Mary Carlisle

Mary Carlisle (born Gwendolyn Witter; February 3, 1914 – August 1, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer, best known for her roles as a wholesome ingénue in numerous 1930s musical-comedy films.

[5][8] Though she passed the test and started doing extra work at Universal, she was stopped by a welfare officer who noticed that she was underage and had to finish school first.

[6] Carlisle, who had lied about her dancing ability, took a one-day basic tap-dancing lesson, won a part along with future star Ann Dvorak, and appeared briefly in one film.

[10] Her major acting break came when Paramount Pictures "loaned" her out to star in the musical comedy College Humor (1933) alongside Bing Crosby.

[7] She acted in more than 60 movies in a career that spanned about a dozen years,[6] and retired after co-starring as the doctor's wife in Dead Men Walk (1943).

[1][12] In 1942, Carlisle married British-born actor James Edward Blakeley, who later became an executive producer at 20th Century Fox.

[17] She died on August 1, 2018, at the Motion Picture & Television Fund, a retirement community for actors in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles;[6] no cause of death was reported.

Mary Carlisle, motion silhouette
Carlisle in 1936 MGM publicity shot