Biografie

Her name, along with those of June Allyson, Anita Ekberg and Zsa Zsa Gabor, was found in a "little brown book" kept by infamous gangster Johnny Stompanato, who was stabbed to death by Lana Turner's daughter, Cheryl Crane.

One of the few actresses who diligently answered all her own fan mail.

Mari's beautiful blue-eyed brunette (later blonde) looks and 36-25-36 figure became the inspiration for cartoonist Al Capp in creating his voluptuous character "Stupefyin' Jones" for the popular "L'il Abner" comic strip series.

She suffered from severe polio at age nine and it took three years before she was able to walk again. According to Brad Richards' full-length article on Mari in the Spring 2013 issue of "Films of the Golden Age", she credits the courage and obstinacy of her mother, a psychotherapist, for pulling her through. Her mother did not permit braces or injections but instead used Hawaiian massages and three-times-a-day hot-water soakings. Mari claimed that her first year was spent in a wheelchair and that she progressed to crutches in the second. By the third year she was back in school and had no ill effects whatsoever.

Battled cancer for over seven years. Was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.