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{{Short description|American actress (1903–1986)}}{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2015}}

factoids

| birth_place = Covington, Kentucky, U.S. 1986212mf=y}}| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.| resting_place = Highland Cemetery, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky| yearsactive = 1920–1968Ronald Burla1947|end=divorced}}}}Una Merkel (December 10, 1903 â€“ January 2, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress.Merkel was born in Kentucky and acted on stage in New York in the 1920s. She went to Hollywood in 1930 and became a popular film actress. Two of her best-known performances are in the films 42nd Street and Destry Rides Again. She won a Tony Award in 1956 and was nominated for an Oscar in 1961.

Life and career

Merkel was born in Covington, Kentucky, to Bessie (née Phares) and Arno Merkel.Kentucky. Birth Records, 1847-1911 In her early childhood, she lived in many of the Southern United States due to her father’s job as a traveling salesman. At the age of 15, she and her parents moved to Philadelphia. They stayed there a year or so before settling in New York City, where she began attending the Alviene School of Dramatic Art.{{Citation needed |date=May 2024}} Because of her strong resemblance to actress Lillian Gish, Merkel was offered a part as Gish’s youngest sister in a silent film called World Shadows. However, the funding for the film dried up and it was never completed. Merkel went on to appear in a few silent movies, several of them for the Lee Bradford Corporation. She also appeared in the two-reel Love’s Old Sweet Song (1923), which was made by Lee de Forest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process and starred Louis Wolheim and Helen Weir. Not making much of a mark in films, Merkel turned her attention to the theater and found work in several important plays on Broadway. Her biggest triumph was in Coquette (1927), which starred her idol, Helen Hayes.{{Citation needed |date=May 2024}} File:42nd-Street-Merkel-Keeler-Rogers.jpg|thumb|Una Merkel, Ruby Keeler and Ginger Rogers in 42nd Street (1933)]]File:Gary Cooper Phyllis Brooks Una Merkel, Brisbane 1943 (1).jpg|thumb|right|Una Merkel (right) with Phyllis Brooks and Gary Cooper at a BrisbaneBrisbaneFile:Una Merkel in I Love Melvin trailer.jpg|thumb|right|As Mom Schneider in I Love MelvinI Love MelvinInvited to Hollywood by famous director D. W. Griffith to play Ann Rutledge in his film Abraham Lincoln (1930), Merkel became a big success in sound films. During the 1930s, she became a popular second lead in a number of films, usually playing the wisecracking best friend of the heroine, supporting actresses such as Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Loretta Young, and Eleanor Powell.NEWS, Reid, Alexander, Una Merket Dies at Age of 82; From Silent Films to a Tony, The New York Times, 5 January 1986, 24,www.nytimes.com/1986/01/05/obituaries/una-merkel-dies-at-age-of-82-from-silent-films-to-a-tony.html, subscription, Merkel was known for her Kewpie-doll looks, strong Southern accent, and wry line delivery. She played Sam Spade’s secretary in the original 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon. Merkel was a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player from 1932 to 1938, appearing in as many as 12 films in a year, often on loan-out to other studios. She was also often cast as leading lady opposite Jack Benny, Harold Lloyd, Franchot Tone, and Charles Butterworth, among others.In 42nd Street (1933), Merkel played a streetwise show girl. In the famous “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” number, Merkel and Ginger Rogers sang the verse: “Matrimony is baloney. She’ll be wanting alimony in a year or so./Still they go and shuffle, shuffle off to Buffalo.” Merkel appeared in both the 1934 and the 1952 film versions of The Merry Widow, playing different roles. She received second billing in The Good Old Soak (1937) with Wallace Beery and Ted Healy in the same year that Healy died mysteriously.One of her most famous roles was in the Western comedy Destry Rides Again (1939), in which her character, Lily Belle, gets into a famous “cat-fight” with Frenchie (Marlene Dietrich) over the possession of her husband’s trousers, won by Frenchie in a crooked card game. She played the elder daughter to the W. C. Fields character, Egbert Sousé, in the 1940 film The Bank Dick. Her film career went into decline during the 1940s, although she continued working in smaller productions and in radio as Adeline Fairchild on The Great Gildersleeve. In 1950, she starred with William Bendix in the baseball comedy Kill the Umpire, which was a surprise hit.She made a comeback as a middle-aged woman playing mothers and maiden aunts, and in 1956 won a Tony Award for her role on Broadway in The Ponder Heart, adapted from the novella of the same name. She had a major part in the MGM 1959 film The Mating Game as Paul Douglas’s character’s wife and Debbie Reynolds’ character’s mother, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Summer and Smoke (1961). She was also featured as Brian Keith’s character’s housekeeper, Verbena, in the Walt Disney comedy The Parent Trap in 1961. Her final film role was opposite Elvis Presley in Spinout (1966).

Personal life

On March 5, 1945, Merkel was nearly killed when her mother Bessie, with whom she shared an apartment in New York City, died by suicide by gassing herself. Merkel was overcome by the five gas jets her mother had turned on in their kitchen and was found unconscious in her bedroom.NEWS,news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19520304&id=X29gAAAAIBAJ&pg=3526,445324&hl=en, Una Merkel Lies In Coma After Pill Overdose, March 4, 1952, Star-News, 4, March 22, 2015, Wilmington, North Carolina, NEWS,news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2245&dat=19450306&id=5fVeAAAAIBAJ&pg=4457,3137762&hl=en, Una Merkel in Death Escape, March 6, 1945, Lodi News-Sentinel, 8, March 22, 2015, On March 4, 1952, seven years almost to the day after her mother died, Merkel overdosed on sleeping pills. She was found unconscious by a nurse who was caring for her at the time and remained in a coma for a day before recovering.NEWS,news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19520306&id=W_NjAAAAIBAJ&pg=1537,727712&hl=en, Una Merkel Recovering, March 6, 1952, The Sydney Morning Herald, 3, March 22, 2015, Merkel was a lifelong Methodist.kyumc.org/events/detail/1806WEB,www.fumceunice.org/About.html, About FUMC, First United Methodist Church, Eunice, Louisiana, dead,www.fumceunice.org/About.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20121115123221www.fumceunice.org/About.html,">web.archive.org/web/20121115123221www.fumceunice.org/About.html, November 15, 2012, mdy-all,

Marriage

Merkel was married once and had no children.NEWS,articles.latimes.com/1986-01-04/local/me-24219_1_individual-films, Una Merkel, Movie, Stage Actress, Dies, Folkart, Burt A., January 4, 1986, Los Angeles Times, March 22, 2015, She married North American Aviation executive Ronald L. Burla in 1932.NEWS,news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19461202&id=DMMwAAAAIBAJ&pg=5398,5223118&hl=en, Divorce Is Sought By Una Merkel, December 3, 1946, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2, March 22, 2015, They separated in April 1944. Merkel filed for divorce on December 19, 1946, in Miami, and it was granted in March 1947.NEWS, Una Merkel Files Suit on Back Alimony,www.newspapers.com/image/381275669/?terms=Una%2BMerkel%2BFiles%2BSuit%2Bon%2BBack%2BAlimony, November 6, 1947, Los Angeles Times, 2, February 22, 2019, subscription,

Death

On January 2, 1986, Merkel died in Los Angeles at the age of 82.NEWS,news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1982&dat=19860105&id=kYZGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4011,301370&hl=en, Actress Una Merkel dies, January 5, 1986, The Evening News, 2A, March 22, 2015, Newburgh, New York, She is buried near her parents, Arno and Bessie Merkel, in Highland Cemetery in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky.BOOK, Tenkotte, Paul A., Claypool, James C., The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky,books.google.com/books?id=Zc0eBgAAQBAJ&q=Una+Merkel, January 13, 2015, University Press of Kentucky, 978-0813159966, 615, For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Una Merkel has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (6230 Hollywood Boulevard).WEB,projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/una-merkel/, Hollywood Star Walk: Una Merkel, Los Angeles Times, March 22, 2015, In 1991, a historical marker was dedicated to her in her hometown of Covington.{{Citation needed |date=November 2021}}

Filmography

{{For|TV movies|#Television}}{| class=“wikitable sortable”! Year! Title! Role! class=“unsortable” | Notes|1923Love’s Old Sweet Song (1923 film)>Love’s Old Sweet Song||Short|1924The Fifth Horseman|Dorothy||1930Abraham Lincoln (1930 film)>Abraham Lincoln|Ann Rutledge||1930The Eyes of the World|Sybil||1930The Bat Whispers|Dale Van Gorder||1931Command Performance (1931 film)>Command Performance|Princess Katerina||1931|Don’t Bet on Women|Tallulah Hope||1931Six Cylinder Love (1931 film)>Six Cylinder Love|Margaret Rogers||1931The Maltese Falcon|Effie Perine||1931Daddy Long Legs (1931 film)>Daddy Long Legs|Sally McBride||1931The Bargain|Etta||1931Wicked (1931 film)>Wicked|June||1931The Secret Witness|Lois Martin||1931Private Lives (1931 film)>Private Lives|Sibyl||1932|She Wanted a Millionaire|Mary Taylor||1932The Impatient Maiden|Betty Merrick||1932Man Wanted (1932 film)>Man Wanted|Ruth ‘Ruthie’ Holman||1932Huddle (film)>Huddle|Thelma||1932|Red-Headed Woman|Sally||1932|They Call It Sin|Dixie Dare||1932Men Are Such Fools (1932 film)>Men Are Such Fools|Molly||1933Whistling in the Dark (1933 film)>Whistling in the Dark|Toby Van Buren||1933The Secret of Madame Blanche|Ella||193342nd Street (film)>42nd Street|Lorraine Fleming||1933|Clear All Wires!|Dolly||1933|Reunion in Vienna|Ilsa Hinrich||1933|Midnight Mary|Bunny||1933|Her First Mate|Hattie||1933Broadway to Hollywood (film)>Broadway to Hollywood|Flirt in Audience|Uncredited|1933|Beauty for Sale|Carol Merrick||1933Menu (film)>Menu|Mrs. Omsk|Short, uncredited|1933Bombshell (1933 film)>Bombshell|Mac||1933Day of Reckoning (1933 film)>Day of Reckoning|Mamie||1933The Women in His Life|Miss ‘Simmy’ Simmons||1934|This Side of Heaven|Birdie||1934|Murder in the Private Car|Georgia Latham||1934|Paris Interlude|Cassie||1934The Cat’s-Paw|Pet Pratt||1934Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934 film)>Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back|Gwen||1934Have a Heart (film)>Have a Heart|Joan O’Day||1934The Merry Widow|Queen Dolores||1934|Evelyn Prentice|Amy Drexel||1935|Biography of a Bachelor Girl|Slade Kinnicott||1935The Night Is Young|Fanni Kerner||1935|One New York Night|Phoebe||1935|Baby Face Harrington|Millicent||1935|Murder in the Fleet|’Toots’ Timmons||1935|Broadway Melody of 1936|Kitty Corbett||1935It’s in the Air (1935 film)>It’s in the Air|Alice Lane Churchill||1936Riffraff (1936 film)>Riffraff|Lil Bundt||1936Speed (1936 film)>Speed|Josephine Sanderson||1936|We Went to College|Susan Standish||1936|Born to Dance|Jenny Saks||1937Don’t Tell the Wife (1937 film)>Don’t Tell the Wife|Nancy Dorsey||1937The Good Old Soak|Nellie||1937Saratoga (film)>Saratoga|Fritzi||1937Checkers (1937 film)>Checkers|Mamie Appleby||1937|True Confession|Daisy McClure||1939|Four Girls in White|Gertie Robbins||1939Some Like It Hot (1939 film)>Some Like It Hot|Flo Saunders||1939|On Borrowed Time|Marcia Giles||1939|Destry Rides Again|Lily Belle||1940Comin’ Round the Mountain (1940 film)>Comin’ Round the Mountain|Belinda Watters||1940|Sandy Gets Her Man|Nan Clark||1940The Bank Dick|Myrtle Sousé||1941Double Date (film)>Double Date|Aunt Elsie Kirkland||1941|Road to Zanzibar|Julia Quimby||1941Cracked Nuts (1941 film)>Cracked Nuts|Sharon Knight||1942The Mad Doctor of Market Street|Aunt Margaret Wentworth||1942Twin Beds (1942 film)>Twin Beds|Lydia||1943|This Is the Army|Rose Dibble||1943|Quack Service|Daffy|Short|1944|To Heir Is Human|Una|Short|1944|Sweethearts of the U.S.A.|Patsy Wilkins||1947|It’s a Joke, Son!|Mrs. Magnolia Claghorn||1948The Bride Goes Wild|Miss Doberly||1948The Man from Texas (1948 film)>The Man from Texas|Widow Weeks||1950|Kill the Umpire|Betty Johnson||1950My Blue Heaven (1950 film)>My Blue Heaven|Miss Irma Gilbert||1950|Emergency Wedding|Emma||1951|Rich, Young and Pretty|Glynnie||1951A Millionaire for Christy|Patsy Clifford||1951Golden Girl (1951 film)>Golden Girl|Mary Ann Crabtree||1952With a Song in My Heart (film)>With a Song in My Heart|Sister Marie||1952The Merry Widow|Kitty Riley||1953|I Love Melvin|Mom Schneider||1955The Kentuckian|Sophie Wakefield||1956The Kettles in the Ozarks|Miss Bedelia Baines||1956|Bundle of Joy|Mrs. Dugan||1957The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown|Bertha||1958The Girl Most Likely|Mother||1959The Mating Game|Ma Larkin||1961The Parent Trap|Verbena||1961Summer and Smoke (film)>Summer and Smoke|Mrs. Winemiller||1963Summer Magic (film)>Summer Magic|Mariah Popham||1964A Tiger Walks|Mrs. Watkins||1966Spinout (film)>Spinout|Violet Ranley|“>

Television{| class“wikitable sortable”

! Year! Title! Role! class=“unsortable” | Notes|1952|Four Star Playhouse|Rose Barton|“My Wife Geraldine”|1953|Schlitz Playhouse of Stars||“Guardian of the Clock”|1953|Your Jeweler’s Showcase||“The Monkey’s Paw”|1953|Willys Theatre Presenting Ben Hecht’s Tales of the City||“Miracle in the Rain”|1954|Westinghouse Studio One|Parsis McHugh|“Two Little Minks”|1955|Kraft Television Theatre||“Trucks Welcome”|1956|Calling Terry Conway|Pearl McGrath|TV film|1957|Playhouse 90|Louise Hoagland|“The Greer Case”|1957The Red Skelton Show|Mrs. Van Wyck|“Freddie and the Happy Helper”|1957|Climax!|Maud|“The Secret of the Red Room”|1958|DuPont Show of the Month|Aladdin’s Mother|“Cole Porter’s ‘Aladdin’”|1958The United States Steel Hour||“Flint and Fire”|1962The Real McCoys|Mrs. Gaylord|“The New Housekeeper”|1963The Bill Dana Show|Mrs. Hatten|“The Poker Game”|1963–1965Burke’s Law (1963 TV series)>Burke’s Law|Clara Lovelace / Mrs. Thomas Barrett / Miss Samantha Cartier|3 episodes|1964The Cara Williams Show|Amelia Hofstetter|“Amelia Hofstetter, Please Go Home”|1964Destry (TV series)>Destry|Granny Farrell|“Law and Order Day”|1968I Spy (1965 TV series)>I Spy|Aunt Alma|“Home to Judgment”

References

Further reading

• BOOK, Alistair, Rupert, The Name Below the Title: 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood’s Golden Age, Una Merkel, 172–175, 2018, First, softcover, Independently published, Great Britain, 978-1-7200-3837-5,
• BOOK, Kinder, Larry Sean, Una Merkel: The Actress With Sassy Wit and Southern Charm, January 29, 2016 type=hardcover

location=Albany, GA url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JVySCwAAQBAJ&dq=Una+Merkel:+The+Actress+With+Sassy+Wit+and+Southern+Charm&pg=PR3,

• BOOK, Maltin, Leonard, The Real Stars: Profiles and Interviews of Hollywood’s Unsung Featured Players, Una Merkel, 187–217, 2015, Sixth / eBook, First published 1969, softcover, CreateSpace Independent, Great Britain, 978-1-5116-4485-3,

External links

{{Commons}}

• {{IBDB name}}
• {{IMDb name|0580916}}
• Photographs of Covington, Kentucky’s Una Merkel
• Photographs of Una Merkel
• {{Find a Grave|1750}}

{{TonyAward PlayFeaturedActress 1947-1975}}{{Authority control}}