Mary Castle
Encyclopedia
Mary Ann Castle was an American actress of early film
and television
whose personal problems destroyed her once burgeoning career. Her best known role was as female detective
Frankie Adams in the syndicated
western
series, Stories of the Century
, which aired from 1954 to 1955.
Brown) in Pampa
. Her mother was one-sixteenth Quapaw
Indian
. The Nobletts moved to Fort Worth
, Texas
, then Phillips
, subsequently a ghost town
in Hutchinson County
, Texas, prior to relocating to Long Beach
, California
. At the age of nine, Castle contracted pneumonia
. Her brother, Erby Noblett, Jr. (1927–1992), taught her trick riding and later became a police officer in Long Beach.
In 1946, Castle gave birth to an out-of-wedlock daughter in Los Angeles
. In 1955, the then eight-year-old child was reportedly seriously ill in a Long Beach hospital
.
. In August 1950, she was dubbed the "lady who looks more like Hayworth
than Hayworth does." Her first contract was said to have been granted solely on the basis that the red-haired Castle indeed resembled Hayworth. Harry Cohn
, boss of Columbia Pictures
, was said to have envisioned Castle as a replacement for Hayworth, who had married Prince Aly Khan
and was rearing a family.
Castle's first credited role was as Flo in the 1950 film The Tougher They Come. Columbia plotted Castle's career as they had for Rita Hayworth when she had first signed with Columbia: frequent exposure and seasoning in the studio's low-budget films. Most of Mary Castle's early Columbias were Westerns: Prairie Roundup, Texans Never Cry (with Gene Autry
), and When the Redskins Rode. Her appearance in Criminal Lawyer didn't free her from the Western mold; In 1953, she appeared in the Western features The Lawless Breed
and Gunsmoke. The most frequently revived Mary Castle feature is probably her least prestigious: she played a gold-digging femme fatale opposite Huntz Hall
and The Bowery Boys
in the low-budget comedy Crashing Las Vegas
(1956). She was only 24 when it was filmed, but looked years older; a new blonde hairstyle didn't disguise her now-hardened features from alcohol abuse
.
. She appeared with Jim Davis
in 26 of the 39 episodes of Stories of the Century, the first western to win an Emmy Award
. The series focuses upon the capture of such western outlaws as Billy the Kid
, the Dalton Brothers, the Younger Brothers, and Sam Bass
. When Castle left the series,she was replaced for the final thirteen episodes by Kristine Miller
.
In 1956, she appeared on The Bob Cummings Show
in the episode "The Trouble with Henry". In 1957, she guest starred on ABC
's The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
, in "The Case of the Baited Hook" on CBS's Perry Mason
, and ain "Test of Courage" of ABC's Cheyenne
, starring Clint Walker
. She appeared too in Frank Lovejoy
's detective series, Meet McGraw
. In 1959, she appeared on Rex Allen
's Frontier Doctor
syCategory:Native_American_actorsndicated series. In 1960, Castle appeared in the episode "The Chinese Pendant" of CBS's crime drama Tightrope
starring Mike Connors
. Castle's last television appearance was as an unnamed saloon
girl in the 1962 episode "Collie's Free" of James Arness
's long-running CBS western Gunsmoke
.
. She ultimately had three short-lived marriages. From 1957 to 1958, she was wed to William France Minchen, who used the stage name William Grant. They soon divorced, and he remarried. From 1960 to 1961, Castle was married from to Wayne Cote. Castle and her third husband, Erwin A. Frezza were wed from 1971 to 1972.
and taken to Malibu Emergency Hospital after being found seemingly lifeless and wearing little clothing on the beach in Malibu. On October 28, 1959, she was arrested again and fined for drunkenness. A month later on November 26, she tried to hang herself upon being placed in a Beverly Hills
jail.
. She died of lung cancer
at the age of 67 in Palm Springs, California
.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
whose personal problems destroyed her once burgeoning career. Her best known role was as female detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
Frankie Adams in the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series, Stories of the Century
Stories of the Century
Stories of the Century is a Western television series that ran in syndication through Republic Pictures between January 23, 1954, and March 11, 1955.-Synopsis:...
, which aired from 1954 to 1955.
Early years
Castle was born as Mary Ann Noblett to Erby G. Noblett, Sr. and Myrtle A. Noblett (néeMarried and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Brown) in Pampa
Pampa, Texas
Pampa is a city in Gray County, Texas, United States. The population was 17,887 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Gray County.Pampa is the principal city of the Pampa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Gray and Roberts counties....
. Her mother was one-sixteenth Quapaw
Quapaw
The Quapaw people are a tribe of Native Americans who historically resided on the west side of the Mississippi River in what is now the state of Arkansas.They are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians.-Government:...
Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
. The Nobletts moved to Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, then Phillips
Phillips, Texas
Phillips is a ghost town in Hutchinson County, United States.It was founded as Pantex, Texas. In 1938 Pantex and Whittenburg combined. The combined town was renamed Phillips for the dominant employer, the Phillips Petroleum Company by a vote of the people....
, subsequently a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in Hutchinson County
Hutchinson County, Texas
Hutchinson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas in the northern portion of the Texas Panhandle. In 2000, its population was 23,857. Its seat is Stinnett . Hutchinson County is named for Andrew Hutchinson, an early Texas attorney....
, Texas, prior to relocating to Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. At the age of nine, Castle contracted pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. Her brother, Erby Noblett, Jr. (1927–1992), taught her trick riding and later became a police officer in Long Beach.
In 1946, Castle gave birth to an out-of-wedlock daughter in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. In 1955, the then eight-year-old child was reportedly seriously ill in a Long Beach hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
.
Career
At nineteen, Castle was a model for a bathing suit company. A studio scout became interested in her after seeing her photograph in a magazineMagazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
. In August 1950, she was dubbed the "lady who looks more like Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
than Hayworth does." Her first contract was said to have been granted solely on the basis that the red-haired Castle indeed resembled Hayworth. Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn was the American president and production director of Columbia Pictures.-Career:Cohn was born to a working-class German-Jewish family in New York City. In later years, he appears to have disparaged his heritage...
, boss of Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, was said to have envisioned Castle as a replacement for Hayworth, who had married Prince Aly Khan
Prince Aly Khan
Prince Ali Solomone Aga Khan , known as Aly Khan was a son of Aga Khan III, the head of the Ismaili Muslims, and the father of Aga Khan IV. A socialite, racehorse owner and jockey, he was the third husband of actress Rita Hayworth...
and was rearing a family.
Castle's first credited role was as Flo in the 1950 film The Tougher They Come. Columbia plotted Castle's career as they had for Rita Hayworth when she had first signed with Columbia: frequent exposure and seasoning in the studio's low-budget films. Most of Mary Castle's early Columbias were Westerns: Prairie Roundup, Texans Never Cry (with Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
), and When the Redskins Rode. Her appearance in Criminal Lawyer didn't free her from the Western mold; In 1953, she appeared in the Western features The Lawless Breed
The Lawless Breed
The Lawless Breed is a 1953 western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Rock Hudson. The film is based on the life of outlaw John Wesley Hardin.-Plot synopsis:...
and Gunsmoke. The most frequently revived Mary Castle feature is probably her least prestigious: she played a gold-digging femme fatale opposite Huntz Hall
Huntz Hall
Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall was an American radio, theatrical, and motion picture performer noted primarily for his roles in the "Dead End Kids" movies, such as Angels with Dirty Faces , which gave way to the "The Bowery Boys" movie franchise, a prolific and highly successful series of comedies in...
and The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
in the low-budget comedy Crashing Las Vegas
Crashing Las Vegas
Crashing Las Vegas is a 1956 film starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. The film was released on April 22, 1956 by Allied Artists and is the forty-first film in the series. It was the last film in the series to star Leo Gorcey.-Plot:...
(1956). She was only 24 when it was filmed, but looked years older; a new blonde hairstyle didn't disguise her now-hardened features from alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. Alcohol abuse eventually progresses to alcoholism, a condition in which an individual becomes dependent on alcoholic beverages in order to avoid...
.
Television
Mary Castle's first television appearance occurred in 1952 as Marcia Thorne in the episode "One Angle Too Many" of the detective series Racket SquadRacket Squad
Racket Squad is an American TV crime drama series starring Reed Hadley as Captain John Braddock, a fictional detective working for the San Francisco, California Police Department....
. She appeared with Jim Davis
Jim Davis (actor)
Jim Davis was an American actor, best known for his role as Jock Ewing in the CBS prime-time soap Dallas, a role which he held up until his death in April 1981.-Biography:...
in 26 of the 39 episodes of Stories of the Century, the first western to win an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
. The series focuses upon the capture of such western outlaws as Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
, the Dalton Brothers, the Younger Brothers, and Sam Bass
Sam Bass
Sam Bass was a nineteenth-century American train robber and outlaw.-Early life:Bass was orphaned at the age of 10. For the next five years, he and his siblings lived with an abusive uncle. In 1869, he set out on his own and spent the next year in Mississippi...
. When Castle left the series,she was replaced for the final thirteen episodes by Kristine Miller
Kristine Miller
Kristine Miller is an American actress who appeared in various supporting roles throughout the 1940s to the early 1960s.-Early life:...
.
In 1956, she appeared on The Bob Cummings Show
The Bob Cummings Show
The Bob Cummings Show is an American sitcom starring Robert "Bob" Cummings which was produced from January 2, 1955 to September 15, 1959, and originally sponsored by R.J. Reynolds' Winston cigarettes...
in the episode "The Trouble with Henry". In 1957, she guest starred on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...
, in "The Case of the Baited Hook" on CBS's Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
, and ain "Test of Courage" of ABC's Cheyenne
Cheyenne (TV series)
Cheyenne is a western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on ABC from 1955 to 1963. The show was the first hour-long western, and in fact the first hour-long dramatic series of any kind, with continuing characters, to last more than one season...
, starring Clint Walker
Clint Walker
Norman Eugene Walker, known as Clint Walker , is an American actor best known for his cowboy role as "Cheyenne Bodie" in the TV Western series, Cheyenne.-Life and career:...
. She appeared too in Frank Lovejoy
Frank Lovejoy
Frank Lovejoy was an American actor in radio, film, and television. He was born Frank Lovejoy Jr. in Bronx, New York, but grew up in New Jersey. His father, Frank Lovejoy Sr., was a furniture salesman from Maine...
's detective series, Meet McGraw
Meet McGraw
Meet McGraw is an American dramatic television series starring Frank Lovejoy in the role of the hard-hitting detective McGraw, a man specifically given no first name in the program. Forty-one half-hour episodes aired on NBC during the 1957-1958 season, sponsored by Procter & Gamble. The series was...
. In 1959, she appeared on Rex Allen
Rex Allen
Rex Elvie Allen was an American film actor, singer and songwriter, known as the Arizona Cowboy, particularly known as the narrator in many Disney nature and Western film productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Family...
's Frontier Doctor
Frontier Doctor
For the NBC program similarly named, see Frontier .Frontier Doctor is an American Western television series starring Rex Allen that aired in syndication from September 26, 1958, until June 20, 1959.-Synopsis:...
syCategory:Native_American_actorsndicated series. In 1960, Castle appeared in the episode "The Chinese Pendant" of CBS's crime drama Tightrope
Tightrope (TV series)
Tightrope is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from September 1959 to September 1960. Produced by Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene in association with Screen Gems, the series stars Mike Connors as an undercover agent named "Nick" who was assigned to infiltrate criminal gangs...
starring Mike Connors
Mike Connors
Mike Connors is an American actor best known for playing detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series, Mannix. Before that, he had played a crime-fighting investigator, wielding a .38 handgun hidden in his back, in another CBS series, Tightrope.-Early life:Connors was born Krekor Ohanian in...
. Castle's last television appearance was as an unnamed saloon
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
girl in the 1962 episode "Collie's Free" of James Arness
James Arness
James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
's long-running CBS western Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
.
Personal life
Castle was involved romantically with several men, including actor Richard LongRichard Long (actor)
Richard Long was an American actor better known for his leading roles in several ABC television series, including The Big Valley, Nanny and the Professor and Bourbon Street Beat.-Early life:...
. She ultimately had three short-lived marriages. From 1957 to 1958, she was wed to William France Minchen, who used the stage name William Grant. They soon divorced, and he remarried. From 1960 to 1961, Castle was married from to Wayne Cote. Castle and her third husband, Erwin A. Frezza were wed from 1971 to 1972.
Legal troubles
In September 1957, Castle was arrested for public intoxication after she allegedly attempted to kick and bite two deputy sheriffs, John Aiken and K.H. Smiley, in Hollywood. The officers said that they found Castle fighting with her first husband in a parked car while her ten-year-old daughter cried in the back seat. On September 14, 1959, Castle was revived by artificial respirationArtificial respiration
Artificial respiration is the act of assisting or stimulating respiration, a metabolic process referring to the overall exchange of gases in the body by pulmonary ventilation, external respiration, and internal respiration...
and taken to Malibu Emergency Hospital after being found seemingly lifeless and wearing little clothing on the beach in Malibu. On October 28, 1959, she was arrested again and fined for drunkenness. A month later on November 26, she tried to hang herself upon being placed in a Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
jail.
Later years and death
Castle spent her later years in Lodi, CaliforniaLodi, California
Lodi is a city located in , in the northern portion of California's Central Valley. The population was 62,134 at the 2010 census. The California Department of Finance's population estimate as of January 1, 2011 is 62,473....
. She died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
at the age of 67 in Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
.