Adele Mara, a prolific film and television actress who was married to writer/producer/director Roy Huggins—creator of such TDOY favorites as Maverick, The Fugitive, and The Rockford Files—has passed away from natural causes at her Pacific Palisades home. She was 87. Mara’s youthful aspiration to be a dancer led to her being discovered by bandleader Xavier Cugat, whose band she performed in before moving to Hollywood in the 1940s.
Among the films in which she appeared: Blondie Goes to College (1942), Alias Boston Blackie (1942), You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Reveille with Beverly (1943), Atlantic City (1944), and Angel in Exile (1948). She made a number of films with Roy Rogers (Bells of Rosarita [1945], Night Time in Nevada [1948]), Gene Autry (Robin Hood of Texas [1947], Twilight on the Rio Grande [1947]), and John Wayne, notably Wake of the Red Witch (1948) and Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).
Mara also made the rounds on the small screen—her son John observed that “My father kept bringing her out of retirement to be in TV shows,” like Maverick and 77 Sunset Strip. In addition, her cathode ray tube resume includes Cheyenne, Bat Masterson, Tales of Wells Fargo, Laramie, Bachelor Father, Thriller, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
R.I.P, Ms. Mara. You shall be missed.
Thrilling Days of Yesteryear 