Actress and Singer Martha Stewart Passes On

Martha Stewart, the actress and singer who appeared in such films as Daisy Kenyon (1947) and In a Lonely Place (1950), died on February 17 2021 at the age of 98.

Martha Stewart was born Martha Haworth on October 7 1922 in Bardwell, Kentucky. She was very young when her family moved to Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from New Utrecht High School there. After graduating from high school, she entered a singing contest which led to a career as a professional singer. During World War II she sang on NBC radio shows Glenn Miller, Harry James and Claude Thornhill. It was at an engagement at the Stork Club that she was spotted by Hollywood talent scout.

Martha Stewart made her film debut in Doll Face in 1945. She appeared in the films Johnny Comes Flying Home (1946) and I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947). In Daisy Kenyon (1947) she played a friend of the title character (played by Joan Crawford). She appeared in Are You With It? (1948) with Donald O'Connor before playing hat-check girl and murder victim Mildred Atkinson in In a Lonely Place (1950). She appeared in only a few movies following In a Lonely Place, those being Convicted (1950), Aaron Slick from Punkin Creek (1952), and Surf Party (1964).

Miss Stewart appeared on Broadway in Park Avenue in the late Forties and Guys and Dolls in the early Fifties. Martha Stewart made her television debut on Texaco Star Theatre Starring Milton Berle in 1950. She was a co-host of the variety show Those Two. In the Fifties she guest starred on Footlights and Klieglights, Cavalcade of Stars, Songs for Sale, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Arthur Murray Party, The Red Skelton Show, The Stork Club, and Musical Chairs. In the Sixties she guest starred on Our Man Higgins, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and My Three Sons

Martha Stewart was a talented singer with a lovely voice, as anyone who has seen her musicals knows. She also displayed a good deal of talent as an actress. She played a variety of roles, from singer Frankie Porter in Doll Face to an older rich woman in Surf Party. She was equally at home in musicals and in dramas, and she always gave good performances.