Marion Shilling

Marion Shilling
Marion Shilling
	Shilling in 1931
Born	Marion Helen Schilling; December 3, 1910; Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Died	November 6, 2004 (aged 93); Torrance, California, U.S.
Education	Central High School
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1928–1936
Spouse	Edward Cook (m. 1937; died 1998)
Children	2

Marion Helen Schilling (December 3, 1910 – November 6, 2004) was an American stage and film actress.^[1] She was one of the most famous "B" leading ladies of the 1930s.^{[citation needed]}

Biography

Marion Helen Schilling^[2] was born in Denver, Colorado in 1910.^{[citation needed]}

Her family moved to St. Louis when she was young. She graduated from Central High School there in 1928.^[3] She started her acting career as a stage actress, starring in stage plays such as Miss Lulu Betts and Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. While playing in Dracula on stage with Bela Lugosi, she developed a blood-curdling scream so effective, when she was working in Hollywood, she was asked to dub screams for Constance Bennett and Shilling's idol Pola Negri.^[4] In 1929 she received her first screen role in Wise Girls.^[5] Shilling had good memories of her director E. Mason Hopper when interviewed in the 90's. "I can still remember some of his early suggestions. 'Keep your head above the tide.' 'Be on your toes.' 'Hold your head high.' 'Act like the queen of the studio.' Those were wonderful words to a new, green girl numbed by all that was suddenly happening to her."^[6] After a couple of roles in other films, she starred opposite William Powell in the 1930 crime drama Shadow of the Law.^[1] That movie springboarded her into roles as a B-movie heroine.

In 1931 she was one of thirteen girls selected as "WAMPAS Baby Stars", a list that included future Hollywood star Marian Marsh. From 1930 to 1936 she starred in forty two films, mostly westerns or mysteries. She often starred opposite Tom Keene and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. In the 1934 film serial, The Red Rider, she starred opposite early western film actor Buck Jones, with a supporting cast that included William Desmond and football player Jim Thorpe.

Recognition

In 2002, Shilling received a Golden Boot Award for her contribution to Western films.^[7]

Personal life

Shilling retired in 1936, to marry and have a family. She was married to Edward Cook from 1937 until his death in 1998. They had two children, Edward and Frances.^[2]

Death

She never returned to acting, and died from natural causes on November 6, 2004, in a hospital in Torrance, California, aged 93.^[5]

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1929	Wise Girls	Ruth Bence
1930	Lord Byron of Broadway	Nancy
1930	The Swellhead	Mamie Judd
1930	Free and Easy	Singer / dancer	Uncredited
1930	Shadow of the Law	Edith Wentworth
1930	On Your Back	Jeanne Burke
1931	Beyond Victory	Ina
1931	Young Donovan's Kid	Kitty Costello
1931	The Common Law	Stephanie Brown
1931	Sundown Trail	Dorothy ′Dottie′ Beals
1931	Forgotten Women	Patricia Young
1932	Shop Angel	Dorothy Hayes
1932	The County Fair	Alice Ainsworth
1932	A Man's Land	Peggy Turner
1932	A Parisian Romance	Claudette
1932	The Heart Punch	Kitty Doyle
1933	Curtain at Eight	Anice Cresmer
1934	Fighting to Live	Mary Carson
1934	The Red Rider	Marie Maxwel
1934	Inside Information	Anne Seton
1934	Thunder Over Texas	Helen Mason
1934	Elinor Norton	Publisher's Staff	Uncredited
1934	The Westerner	Juanita Barnes
1935	Blazing Guns	Betty Lou Rickard	(as Marian Shilling)
1935	A Shot in the Dark	Jean Coates
1935	Stone of Silver Creek	Martha Mason
1935	Gun Smoke	Jean Culverson	(as Marian Shilling)
1935	Society Fever	Victoria Vandergriff
1935	The Keeper of the Bees	Louise
1935	Captured in Chinatown	Ann Parker
1935	Rio Rattler	Mary Adams
1935	Gun Play	Madge Holt
1936	I'll Name the Murderer	Smitty
1936	The Clutching Hand	Verna Gironda
1936	Idaho Kid	Ruth Endicott
1936	Romance Rides the Range	Carol Marland
1936	Cavalcade of the West	Mary Christman	(final film role)

Short films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1931	Take 'em and Shake 'em		Short
1931	June First	Marion	Short
1931	Easy to Get	Marion	Short
1932	Only Men Wanted		Short
1932	Rule 'Em and Weep	Ramona	Short
1932	Gigolettes	Marion	Short
1932	Niagara Falls		Short

References

^ ^a ^b "Marion Shilling, 93; Leading Lady in 1930s B-Western Films". Los Angeles Times. December 3, 2004. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
^ ^a ^b Magers, Boyd; Fitzgerald, Michael G. (July 2004). Westerns Women: Interviews with 50 Leading Ladies of Movie and Television Westerns from the 1930s to the 1960s. McFarland. pp. 196–202. ISBN 9780786420285. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
^ "At the Movies". The Central News. Pennsylvania, Perkasie. May 25, 1932. p. 3. Retrieved April 26, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Ankerich, Michael G. The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities. McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC: 1998. p. 204.
^ ^a ^b Lentz, Harris M. III (April 20, 2005). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2004: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture. McFarland. p. 331. ISBN 9780786421039. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
^ Ankerich, Michael G. The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities. McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC: 1998. p. 205.
^ "The Golden Boot Awards". B-Westerns.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.