Mara Corday

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Mara Corday born Marilyn Joan Watts on January 3 1930 in Santa Monica California is a showgirl model actress Playboy Playmate and a 1950s cult figure Wanting a career in films Mara Corday came to Hollywood while still in her teens and found work as a showgirl at the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard Her physical beauty brought jobs as a photographers model that led to a bit part as a showgirl in the 1951 film Two Tickets to Broadway She signed on as a Universal International Pictures UI contract player where she met actor Clint Eastwood with whom she would remain lifelong friends With UI Corday was given small roles in various Bmovies and television series In 1954 on the set of Playgirl she met actor Richard Long Following the death of Longs wife the two began dating and married in 1957 Her roles were small until 1955 when she was cast opposite John Agar in Tarantula a SciFi Bmovie that proved a modest success She had another successful costarring role in that genre The Black Scorpion as well as in a number of Western films Respected film critic Leonard Maltin said that Mara Corday had more acting ability than she was permitted to exhibit Mara Corday appeared as a pinup girl in numerous mens magazines during the 1950s and was the Playmate of the October 1958 issue of Playboy together with famous model and showgirl Pat Sheehan In 1956 she had a recurring role in the ABC television series Combat Sergeant From 1959 to early 1961 Corday worked exclusively doing guest spots on various television series She then gave up her career to devote her time to raising a family During her seventeenyear marriage to Richard Long she had three children A few years after her husbands passing in 1974 Cordays friend Clint Eastwood offered her a chance to return to filmmaking with a role in his 1977 film The Gauntlet She acted with him again in Sudden Impact 1983 Pink Cadillac 1989 and in her last film 1990s The Rookie Description above from the Wikipedia article Mara Cordaylicensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia