Morose Facts About Marilyn Miller, Broadway’s Blighted Blonde
Marilyn Miller was the 1920s and 30s Broadway performer famous for her Cinderella-like characters. Her real-life story, however, was no fairy tale.
1. She Was The Bad-Luck Blonde
Long before Marilyn Monroe, there was Marilyn Miller; the blonde Broadway dancer who pirouetted her way into audiences’ hearts. But, while she played happy-go-lucky characters on stage, her real life was full of personal tragedies, professional betrayals, and romantic misadventures.
Read these morose facts about Broadway’s blighted blonde before the curtain call.
2. She Had A Stage Mom
Mary Ellen Reynolds (aka Marilyn Miller) was born into a theater family in September 1898. Her mother was Ada Lynn Thompson, a prominent vaudevillian herself, while her biological father, Edwin D Reynolds, ended up abandoning the family. Instead, Miller grew up with her stepfather, Oscar Caro Miller. Her childhood was anything but normal.
3. She Was Sweet As A Sugarlump
Given her family’s business, it was little surprise that little Miller joined her relatives on stage at a young age. When she was just four years old, she made her big debut as Mademoiselle Sugarlump—and she was sweeter than apple pie.
Miller stood out from her siblings and became an instant hit with audiences. However, it came at a terrible price.
4. She Did Not Have A Pleasant Childhood
Miller’s stepfather, Oscar Caro, took stage parenting to painful new heights. Whenever he felt that Miller wasn’t giving her all in rehearsals, he would strike her backside. “I was put on stage because a living had to be earned,” Marilyn later explained, “It’s not a very pleasant childhood to remember”. Tragically, a sore behind was the least of her ailments.
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