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Marjorie Riordan

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Marjorie Riordan
Marjorie Riordan in Stage Door Canteen 1943
Born
Marjorie Jane Riordan

(1920-01-24)January 24, 1920
Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.
DiedMarch 8, 1984(1984-03-08) (aged 64)
Resting placeWestwood Village Memorial Park
Occupation(s)Actress, model, clinical psychologist
Spouses
George Thurman Lumpkin
​
​
(m. 1945, divorced)​
Allan Schlaff
​
​
(m. 1958; died 1972)​
Children1[1]

Marjorie Riordan (January 24, 1920 – March 8, 1984) was an American motion picture actress,[2][3] model,[4] and clinical psychologist.[5]

Early years

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Lobby card for the 1943 film Stage Door Canteen with Lon McCallister, Marjorie Riordan, William Terry, Cheryl Walker, Margaret Early, and Sunset Carson (as Michael Harrison).

Riordan was born in Washington, District of Columbia. Her family relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she attended high school and later studied drama for two years at the University of Wisconsin from 1937 to 1939, before moving to Los Angeles, California.[6][3][7]

Career

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Her interest in movies grew while living near the motion picture studios, but she first took a job working as a doctor's secretary and assistant, then using her spare time to look for film-related jobs on the side.[8] While modelling in Los Angeles and making uncredited appearances in films, she was chosen for a small role in the wartime B-movie melodrama Parachute Nurse (1942).

The Hollywood producer Sol Lesser and later president of the Sol Lesser Productions Inc.,[9] often looking for new faces and unknown talent, signed Riordan as a contract player after she approached him about possible roles.[8] Riordan made her debut in the Sol Lesser film, Stage Door Canteen (1943), a morale boosting musical revue picture made during World War II, where she played actor Lon McAllister’s girl of interest in the story, before his character “California” received assignment orders to leave for the war.[10][11] Many well known film screen, stage and radio stars were featured in the films various stage performances, but Sol Lesser purposely went against conventions and cast other unknowns for the main story acting roles. The other newly contracted players featured in addition to Riordan included Lon McCallister, Margaret Early, Sunset Carson (as Michael Harrison) and Cheryl Walker, a former “stand-in” for actresses Veronica Lake, Claudette Colbert and Madeleine Carroll.[12]

Shortly afterwards, Riordan's contract was transferred from Sol Lesser Productions to Warner Bros.[13] where she was cast as Bette Davis's daughter Fanny Jr. in Mr. Skeffington (1944).[14][15] In 1945, she went on to act alongside Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in a Universal Pictures produced film titled Pursuit to Algiers (1945) where she had both an acting[16][17] and singing performance role.[18]

Riordan often took part in various activities related to the war effort campaigns that were common during 1941–1945 by participating in USO canteen activities and other services that were provided to enlisted U.S. military members.[19] She also assisted in the fundraising efforts that were part of the joint Navy and Red Cross campaign to sell war bonds to help raise money that would go towards building the cruiser USS Los Angeles.[20] The wartime effort activities she participated in along with the increased visibility that the film Stage Door Canteen had brought, and her modelling experience,[4] lead her to also be promoted as a pin-up beauty[21] among G.Is.[22] On June 25, 1945, as part of the widespread “help the war effort campaigns”, the California department of motor vehicles bestowed the title of “Share - the - Ride - Girl” upon Riordan to help the war effort by encouraging motorist to share their cars.[23]

She continued to appear in film supporting roles into the 1950s, while attending graduate school to study speech pathology, which later evolved into the study of clinical psychology.[24] After she further developed a career as a clinical psychologist,[5] she eventually gave up acting altogether.

Personal life

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Riordan's real life seemed to echo the role she had played in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943). While entertaining at a serviceman's canteen event, she met a Marine Major named George T. Lumpkin, and they married in 1945.[25][26] After her first marriage ended, she later married Allan Schlaff, a PhD fellow clinical psychologist,[27] on February 21, 1958.[28] Schlaff died in 1972. Riordan died in 1984 of breast cancer.[1]

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b Truesdale, Dave. "The Unexpected — "The Cripple"". tangentonline.com. Tangent Online. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ "AFI Catalog - Marjorie Riordan". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  3. ^ a b "Verse-Writing Startlet". Newspapers.com. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. July 2, 1944. p. 48. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  4. ^ a b "You, Too, Can Be a Pin-up Girl". Newspapers.com. Pittsburg Sun-Telegraph. December 26, 1944. p. 49. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  5. ^ a b "Herb Stein - "Hollywood"". Newspapers.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. January 14, 1960. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  6. ^ "This Starlet Twinkled First at U. W." Newspapers.com. Wisconsin State Journal. May 23, 1944. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  7. ^ "Marjorie Riordan - Visits Hometown". Newspapers.com. The Capital Times. July 1, 1943. p. 19. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  8. ^ a b "In Hollywood: Miss Riordan Loses Sleep". Newspapers.com. The Des Moines Register. March 23, 1944. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  9. ^ "Lesser Studio to spend 5,000,000 this year". The Los Angeles Times. January 8, 1945. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  10. ^ "Stage and Screen - New Players". The Los Angeles Times. July 18, 1943. p. 50. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  11. ^ "'Stage Door Cateen' Is Capitol Film". Newspapers.com. Quad-City Times. July 24, 1943. p. 33. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  12. ^ "Stage Door Canteen, Playing Auditorium". Newspapers.com. The Newark Advocate. January 9, 1945. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  13. ^ "Sol Lesser – Producer". Newspapers.com. The Miami Herald. August 28, 1943. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  14. ^ "A Bit Of Drama". Newspapers.com. Lancaster New Era. November 28, 1944. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  15. ^ "Marjorie Riordan Gets Coveted Roll". Newspapers.com. Democrat and Chronicle. January 28, 1944. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  16. ^ "AFI Catalog - Pursuit to Algiers (1945) Cast". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  17. ^ "Leslie Vincent and Marjorie Riordan". Newspapers.com. Shamokin News-Dispatch. January 6, 1946. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  18. ^ "Exciting Roles". Newspapers.com. The Waxahachie Daily Light. April 21, 1946. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  19. ^ "Ping-Pong Doubles". The Los Angeles Times. October 16, 1943. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  20. ^ "Military Exhibit Opens - Dedication". Newspapers.com. Los Angeles Times. July 13, 1943. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  21. ^ "Marjorie Riordan - G.I. Pin-up". Newspapers.com. Chanute Field Wings. June 16, 1945. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  22. ^ "Oh, Chute!". Newspapers.com. The Tampa Times. April 18, 1944. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  23. ^ "We'd Be Glad to__Anytime". Newspapers.com. Daily News. June 25, 1944. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  24. ^ "Actress Teaches Children". Newspapers.com. Mirror News. May 31, 1956. p. 26. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  25. ^ "Miss Riordan Marries Marine". The Los Angeles Times. November 5, 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  26. ^ "Out of Circulation". Newspapers.com. Daily News. October 22, 1945. p. 102. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  27. ^ "Guidance Clinic Treats Hundreds Each Month". Newspapers.com. Los Angeles Times. October 26, 1967. p. 4 (San Gabriel Valley Section). Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  28. ^ "DocDetails - Marriage Licenses". clerk.clarkcountynv.gov. February 21, 1958. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
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