- Muriel Evans
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Muriel Evans 
Born Muriel Adele Evanson
July 20, 1910
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.Died October 26, 2000 (aged 90)
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.Occupation Actress Years active 1929–1946 Spouse Michael Cudahy (m. 1929–1932)
Marshal R. Worchester (m. 1936–1971)Muriel Evans (July 20, 1910 – October 26, 2000) was an American film actress. She is best known for her many appearances in popular westerns of the 1930s for which she won a Golden Boot Award.
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Early life and career
Muriel Adele Evanson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Norwegian immigrant parents. Her father died when she was only two months old, forcing her mother to move to California to find work. Once in California, Evans' mother took a job as a maid at First National Studios. She spent her afternoons on film sets and was soon noticed by a studio executive. The executive introduced her to the director Robert Z. Leonard, who gave her a small role opposite Corinne Griffith in the 1926 film, Mademoiselle Modiste. Evans continued attending classes at Hollywood High School and landing bit parts in stock theater productions and silent films.[1][dead link]
In 1929, Evans co-starred in the silent, comedic short films, Good Night Nurse and Joyland with comedian Lupino Lane. Shortly after completing Joyland, Evans put her acting career on hold to finish school. Later that year, she married Michael Cudahy, the wealthy scion of a meatpacking family.[2] The couple traveled the world and settled in Europe. In 1931, Evans decided to pursue the film career she had given up and left her husband in Paris. Evans returned to Hollywood, signed a contract at MGM and quickly began making films again. She and Cudahy would eventually divorce in 1932.[3][dead link]
Muriel Evans with Charley Chase in the 1933 film Nature in the Wrong
Later that year, Evans starred in six films, most notably, Young Ironsides with Charley Chase and Pack Up Your Troubles with Laurel and Hardy. She would go on to star in eight more shorts with Chase before his death in 1940. Evans' success was due in large part to her pleasant speaking voice. She made a smooth transition from silent pictures to talkies, and throughout the 1930s, Evans continued to work steadily. She appeared in Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Manhattan Melodrama with Clark Gable and William Powell, and The Prizefighter and the Lady with Myrna Loy. By the mid 1930s, Evans also began co-starring in popular westerns alongside Tom Mix, John Wayne and Tex Ritter. She also starred in three Hopalong Cassidy films opposite William Boyd, and did seven westerns with Buck Jones.[4]
Later years
Muriel Evans with James Ellison in the 1936 film Three on the TrailIn 1936 at the age of 26, Evans married theatrical agent Marshal R. Worchester. By age 30, she had grown tired of the movie business and retired. One of her last film appearances came in 1946, in the Pete Smith short, Studio Visit. Soon after retiring, Evans and her husband settled in Washington, D.C. Over the next 10 years, she starred in four radio shows and in the television show Hollywood Reporter. In 1951, the couple moved back to Hollywood, although Evans never resumed her acting career. Eventually, the couple bought property in Tarzana, California, where Evans dabbled in real estate.[1]
After the death of her husband in 1971, Evans began work as a volunteer nurse at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills not far from her home. After a stroke in 1994, she became a resident within the complex and often dined with fellow actors with whom she had once worked, including Anita Garvin.[1]
In 1999, Evans made her last film appearance in the 2000 documentary, I Used to Be in Pictures. Evans was one of many former actors who recalled their life stories for the film.
Death
On October 26, 2000, Evans died of colon cancer at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. She was 90 years old.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes 1929 Good Night Nurse 1929 Joyland 1932 Young Ironsides Muriel Evans 1932 Pack Up Your Troubles Wrong Eddie's bride 1932 Hot Spot 1932 Girl Grief 1932 Now We'll Tell One Muriel Evans 1932 Mr. Bride 1933 Fallen Arches Muriel Gilbert 1933 Fast Workers' Nurse 1933 Nature In the Wrong Muriel Alternative title: Tarzan In the Wrong 1933 His Silent Racket Muriel 1933 Arabian Tights Miss Evans 1933 Thundering Taxis Mrs. Blacker 1933 Broadway to Hollywood Maid Uncredited
Alternative title: Ring Up the Curtain1933 The Prizefighter and the Lady Linda Alternative title: Every Woman's Man 1933 Dancing Lady Chorus Girl Uncredited 1933 The Women in His Life Molly 1933 Queen Christina Barmaid at Inn Uncredited 1934 Heat Lightning Blonde Cutie 1934 Manhattan Melodrama Tootsie Malone 1934 The Big Idea Honey, Ted's Fiancee 1934 Hollywood Party Show Girl Uncredited 1934 Hide-Out Baby 1934 Have a Heart Helen, Schauber's Secretary 1935 The Roaring West Mary Parker 1935 Nurse to You! Muriel Chase 1935 The New Frontier Hanna Lewis 1936 Silver Spurs Janet Allison Alternative title: Silverspurs 1936 Call of the Prairie Linda McHenry 1936 King of the Pecos Belle Jackson 1936 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Theresa Uncredited 1936 Three on the Trail Mary Stevens 1936 Two-Fisted Gentleman June Prentice 1936 Missing Girls Dorothy Benson Alternative title: When Girls Leave Home 1936 House of Secrets Julie Kenmore 1936 Under Your Spell Governess Uncredited 1936 The Boss Rider of Gun Creek Starr Landerson 1936 Ten Laps To Go Norma Corbett Alternative title: King of the Speedway 1937 Rich Relations Trixie Lane 1937 Headline Crasher Edith Arlen 1937 Smoke Tree Range Nan Page 1937 Rustlers' Valley Agnes Randall 1937 Law for Tombstone Nellie Gray 1937 Boss of Lonely Valley Retta Lowrey 1939 Dog-Gone Miriam Jones 1939 Home Boner Mrs. Errol 1939 The Rookie Cop Fern, Joey's Girl Alternative title: Swift Vengeance 1939 Westbound Stage Joan Hale 1940 Roll, Wagons, Roll Ruth Benson Alternative title: Roll Covered Wagon References
- ^ a b c Mutti-Mews, Howard (2000-11-08). "Obituary: Muriel Evans (Page 1)". The Independent. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20001108/ai_n14344182. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
- ^ "Milestones". Time. 1929-07-15. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,769261,00.html?iid=chix-sphere. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
- ^ Mutti-Mews, Howard (2000-11-08). "Obituary: Muriel Evans (Page 2)". The Independent. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20001108/ai_n14344182/pg_2. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
- ^ The Heroines: Muriel Evans
External links
Categories:- Actors from Minnesota
- American film actors
- American people of Norwegian descent
- American silent film actors
- Cancer deaths in California
- Deaths from colorectal cancer
- People from Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Western (genre) film actors
- 1910 births
- 2000 deaths
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