Martha Vickers

albatros1 ( 2008-01-09 )

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Martha Vickers (May 28, 1925 - November 2, 1971) was a film actress who appeared in the 1946 film The Big Sleep playing Carmen Sternwood, younger sister to Lauren Bacall. Born Martha MacVicar in Ann Arbor, Michigan; she started out as a model and cover girl. Her first film role was a small uncredited part in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man in 1941. The author of The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler, claimed that Martha Vickers gave an incredible performance as Carmen Sternwood, so much so that she completely overshadowed Lauren Bacall in her scenes. Unfortunately, this led the powers that be to edit the film in such a way that much of Vickers' performance ended up on the cutting-room floor. The most famous of Vickers' three husbands was actor Mickey Rooney who was married to her from 1949 to 1951. She retired from films in 1960. Martha Vickers had one son with Mickey Rooney, Teddy Rooney, and 2 daughters with Chilean polo player-turned-actor Manuel Rojas. She died of esophageal cancer, aged 46, in California.