Wholesome Girl From The Wild One Dies

Actress Mary Murphy has died of heart disease at age 80
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 16, 2011 11:22 AM CDT
Mary Murphy, Wholesome Girl Who Starred Opposite Marlon Brando in 'The Wild One', Dead at 80
Actress Mary Murphy, left, was best known for playing the wholesome small-town girl opposite Marlon Brando, right, in "The Wild One."   ("The Wild One," 1953 Columbia Pictures)

Actress Mary Murphy has died of heart disease at 80; passed away May 4 at her Beverly Hills home. Murphy was discovered in a coffee shop and landed her best-known role as the small-town, wholesome girl opposite Marlon Brando in The Wild One, in which she played an innocent girl in a town terrorized by a biker gang led by Brando.

Murphy was a package wrapper at Saks Fifth Avenue on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills when she was discovered in a nearby coffee shop by a Paramount Pictures talent scout. Murphy had several roles in 1950s films, including The Desperate Hours, Beachhead, A Man Alone, Sitting Bull, and The Mad Magician. (More Marlon Brando stories.)

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