Marilyn Erskine

A gentle redhead with a peaches and cream complexion, Marilyn Betty Erskine had a notably early start in show biz, perhaps encouraged by her father Robert, who presided over the New York City Credit Bureau. By the age of three, Marilyn was active on the airwaves at a Buffalo radio station. Between 1948 and 1960, she featured on numerous nationwide radio shows, including The Cavalcade of America, Radio City Playhouse and Let's Pretend. She had extensive theatrical experience from the age of eleven, appearing on and off-Broadway in plays like The Primrose Path, Our Town and The Linden Tree. In later years, she recalled an incident while performing in The Shining Hour, which starred Jane Cowl and had Marilyn playing the role of ingénue: "I was supposed to trip lightly down a flight of stairs and get on with the dialogue. But-on the top stair I tripped and fell the whole flight right into the arms of Miss Cowl. Personally, I think mine was an entrance that never has been topped!"

Marilyn began acting on the screen in 1949, though films offered her little more than small supporting roles. A possible highlight may have been the part of Eddie Cantor 's wife Ida in The Eddie Cantor Story (1953). She fared rather better on television where she managed to amass an impressive resume in anthology drama appearances between 1953 and 1962. She also had a recurring role in the short-lived CBS sitcom The Tom Ewell Show (1960) as the star's wife Fran. Towards the close of her career, Marilyn had featured roles in Perry Mason (1957) and L'homme de fer (1967), both starring Raymond Burr.

Marilyn's first husband (for all of two months) was the distinguished director and producer Stanley Kramer. She was subsequently married for five years to a Dr. Samuel Eugene Neikrug. Her third husband, Charles William Curland, was a senior partner in the Los Angeles insurance firm of Curland, Moss & Meltzer. They had two children. Curland died in 2012.