Classic Film Journeys: Marcy McGuire – Iowa and California
Marcy McGuire was an actress and singer who started working in the entertainment industry as a teenager. She was born Marilyn Jeanne McGuire on February 22, 1926 in Kansas City, Kansas, to projectionist James McGuire and his wife Annona. Her parents divorced during her childhood.
In the 1940s, McGuire’s mother remarried veterinarian Carroll F. Alexander. They lived with a housekeeper in a house in Des Moines, Iowa. There she attended Roosevelt High School.
Soon after, McGuire was singing in nightclubs and signed and cast with RKO Pictures Seven days vacation (1942) at the age of 16. Her bright, spunky persona has shone in other film roles, including Higher and higher (1942), career girl (1944), It happened in Brooklyn (1947) and you have to stay happy (1948). RKO sporadically used her talent, typically casting her as a boy-crazy character. This is best shown in Higher and higher, in which McGuire stars as a housemaid who faints over Frank Sinatra. Sinatra portrays herself.[
In September 1947, McGuire married actor
Wally Cassell. Their marriage produced two children. McGuire and Cassell
remained married until his passing at age 103.
McGuire also appeared in Jumping Jacks
(1952) with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. After appearing in an
uncredited role as a maid in Summer Magic (1963), McGuire retired from
Hollywood.
McGuire passed away on August 7, 2021, in
her Palm Desert home. She was 95.
McGuire’s Kansas City home was located at
2503 N. 20th St., Kansas City, Kansas. The original home no longer stands.
McGuire’s next home exists today at 3937
Douglas Dr., Des Moines, Iowa.
Her alma mater,
Roosevelt High School, stands at 4419 Center St., Des Moines, Iowa.
When McGuire
passed, her residence was located at 681 Red Arrow Trl., Palm Desert,
California. This home remains today.
…..
–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub
Annette Bochenek pens our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.
Annette Bochenek of Chicago, Illinois, is a PhD student at Dominican University and an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the Hometowns to Hollywood blog, in which she writes about her trips exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the “Hometowns to Hollywood” film series throughout the Chicago area. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and is the president of TCM Backlot’s Chicago chapter. In addition to writing for Classic Movie Hub, she also writes for Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, and Chicago Art Deco SocietyMagazine.
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