Mari Blanchard

Mari Blanchard (April 13, 1927 – May 10, 1970) was an American actress, known for her roles as a B movie femme fatale in American films of the 1950s and early 1960s.

Blanchard was born on April 13, 1927 in Long Beach, California. A polio victim at age 9, Blanchard's health eventually improved enough that she ran away from home and joined a circus in her teens. She then attended the University of Southern California, University of California, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara State College.

In the late 1940s, Blanchard became a successful print model and film extra. Blanchard began appearing in films after she was seen by a producer in an advertisement for bubble bath in 1950.

Blanchard found limited success as an actress. From 1951 to 1952, she took small roles in a number of films at MGM, RKO, and Paramount, until she was signed by Universal-International in 1952. Her first film at the studio was Back at the Front (1952). She co-starred with Victor Mature in a 1953 adventure movie, The Veils of Bagdad.

One of her most memorable roles was the Venusian queen, Allura, in the 1953 comedy Abbott and Costello Go to Mars. She starred in Destry (1954), a western with Audie Murphy, reprising a role that Marlene Dietrich had played in the story's original version, Destry Rides Again, but changing the character's name from "Frenchy" to "Brandy."

...
Wikipedia