Matinee Classics - Marguerite Chapman Biography & Filmography

Marguerite Chapman ACTOR

MARGUERITE CHAPMAN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Marguerite Chapman was born on March 9th, 1918 in Chatham, New York. Her career in entertainment began by first working as a model and she later became a well known actress.

Chapman was raised in New York and had four brothers. After high school she first worked as a switch board operator and it was not until many of her friends convinced her of her beauty, that she decided to give modeling a try. She began with signing on with John Powers and this lead to a number of front page magazine modeling jobs.

Now, with Hollywood's eyes on her, she was asked to come and work in the film industry, with an offer from 20th Century Fox Studios. Chapman relocated to Los Angeles, California and began to add a number of film credits to her resume such as, "Four Sons" (1940), "Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum" (1940), "West of the Rockies" (1941), "Spy Smasher" (1942) starring Kane Richmond and Tristram Coffin and "Destroyer" (1943) starring Edward G. Robinson, Glenn Ford and Edgar Buchanan.

Along with her film work she also entertained troops during World War II. As her career progressed, lead roles began to become less available to her and she was limited to taking supporting roles in such films as, "The Seven Year Itch" (1955) starring Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell and her final film role in, "The Amazing Transparent Man" (1960).

In addition to her film work she added a number of television credits to her resume such as, "Rawhide", "Perry Mason", "Marcus Welby, M.D.", "Police Story", "Hawaii Five-O", "Climax!" and "Studio 57".

In 1997, she was offered a chance to audition for the role of Rose Dawson in the highly successful film, "Titanic", however, she was too ill to consider the part and therefore, the role was given to Gloria Stuart who won an Academy Award for her portrayal.

Marguerite Chapman married twice throughout her lifetime, first to G. Bentley Ryan in 1948 however this marriage came to an end just two years later. She then wed, Richard Bremerkamp in 1964 and by 1972 this marriage also ended in divorce. Chapman did not re-marry, nor did she have any children of her own. She was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and on August 31st, 1999 she passed away in Burbank, California at the age of eighty one. Her remains are interred in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Filmography

1976 Police Story

1975 Hawaii Five-O

1971 Marcus Welby, M.D.

1962 Frontier Circus

1961 Laramie

1960 Perry Mason

1960 The Amazing Transparent Man

1959 The Lineup

1959 The Ann Sothern Show

1959 Rawhide

1958 Pursuit

1958 The Millionaire

1958 Richard Diamond, Private Detective

1958 Studio One in Hollywood

1955-1957 Climax!

1957 The Eve Arden Show

1954-1957 Studio 57

1952-1957 The Ford Television Theatre