30 July 2013

Marti, Marlene and Mother

In her memoir, singer Eileen Farrell remembers the time she and a friend, Shirley Cowell, were invited by Marti Stevens' mother, Pansy Schenck, to catch Marlene's show in Miami .

[Marti Stevens]
(Pansy's husband was one-time 20th Century-Fox executive, Joe Schenck.):
"Now, I don't think Pansy had much of a clue about what any of her children were up to, but I thought she must have heard the rumours that Marti was having an affair with Marlene Dietrich, because it was fairly common gossip in show business circles.
The show was absolutely fabulous, even though Marlene couldn't sing worth a damn. Afterward, the three went backstage to meet Dietrich. Pansy introduced herself:
'Hello,' she said, 'I'm Mrs Joe Schenck. I think you know my daughter, Marti.'
There was a perfectly timed pause. Then Marlene said with a knowing smile, 'Oh yes. I do.'
Shirley and I wanted to die right then and there. Pansy just kept chattering away, and I don't think she ever figured out  why Shirley and I were so tongue-tied."
 (From: Can't Help Singing: The Life of Eileen Farrell, by Eileen Farrell and Brian Kellow. UPNE, 1999.)

9 comments:

  1. bitter69uk31 July, 2013 14:33

    I'd read that Dietrich "groomed" her younger girlfriend Marti to look just like her. That photo certainly confirms it!

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    1. missladiva31 July, 2013 15:53

      Marti is certainly doing a Dietrich in that photo! Hand-me-downs from Marlene to the millionaire girl singer probably completed the look -- Stevens donated some of these to a US university textile archive.

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    2. Joseph31 July, 2013 17:54

      Which university?

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    3. missladiva31 July, 2013 20:45

      Kent State

      http://www.kent.edu/museum/collection/online-catalogue.cfm

      (The Jean Louis cape attributed as an MD stage costume is an eyebrow-raiser though)

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    4. Joseph31 July, 2013 23:01

      Thank you! I hope the staff at Kent State take/upload more photos. I'd be more curious to see that Chanel cocktail suit. The closest thing I could find to that cape is an image that you'd already know quite well. The sleeves look very different, though.

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  2. bitter69uk03 August, 2013 13:02

    Has anyone ever actually heard Marti Stevens sing, or seen a clip of her performing? She doesn't seem very well remembered these days.

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    1. missladiva10 August, 2013 18:24

      Graham, the only clips on Youtube with her are dubbed -- in German!

      http://youtu.be/Sq-3E5joq9k

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  3. Anonymous12 May, 2014 00:50

    I've seen Marti Stevens in the 1962 Jazz noir film 'All Night Long'. They show it now and again late at night on ABC TV Australia. It has Patrick McGoohan of 'The Prisoner' fame, and some really famous musicians such as Dave Brubeck. Its a very hip film, so hip that it doesn't even comment on Mari's relationship with a black man, which was ahead of its time for films in 1962. And yes, she does look uncannily like Marlene at times. I've often wondered if Marlene was in love with that perfect image of herself that she was always trying to maintain, and adapt to each passing decade. Also I've wondered why Marti Stevens made so few films.
    Robert. MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA.

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  4. Drednm08 November, 2015 06:34

    Actually, the quote from Farrell's book is wrong. Marti Stevens' mother Pansy was married to Nicholas Schenck, brother of Joeseph Schenck who was married to Norma Talmadge. Marti was one of three daughters; a sister Nikki married German actor Helmut Dantine and acted in a few films as Nikki Dantine. Marti Stevens channels Marlene Dietrich throughout the film ALL NIGHT LONG until she sings and then she sounds like Cleo Laine.

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