Marie McDonald (1923–1965) was a leggy, voluptuous blonde starlet who pursued her career with a vengeance but found little reward in the end. Her parents divorced when Marie was just 6 years old. Marie's mother remarried and the new family moved to Yonkers, New York, where she attended Roosevelt High School and excelled in piano and wrote for the school newspaper.
She quit high school and started entering beauty contests, winning the "Miss Yonkers" and "The Queen of Coney Island" titles, among others. In 1939 she was crowned "Miss New York," but subsequently lost at the "Miss America" pageant.
During World War II, McDonald became one of Hollywood's most popular pin-up girls and she posed for the United States military magazine, YANK. In 1942 Marie joined the Hollywood Victory Caravan.
Despite a plethora of tabloid attention, which included her seven marriages and numerous sex scandals in addition to the publicity hi-jinks she managed to muster up, notoriety that would have made the late Jayne Mansfield envious, Marie's career eventually stalled and she turned to drink, drugs and despair. This led to frequent skirmishes with the law and more than a few nervous breakdowns.
On October 21, 1965 (aged 42) at Calabasas, California, the never-say-die gal finally decided enough was enough and she ended it all with an overdose of Percodan. Three months after McDonald's death, her sixth husband Donald F. Taylor, who was a producer, committed suicide in January 1966. McDonald's three surviving children were raised by Harry Karl and his wife, Debbie Reynolds.
She quit high school and started entering beauty contests, winning the "Miss Yonkers" and "The Queen of Coney Island" titles, among others. In 1939 she was crowned "Miss New York," but subsequently lost at the "Miss America" pageant.
During World War II, McDonald became one of Hollywood's most popular pin-up girls and she posed for the United States military magazine, YANK. In 1942 Marie joined the Hollywood Victory Caravan.
Despite a plethora of tabloid attention, which included her seven marriages and numerous sex scandals in addition to the publicity hi-jinks she managed to muster up, notoriety that would have made the late Jayne Mansfield envious, Marie's career eventually stalled and she turned to drink, drugs and despair. This led to frequent skirmishes with the law and more than a few nervous breakdowns.
On October 21, 1965 (aged 42) at Calabasas, California, the never-say-die gal finally decided enough was enough and she ended it all with an overdose of Percodan. Three months after McDonald's death, her sixth husband Donald F. Taylor, who was a producer, committed suicide in January 1966. McDonald's three surviving children were raised by Harry Karl and his wife, Debbie Reynolds.
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