Doris Merrick

{{Short description|American actress and model (1919–2019)}} {{Use American English|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Doris Merrick | image = Doris Merrick in The Fighting Stallion.jpg | image_size = | caption = Merrick in ''The Fighting Stallion'' (1950) | birth_name = Doris Roberta Simpson | other_names = Doris Hatfield (married name) | birth_date = {{birth date|1919|6|6}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|11|30|1919|6|6}} | death_place = U.S. | occupation = Actress, model | years_active = 1942–1955 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Maximilian "Max" Marek|1936|1944|reason=divorced}} * {{marriage|John Meagher Knoll|1946|1962|reason=divorced}} * {{marriage|Matthew Lawton Hatfield|1964|1986|reason=died}} }} | children = 5 }}

'''Doris Roberta Merrick''' (née '''Simpson''', June 6, 1919 – November 30, 2019) was an American film actress and model.

==Biography== [[File:Doris Merrick pin-up, Yank, The Army Weekly (Brittish Edition), May 2, 1943.png|thumb|right|Pin-up photo of Merrick for ''Yank, the Army Weekly'' in 1943]] Merrick was born in June 1919, to Joseph Simpson and Nellie Weber, and had five brothers and four sisters. She attended Hyde Park High School and worked as a singer with her sisters, before becoming a soloist at NBC, she subsequently worked as a model before signing a contract with Warner Bros. in 1941. She was first given the name Beth Drake but changed to Doris Merrick not long after. After appearing in an uncredited role in ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'', starring James Cagney, in 1941, she made her star film debut the following year in ''Girl Trouble''. While a couple of her roles went uncredited she had a notable supporting role in the Laurel and Hardy comedy ''The Big Noise'' (1944). She appeared in the magazine ''Yank, the Army Weekly'' during the WWII years and her professional acting career ended in 1955.<ref name="DM">{{cite web | url=http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/427/Doris+Merrick/index.html | title=Doris Merrick | publisher=Glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen | access-date=May 4, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Drake">{{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19420117&id=9-4ZAAAAIBAJ&pg=5820,554832 | title=Beth Drake, beautiful movie starlet | publisher=The Milwaukee Journal | date=January 17, 1942 | access-date=May 4, 2014}}</ref><ref name="DorisM">{{cite web | url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/oakland/oakland-tribune/1942/05-31/page-63 | title=Beth Drake is a tenth of one man's family | publisher=Oakland Tribune | date=31 May 1942 | access-date=May 4, 2014}}</ref>

==Personal life== Merrick was married to boxer Max Marek from 1936 to 1944, before being married to rancher and lumberman John Meagher Knoll from 1946 to 1962.<ref name="MediterraneanM">{{cite web | url=https://newspaperarchive.com/fra/provence-alpes-cote-d%e2%80%99azur/marseilles/mediterranean-marseilles-stars-and-stripes/1945/01-27/page-2?tag=doris+merrick&rtserp=tags/?pep=doris-merrick | title=That's Not Cheesecake, It's My Sis!' Says Bill | publisher=Mediterranean Marseilles Stars and Stripes | date=January 27, 1945 | access-date=July 3, 2016 | pages=2}}</ref> Merrick lived in the Golden Valley Estates Assisted Living Centre in Yuma, Arizona and was going under her married name of '''Doris Hatfield'''. Merrick turned 100 in June 2019 and died in November.<ref>[https://www.pressreader.com/usa/yuma-sun/20191226/281496458195048 Silver screen star calls Yuma home]</ref><ref>[http://www.lordheath.com/menu1_581.html Lord Heath: Doris Merrick profile]</ref>

== Filmography == *''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942) Uncredited *''Girl Trouble'' (1942) as Susan *''That Other Woman'' (1942) as Irene *''Time to Kill'' (1942) as Linda Conquest Murdock *''Heaven Can Wait'' (1943) as Nellie Brown (uncredited) *''Ladies of Washington'' (1944) as Susan *''In the Meantime, Darling'' (1944) as Mrs. MacAndrews *''The Big Noise'' (1944) as Evelyn *''Sensation Hunters'' (1945) as Julie Rogers *''This Love of Ours'' (1945) as Vivian *''Hit the Hay'' (1945) as Sally Mansfield *''Child of Divorce'' (1946) as Louise Norman *''The Pilgrim Lady'' (1947) as Millicent Rankin *''The Counterfeiters'' (1948) as Margo Talbot *''The Fighting Stallion'' (1950) as Jeanne Barton *''Untamed Women'' (1952) as Sandra *''The Neanderthal Man'' (1953) as Ruth Marshall *''Interrupted Melody'' (1955) as nurse (uncredited)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{IMDb name}} * {{TCMDb name|130247}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrick, Doris}} Category:1919 births Category:2019 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:American women centenarians Category:21st-century American women