Maria Palmer(1917-1981)
- Actress
This lovely Austrian-born actress was born (in 1917) and raised in
Vienna, performing as a child on stage and appearing in various
productions for the renown Max Reinhardt. Trained in dance, she was a
member of the Bodenwieser Ensemble, a European troupe. Following a few
high school plays and dance recitals, she went on to study drama and
voice at the Vienna Conservatory. Maria arrived in the United States at
the outbreak of war in 1938 and first performed on the New York stage,
notably in the 1942 production of "The Moon Is Down." Spotted for
films, she was one of many foreign actresses Hollywood took in at the
time to fill their quota of exotic mystery ladies in war-era intrigue
and film noir. She made her debut in Mission to Moscow (1943) for
Warner Bros. and continued on freelancing for other studios with Days of Glory (1944), opposite Gregory Peck, Lady on a Train (1945), The Web (1947), The Other Love (1947), Strictly Dishonorable (1951), By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953), and Outcasts of the City (1958),
among others. Her film career waned in the 50s and she turned to radio,
TV and commercials. She formed her own production company, Maria Palmer
Enterprises, and hosted her own local Los Angeles show "Sincerely,
Maria Palmer" in the early 60s. In later years she wrote a number of
non-produced teleplays, often under the pseudonym Eliot Parker White.
Dying of pulmonary failure while battling cancer in 1981, she kept
extensive journals of her life and career which were later available to
the public.
