Life and career

Mary Carlisle was born as Gwendolyn L. Witter on February 3, 1914 in Los Angeles, California. Her mother was Leona Ella Witter (née Wotton) . Being born into a religious family, she was educated in a convent in Boston. Her father died when she was four years old. Leona Witter later remarried, to industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. Carlisle and her mother then relocated to Los Angeles, where her uncle lived. He gave her the opportunity to appear in the Jackie Coogan vehicle Long Live the King in 1923. She was uncredited.

Carlisle was discovered by studio executive Carl Laemmle, Jr. at the age of 14 when she was eating lunch with her mother at the Universal Studios commissionary. Carlisle, a petite 5 feet tall, with ash blonde hair, dimples and big round blue eyes, was praised for her angelic looks, and Laemmle offered her a screen test. Though she passed the test and started doing extra work at Universal, she was stopped by a welfare officer who noted that she was underaged and had to finish school first.

After completing her education two years later, she headed to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio for work in movies. The casting director asked if she could dance; when she replied that she could, he arranged for an audition to take place two days later. Carlisle, who had lied about her good dancing abilities, took a one-day basic tap dancing lesson. She signed a one-year contract with MGM in 1930 and was used as a back-up dancer.

In the beginning of her movie career, she had small parts in movies such as Madam Satan and Passion Flower. She also had a role in Grand Hotel in 1932. She gained recognition when she was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars (young actresses believed to be on their way to stardom) in 1932. Her major acting break came when Paramount Studios loaned her for the movie College Humor, where she played opposite Bing Crosby. The performance was critically acclaimed, and she went on to make two more movies with him: Double or Nothing and Doctor Rhythm. She continued working for different studios, mainly in B-movies as a leading lady.

Marriage

On March 14, 1942 Carlisle married actor James Edward Blakeley (1910-2007), who later became an executive producer at 20th Century-Fox. Carlisle retired from films shortly after getting married. The couple had one child during their nearly 65-year marriage. In her later life, she was in charge of the Elizabeth Arden Salon in Beverly Hills, California.

Honours

On February 8, 1960, aged 46, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. With the deaths of Gloria Stuart and Barbara Kent, Carlisle became the only surviving "WAMPAS Baby Star".

Carlisle is the model for the heroine, Starshine Hart, in Jacob Appel's novel, The Biology of Luck (2013).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1923	Long Live The King	Bit role (uncredited)
1930	The Girl Said No	Party guest
	Montana Moon	Party girl
	Children of Pleasure	Secretary
	Madam Satan	Little Bo Peep
	Passion Flower	Blonde party guest
	Remote Control	Young blonde violinist
	The Devil's Cabaret (short)	Impy
1931	The Great Lover	Blonde autograph seeker
1932	This Reckless Age	Cassandra Phelps
	Hotel Continental	Alicia
	Grand Hotel	Mrs. Hoffman
	Night Court	Elizabeth Osgood
	Now's the Time
	Ship A Hooey
	Down to Earth	Jackie Harper
	Smilin' Through	Young party guest
	Her Mad Night	Constance 'Connie' Kennedy
1933	Men Must Fight	Evelyn
	College Humor	Barbara Shirrel
	Ladies Must Love	Sally Lou Cateret
	Saturday's Millions	Thelma Springer
	The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi	Vivian
	East of Fifth Avenue	Edna Howard
	Should Ladies Behave	Leone Merrick
1934	Palooka	Anne Howe
	This Side of Heaven	Peggy Turner
	Once to Every Woman	Doris Andros
	Murder in the Private Car	Ruth
	Handy Andy	Janice Yates
	Million Dollar Ransom	Francesca Shelton
	That's Gratitude	Dora Maxwell
	Kentucky Kernels	Gloria
	Girl o' My Dreams	Gwen
1935	Grand Old Girl	Gerry Killaine
	The Great Hotel Murder	Olive Temple
	One Frightened Night	Doris Waverly
	Champagne for Breakfast	Edie Reach
	The Old Homestead	Nancy Abbott
	It's in the Air	Grace Gridley
	Super-Speed	Nan Gale
	Kind Lady	Phyllis
1936	Love in Exile	Emily Stewart
	Lady Be Careful	Billie 'Stonewall' Jackson
1937	Hotel Haywire	Phyllis
	Double or Nothing	Vicki Clark
	That Navy Spirit	Judy Hollan
1938	Tip-Off Girls	Marjorie Rogers
	Dr. Rhythm	Judy Marlowe
	Hunted Men	Jane Harris
	Touchdown, Army	Toni Denby
	Illegal Traffic	Carol Butler
	Say It in French	Phyllis Carrington
1939	Fighting Thoroughbreds	Marian
	Inside Information	Crystal
	Hawaiian Nights	Millie
	Beware Spooks!	Betty Lou Winters Gifford
	Call a Messenger	Marge Hogan
	Rovin' Tumbleweeds	Mary Ford
1940	Dance, Girl, Dance	Sally
1941	Rags to Riches	Carol Patrick
1942	Torpedo Boat	Jane Townsend
	Baby Face Morgan	Virginia Clark
1943	Dead Men Walk	Gayle Clayton

[ Source: Wikipedia ]