{{short description|American painter}} {{Infobox person | name = Marta Becket | image = Marta Becketts last show, Amargosa 2012.jpg | alt = | caption = Marta Beckett's last show at the Amargosa Opera House, February 12, 2012 | birth_name = Martha Beckett | birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|08|09}} | birth_place = New York, New York | death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|01|30|1924|08|09}} | death_place = Death Valley Junction, California | other_names = | occupation = {{flatlist| * Actress * dancer * choreographer * painter }} | years_active = | known_for = Performed for more than four decades at her own theater, the Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley Junction, California | notable_works = Show Boat, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Wonderful Town }}
[[Image:Amargosa Opera House.jpg|thumb|300px|When Marta Becket rented and repaired Corkhill Hall in 1967, she changed the name to the Amargosa Opera House.]]
'''Marta Becket''' (born Martha Beckett, August 9, 1924 – January 30, 2017)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sandomir |first=Richard |date=2017-02-04 |title=Marta Becket, Dancer Who Built a Theater in the Desert, Dies at 92 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/arts/dance/marta-becket-dead.html |access-date=2023-02-07 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> was an American actress, dancer, choreographer and painter. She performed for more than four decades at her own theater, the Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley Junction, California.<ref name="National Public Radio">{{cite news|title=Dancer, Artist Enlivens Death Valley Junction|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91845687|publisher=National Public Radio|accessdate=2008-07-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Documentary Chronicles Marta Becket's 40-Year Solo Career|url=http://www.independent.com/news/2008/jun/26/marta-becket|work=Santa Barbara Independent|accessdate=2008-07-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204145641/http://www.independent.com/news/2008/jun/26/marta-becket/|archive-date=2008-12-04|url-status=dead}}</ref>
''Amargosa'' (2000), Todd Robinson's documentary about Marta Becket, won a 2003 Emmy Award for cinematographer Curt Apduhan, in addition to the film's numerous festival awards and nominations.<ref>[http://www.emmyonline.org/emmy/24newsc.html 24th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123051519/http://emmyonline.org/emmy/24newsc.html |date=2010-11-23 }}, emmyonline.org; accessed January 31, 2017.</ref>
==Early life and career in New York== Becket began ballet lessons at age 14, which eventually led to performances as a ballerina. She was in the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall and on Broadway she appeared in ''Show Boat'', ''A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'' and ''Wonderful Town''.<ref name="NYT obit">{{cite news|last1=Sandomir|first1=Richard|title=Marta Becket, Dancer in the Desert, Dies at 92|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/arts/dance/marta-becket-dead.html?partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=4 February 2017|work=The New York Times|date=3 February 2017}}</ref> Later, she took her one-woman show across the country, performing in small theaters and school auditoriums. She married in 1962, and she was on her way with her husband to an engagement in 1967 when, due to a flat tire, she discovered a theater in Death Valley Junction and decided to stay.<ref name="Santa Maria Times">{{cite news|title=S.Y. Valley to help preserve theater|url=http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2008/06/15/lifestyle/life95.txt|work=Santa Maria Times|accessdate=2008-07-03 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 7: New Problems for Rio Tinto and Conservancy Funding to the Park Declines |url=https://desertfog.org/projects/ryan-camp-death-valley-ca/chapter-7/ |website=Desert Fog |access-date=3 January 2023 |date=5 September 2019}}</ref>
==Relocation to Death Valley and operation of Amargosa Opera House== The theater was part of a company town designed by architect Alexander Hamilton McCulloch and constructed in 1923–24 by the Pacific Coast Borax Company. The U-shaped complex of Mexican Colonial-style adobe buildings included company offices, a store, a dorm, a 23-room hotel, dining room, lobby and employees' headquarters. At the northeast end of the complex was a recreation hall used as a community center for dances, church services, movies, funerals and town meetings.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Death Valley & the Amargosa: a land of illusion|last=Lingenfelter|first=Richard E|date=1986|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0520056639|location=Berkeley|pages=394–395|oclc = 12613471|language=English}}</ref>
Becket rented the recreation hall, then known as Corkhill Hall, began repairs and changed the name to the Amargosa Opera House.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.amargosa-opera-house.com/aboutmarta.htm |title=About Marta. |access-date=2008-12-06 |archive-date=2017-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107015229/http://amargosa-opera-house.com/aboutmarta.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1970, journalists from ''National Geographic'' discovered Becket doing a performance at the Amargosa Opera House without an audience. Their profile and another in ''Life'' led to an international interest in Becket and her theater. She began performing to visitors from around the world, including such notables as Ray Bradbury and Red Skelton.<ref name="Santa Maria Times"/><ref>[http://www.davidlynch.de/armagosa.html Mulvihill, John. "Lost Highway Hotel"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216165047/http://www.davidlynch.de/armagosa.html |date=2008-02-16 }}</ref>
In later years, Becket dropped the dancing to perform weekly ''The Sitting Down Show''.<ref name="National Public Radio"/> Becket ceased performing in her Amargosa Opera House at the end of the 2008-09 season but began performing again in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/sep/08/amargosa-opera-house-visionary-marta-becket-prepar/|title=Amargosa Opera House visionary Marta Becket prepares to bow out|author=Peterson, Kristen|date=8 September 2010|publisher=Las Vegas Sun|accessdate=25 May 2011}}</ref> Her final show was February 12, 2012.<ref>[http://pvtimes.com/news/soiree-planned-for-beckets-final-stage-performance/ Dean, Charlene. "Soirée planned for Becket’s final stage performance"] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120720191421/http://pvtimes.com/news/soiree-planned-for-beckets-final-stage-performance/ |date=2012-07-20 }}</ref>
Becket occupied the theater since 1968, and personally created the murals and sets. The performances were a source of income for both the Opera House (now owned by Marta's non-profit organization) and the entire town.<ref name="National Public Radio"/>
==Death== Becket died on January 30, 2017, at her home in Death Valley Junction, California, from natural causes, aged 92.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/local/nevada/marta-becket-who-made-amargosa-opera-house-famous-dies-92|title=Marta Becket, who made Amargosa Opera House famous, dies at 92|date=January 31, 2017|accessdate=January 31, 2017|author=Henry Brean|publisher=Las Vegas Review-Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203032741/http://www.reviewjournal.com/local/nevada/marta-becket-who-made-amargosa-opera-house-famous-dies-92 |archive-date=2017-02-03 }}</ref>
==Books== * Her autobiography, ''To Dance on Sands: The Life and Art of Death Valley's Marta Becket'', edited by Ginger Mikkelsen Meurer, was published in 2007. * For the book ''Star Performance: The Story of the World's Great Ballerinas'', by Walter Terry (Doubleday, 1956), Becket did 42 full-page illustrations, plus ten smaller illustrations for the glossary.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.amargosa-opera-house.com Amargosa Opera House] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927041017/http://www.amargosa-opera-house.com/ |date=2019-09-27 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Becket, Marta}} Category:1924 births Category:2017 deaths Category:American ballerinas Category:American scenic designers Category:Women scenic designers Category:Dance in California Category:People from Inyo County, California Category:Musicians from California Category:Painters from California Category:20th-century American painters Category:American autobiographers Category:American women autobiographers Category:20th-century American women Category:21st-century American women Category:20th-century American ballet dancers