Marie Windsor

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Marie Windsor born Emily Marie Bertelsen December 11 1919 December 10 2000 was an actress known as The Queen of the Bs because she appeared in so many Bmovies and film noirs After working for several years as a telephone operator a stage and radio actress and a bit and extra player in films Windsor began playing feature parts on the big screen in 1947 Her first film contract with Warner Bros in 1942 resulted from her writing jokes and submitting them to Jack Benny Windsor said she submitted the gags under the name ME Windsor because I was afraid he might be prejudiced against a woman gag writer When Benny finally met Windsor he was stunned by her good looks and had a producer sign her to a contract After a tenure with MetroGoldwynMayer in which the studio signed her put her in two small roles and then promptly forgot her she signed a sevenyear contract with The Enterprise Studios in 1948 The actress first memorable role was in 1948 with John Garfield in Force of Evil playing seductress Edna Tucker She had roles in numerous 1950s film noirs notably The Sniper The Narrow Margin City That Never Sleeps and Stanley Kubricks heist movie The Killing in which she played Elisha Cook Jrs scheming wife She also made a foray into science fiction with the 1953 release of CatWomen of the Moon Windsor costarred with Randolph Scott in The Bounty Hunter 1954 Later Windsor moved to television She appeared in 1954 as Belle Starr in the premiere episode of Stories of the Century In 1962 she played Ann Jesse a woman dying in childbirth in the episode The Wanted Man of Lawman She appeared on programs such as Maverick Bat Masterson Perry Mason Bourbon Street Beat The Incredible Hulk Rawhide General Hospital Salems Lot TV miniseries and Murder She Wrote Windsor worked consistently through the 1960s and 1970s and remained on screen once or so annually up to the 1990s playing her final role at 72 in 1991 Windsor has a star at 1549 N Vine Street in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame It was dedicated January 19 1983 She was among the 500 stars nominated for selection as one of the 50 greatest American screen legends as part of the American Film Institutes 100 years In 1987 Windsor received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for best actress for her work in The Bar Off Melrose She also received the Ralph Morgan Award from the Screen Actors Guild for her service on the organizations board of directors