MGM was not able to use her, but the print was shown around town and Warner Brothers offered her a contract.Īlthough she was never quite on Warner’s 'A-list', she stole the screen whenever she appeared. Eventually, Grinde was able to get MGM to make a screen test using the act. She developed a shtick of a dumb blonde trying to audition which left everyone who saw it in stitches. Since people thought she looked like a dumb blonde, she decided to embrace the role.

Some accused Marie of using Grinde, but the older man certainly enjoyed being seen with a young girl on his arm.Įven with Grinde’s influence, Marie realized that there were just too many pretty girls to compete with if she didn’t have a gimmick. Despite the age difference, the couple were eventually engaged.

He managed to get her a small role in the picture he was working on, Laurel and Hardy’s Babes in Toyland (1934).

Grinde was in his forties, and was smitten with the vivacious young blonde. She began sounding the horn, and out of the house came director Nick Grinde. Returning home from one of the auditions, she ran out of gas in front of a neighbor’s house. After taking the name Marie (which seemed exotic to the doughboys who had returned from WWI) she was reported to go to auditions wearing the mink and sneakers. By now her nest egg had been spent, but she had forgotten buy dress shoes. So she make the pilgrimage to the Movie Colony, found a house big enough for the whole clan and paid a year’s rent in advance, bought a used convertible because it seemed more glamorous, and fitted herself out with evening gowns and a used mink coat. When she came into her inheritance she was ready to make the big move to Hollywood, but she was not ready to leave her family behind. Growing up in a house full of stepchildren, Kathy dreamed of a movie star’s pampered life. Back when there were more orange and grapefruit trees in Anaheim than people, Hollywood would have seemed as far off as if she were in Kansas.

He passed away when little Kathy was just five, but he left her a small fortune which she was to inherit upon turning 16. Marie was born Katherine White to an Orange County businessman in 1916. Eventually she would be known for playing 'Dumb Dora' roles, most notably My Friend Irma, but rather than playing the ditzy blonde strictly for laughs, Marie brought a sweetness to the character that audiences fell in love with. Marie Wilson had the looks and talent, but it was her determination that finally brought her the stardom she dreamed of since she was a little girl growing up among the orange groves of Anaheim, California. Many little girls dream of becoming a star, but very few of them actually have the right combination of looks, talent, and determination to actually make it.

The Gorgeous Girls by Marie Wilson