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IMDbPro

Dina Merrill(1923-2017)

  • Actress
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Dina Merrill c. 1955
After his brother tries to kill him, a man survives only to find himself in another man's body.
Play trailer2:06
Suture (1993)
8 Videos
78 Photos
It would have been pretty difficult for willowy actress/model Dina Merrill to have pulled off playing a commoner on stage, film or TV in her day. She reeked of elegance and class. The epitome of style, poise and glamour, the New York-born socialite and celebrity was born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton on December 29, 1923, the daughter of E.F. Hutton, the financier and founder of the Wall Street firm that bore his name, and heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, of the Post cereal fortune. Although Dina made elegant, elaborate use of her upbringing over the decades, she handled it all positively and graciously without tabloid incidents, instilling these same refined credentials into a large portion of her characters.

Dina did not originally intend on an acting career. After studying at George Washington University, she suddenly dropped out after only a year (to the chagrin of her disapproving parents) after demonstrating a late desire to perform. Enrolling at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and studying with Uta Hagen among others, Dina appeared in the comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner" before taking her first Broadway curtain call in "The Mermaids Singing" in 1945. She took some time off to play wife and mother to three children after marrying Stanley Rumbough, Jr., heir to the Colgate toothpaste fortune.

Dina finally made an official film debut with a smart and stylish support role in the Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn vehicle Desk Set (1957). She continued to charm in the same upper crust vein playing some version of the model wife or blue-blooded maven in frequent posh outings. Some of her more noticeable roles came with Operation Petticoat (1959) with the equally classy Cary Grant; BUtterfield 8 (1960) starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey; and The Young Savages (1961) opposite Burt Lancaster.

Following her divorce to Rumbough after 20 years, Dina married ruggedly handsome actor Cliff Robertson in 1966. The pair had one daughter and were a popular Hollywood fixture for nearly 20 years. With her film career on the wane in the mid 1960's, Dina gravitated toward TV guest spots on such popular shows as "Dr. Kildare," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Burke's Law," "Rawhide," "Daktari," "Bonanza," "Daniel Boone," "Batman" (as the villainous "Calamity Jan" alongside Robertson's western bad guy "Shame"), "The Name of the Game," "The Virginian," "Night Gallery," "Marcus Welby," "The Love Boat" and "The Odd Couple." She also graced a number of TV-movie dramas beginning with The Sunshine Patriot (1968) co-starring husband Robertson and Seven in Darkness (1969) (as a blind survivor of a plane crash), and continuing with The Lonely Profession (1969), Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones (1971), Family Flight (1972), The Letters (1973), The Tenth Month (1979), and a featured part in the mini-series sequel Roots: The Next Generations (1979).

Dina returned to Broadway as the co-star of the drama "Angel Street" (1975) and again with the revival of the musical "On Your Toes" in which she played "Peggy Porterfield" in both the 1983 Broadway revival and 1986 national tour. In the same year that Dina divorced second husband Cliff Robertson (1989), she married actor/investment banker Ted Hartley. Together the couple bought RKO Studios and renamed it RKO Pavilion. He serves as chairman and she vice chairperson/creative director. The studio produced such popular efforts as Milk & Money (1996) and the remake of Mighty Joe Young (1998).

Admired for her tireless philanthropic contributions, Dina was a moderate Republican (vice chair of the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition), and an active lobbyist for women's health issues. She also devoted much time working for the disadvantaged, particularly for the New York City Mission Society. She remained active and was an avid tennis and golf player for quite some time. Broaching age 90, the ever-glamorous actress appeared in a summer stock production of "Only a Kingdom" (2004) and continued to appear in occasional movie and television productions until developing dementia. Dina died on May 22, 2017, at age 93, survived by her third husband.
BornDecember 29, 1923
DiedMay 22, 2017(93)
BornDecember 29, 1923
DiedMay 22, 2017(93)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 1 win & 1 nomination

Photos78

Tuesday Weld and Dina Merrill in I'll Take Sweden (1965)
Bob Hope and Dina Merrill in I'll Take Sweden (1965)
Burt Lancaster, Telly Savalas, Edward Andrews, Larry Gates, Dina Merrill, and William Sargent in The Young Savages (1961)
Burt Lancaster and Dina Merrill in The Young Savages (1961)
Dina Merrill in The Young Savages (1961)
Robert Biheller, Dina Merrill, and Mario Roccuzzo in The Young Savages (1961)
Robert Biheller, Dina Merrill, and Mario Roccuzzo in The Young Savages (1961)
Dina Merrill in The Young Savages (1961)
Burt Lancaster, Edward Andrews, and Dina Merrill in The Young Savages (1961)
Dina Merrill in The Young Savages (1961)
Burt Lancaster and Dina Merrill in The Young Savages (1961)
Carl Betz, Victor Buono, Bob Crane, Dina Merrill, and Pippa Scott in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)

Known for:

Elizabeth Taylor in BUtterfield 8 (1960)
BUtterfield 8
6.3
  • Emily Liggett
  • 1960
Tim Robbins in The Player (1992)
The Player
7.5
  • Celia
  • 1992
Cary Grant and Tony Curtis in Operation Petticoat (1959)
Operation Petticoat
7.2
  • Lt. Barbara Duran RN
  • 1959
Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in Desk Set (1957)
Desk Set
7.2
  • Sylvia Blair
  • 1957

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • Michael Douglas, Jesse Metcalfe, and Amber Tamblyn in Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009)
    Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
    • Woman in Courtroom (uncredited)
    • 2009
  • Sylvester Stallone, Gabriel Byrne, Melanie Griffith, Jamie Foxx, Thandiwe Newton, and Stuart Townsend in Shade (2003)
    Shade
    • Dina
    • 2003
  • The Glow (2002)
    The Glow
    • Phoebe Janusz
    • TV Movie
    • 2002
  • The Magnificent Ambersons (2002)
    The Magnificent Ambersons
    • Mrs. Johnson (as Dina Merrill-Hartley)
    • TV Movie
    • 2002
  • Alan Arkin, Paula Devicq, Manny Perez, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, and Joseph Lyle Taylor in 100 Centre Street (2001)
    100 Centre Street
    • Judge Helen Randolph
    • TV Series
    • 2001
  • Meeting Genevieve
    • Mother
    • Short
    • 2000
  • Juliette Lewis and Giovanni Ribisi in The Other Sister (1999)
    The Other Sister
    • Pucky (uncredited)
    • 1999
  • Mighty Joe Young (1998)
    Mighty Joe Young
    • Society Woman
    • 1998
  • A Chance of Snow (1998)
    A Chance of Snow
    • Merilee Parker
    • TV Movie
    • 1998
  • Vengeance Unlimited (1998)
    Vengeance Unlimited
    • Ellen Hayworth
    • TV Series
    • 1998
  • Twiggy, Connie Sellecca, and Shawnee Smith in Something Borrowed, Something Blue (1997)
    Something Borrowed, Something Blue
    • Lydia D'Arcy, Monique's Mother
    • TV Movie
    • 1997
  • John Goodman, Roseanne Barr, Sara Gilbert, Michael Fishman, Alicia Goranson, and Laurie Metcalf in Roseanne (1988)
    Roseanne
    • Doris
    • TV Series
    • 1996
  • Calista Flockhart in Milk & Money (1996)
    Milk & Money
    • Ellen, David's Mother
    • 1996
  • The Point of Betrayal (1995)
    The Point of Betrayal
    • 1995
  • Fran Drescher in The Nanny (1993)
    The Nanny
    • Elizabeth Sheffield
    • TV Series
    • 1995

Producer

  • Calista Flockhart in Milk & Money (1996)
    Milk & Money
    • executive producer
    • 1996

Videos8

Trailer
Trailer 3:23
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:06
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:21
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:58
Official Trailer
DVD Trailer
Trailer 2:46
DVD Trailer
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
Trailer 2:56
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
Butterfield Eight
Trailer 3:05
Butterfield Eight
Caddyshack 2
Trailer 0:31
Caddyshack 2

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • Miss Dina Merrill
  • Height
    • 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
  • Born
    • December 29, 1923
    • New York City, New York, USA
  • Died
    • May 22, 2017
    • East Hampton, New York, USA(Lewy body dementia)
  • Spouses
      Ted HartleyNovember 18, 1989 - May 22, 2017 (her death)
  • Children
      Stanley Hutton Rumbough
  • Parents
      Marjorie Merriweather Post
  • Other works
    Hosts a weekly PBS television series entitled "Decor" (1998) focusing on interior home furnishings.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Article
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    At a net worth of over $5 billion, she is by far the richest actress in the world. While this list changes every year, she has consistently held the #1 spot every year.
  • Nickname
    • Deenie

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