Born 1931 in San Francisco, California, American actress Mala Powers began working in radio drama at the age of 16, before becoming a film actress in 1950. That same year, Stanley Kramer signed Powers to star opposite José Ferrer in what may be her most-remembered role, as Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her part in this movie.
At age 19, while on a USO entertainment tour in Korea in 1951, she contracted a blood disease and nearly died. She was treated with chloromycetin, but a severe allergic reaction resulted in the loss of much of her bone marrow.
Powers barely survived, and her recovery took nearly nine months.
Powers began working again in 1952, including the lead in Rose of Cimarron (1952) and co-starring roles in City Beneath the Sea (1953) and City That Never Sleeps (1953), although she was still taking medication. Following her recovery, she appeared in B-movie westerns, and science fiction films.
Powers died from complications of leukemia in 2007, at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6360 Hollywood Boulevard. Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see portraits of a young Mala Powers in the early 1950s.
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had never seen her until i saw an old perry mason episode. a true old hollywood beauty.
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