Mara Corday, who was born Marilyn Joan Watts on January 3, 1930, is an American celebrity recognised for her work as a showgirl, model, actress, Playboy Playmate, and cultural symbol in the 1950s.
Corday was born in Santa Monica, California, and as a teenager, she wanted to work in Hollywood.
She started off as a showgirl at the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard, where her good looks led to modelling jobs and a brief part as a showgirl in the 1951 movie “Two Tickets to Broadway.”
Dancing in the Earl Carroll Revue in Hollywood was one of Corday’s first jobs as a professional. In two years, she went from being a showgirl to acting in the show’s sketches.
She changed her name to “Mara Corday” during this time to make herself more appealing. When she was an usher at the Mayan Theatre, a bongo player called her “Marita,” which is where the name “Mara” came from. The word “Corday” came from a perfume bottle label, which was the start of her unique stage name.
Corday’s movies are most famous for being in the science fiction and horror genres, especially in the mid-1950s.
In the 1955 movie “Tarantula,” where she portrayed the female lead opposite John Agar, she had one of her most famous performances.
Corday played Linda, the love interest of Dr. Matt Hastings (John Agar), in this classic science fiction movie.
The movie was about the terrible things that happened after a scientific experiment went wrong and a huge tarantula terrorised a desert community.
In “Tarantula,” she showed that she could play a strong, supportive female character in a genre known for its fantasy and frightening stories.
After her success in “Tarantula,” Mara Corday kept making her mark on science fiction.
She played a geologist looking into the huge scorpions in Mexico in the 1957 movie “The Black Scorpion.”
Edward Ludwig directed the movie, which showed Corday as a smart and strong scientist. This part made her even more closely associated with the genre.
She played a prominent role in the 1956 Western movie “Raw Edge,” which was set in the 1840s.
She also played the main female character in “The Quiet Gun” (1957), a Western about a sheriff looking for justice in a town where there are no laws.
In addition to her acting pursuits, Mara Corday gained popularity as a pin-up model during the 1950s.
Her striking beauty and photogenic qualities made her a sought-after subject for various men’s magazines of the era, further contributing to her status as a recognizable figure in popular culture.
Mara Corday’s career in Hollywood may have been relatively brief, but her contributions to the realms of science fiction, Westerns, and as a pin-up model left an enduring mark.
Following the 1955 death of Suzan Ball, the first wife of actor Richard Long, Corday began dating Long, and they married in 1957.
Through Long’s sister Barbara, Corday was a sister-in-law of actor Marshall Thompson. In the early 1960s, Corday gave up her career to devote herself to raising a family.
Widowed in 1974, she had three children with Long during their 17-year marriage.
(Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons / Pinterest / Flickr).
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