the most part after her third marriage in 1977. In 1987, she returned for a short-lived run on the domestic sitcom "Sweet Surrender" (1987) starring Dana Delany and Mark Blum, as the latter's mother. In 2005, Marjorie published her memoir "A Dance and a Hug".

IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Spouse

Harry Volk	(14 August 1976 - 12 May 2000) (his death)
Randolph Hale	(26 May 1958 - 9 August 1974) (his death)
John Archer	(30 December 1941 - 1955) (divorced) 2 children

Trivia

Was up for a leading role as the tragic wannabe actress in the Katharine Hepburn/Ginger Rogers movie Stage Door (1937). She lost the part to Andrea Leeds, who won an Oscar nomination for her work. Marjorie also lost the Laraine Day's nurse part in the "Doctor Kildare" film series.

A magazine pin-up girl during WWII, she actively worked on war bond tours.

Marjorie took the last name of her grandmother for her stage name.

Ex-husband John Archer's last name was really Ralph Bowman. Shortly after their first child was born, he legally changed it to John Archer. Therefore, their son was born Gregg Bowman and their daughter was born Anne Archer.

Discovered as a teen by husband-and-wife actors Clyde Fillmore and Lea Penman while Marjorie was a student at a school they were teaching acting.

In July 2006, she was a guest at the Western Film Fair in Charlotte, North Carolina along with Russ Tamblyn, Coleen Gray, Ben Murphy, Roger Davis, Mark Goddard, Ronnie Schell, Steve Kanaly, Tom Reese and Cheryl Rogers.

Mother-in-law of Terry Jastrow.

Grandmother of Tom Davis.

Personal Quotes

"Acting helped me overcome the terrible shyness I had when I was young. It also kept me from confronting the real me, a person I suspected was not very likable. But I know her now and she's quite a nice lady. I think I just outgrew the need for that sort of approval."

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