Lynn Merrick
USABiography of Lynn Merrick
Early Life and CareerLynn Merrick, an American actress mostly known for her roles in B-movies in the 1940s, was born Marilyn Lleveling on November 19, 1919, in Fort Worth, Texas. After finishing school, Marilyn headed to Hollywood with the intention of becoming a model and taking acting lessons. She changed her name to Lynn Merrick and started her career as a character actress.
Rise to Fame
Lynn Merrick's professional peak came between 1941 and 1943 when she starred in the majority of her films. She signed her first contract with "Republic Pictures" and appeared in 22 films for the studio. Sixteen of these films were westerns featuring the legendary actor Don Barry, nicknamed "Red". Her first western with Don Barry was the film "Two Gun Sheriff" in 1941, and their last collaboration was "Fugitive from Sonora" in 1943. Lynn then signed a contract with "Columbia Pictures" and transitioned from westerns to dramas and musical comedies. She took on leading roles and gained a reputation as a femme fatale. Her co-stars included Richard Dix, a silent film star, the handsome Chester Morris, who experienced a career resurgence in the 1940s, and Warner Baxter, an Academy Award winner for Best Actor in 1928.
Later Career and Personal Life
Between 1941 and 1945, Lynn Merrick worked relentlessly and appeared in a total of 40 films. By the age of 27, she had almost stopped acting. Her final film after a seven-year hiatus was the 1955 spy drama "Flugten til Danmark" (released in the US as "Escape from Terror"), which capitalized on the popular theme of the "red threat" during the Cold War. Lynn Merrick continued her modeling career in parallel with her acting work. After bidding farewell to the film industry, she fully focused on the modeling business and served as the executive director of the Barbizon School of Modeling from 1967 to 1974.
Lynn Merrick later worked in sales at major department stores in California and Florida. She had many relationships and even more rumors surrounding her. Lynn was married twice and divorced twice. Her first marriage was to actor Conrad Nagel, who was 22 years older than her. They were married for about two and a half years, from December 1945 to August 1948. Her second husband was young producer and heir to a vast fortune, Robert Galet Jr. His mother was an Italian countess, and his father was a well-known New York entrepreneur, millionaire, and philanthropist. Interestingly, after marrying Lynn Merrick in 1949, Robert was disinherited by his mother. The couple spent their honeymoon in Paris but divorced in 1956. Lynn Merrick did not have any children.
In 1950, she attempted suicide by overdosing on pills, but it was more of a cry for help prompted by domestic issues rather than a desire to die. Lynn Merrick passed away on March 25, 2007, at the age of 85, in her home in West Palm Beach, Florida, after a prolonged illness.
