Marion Marlowe

Best known as a featured vocalist on the program "Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" (1950 to 1955). Born Marion Townsend, she was raised in St. Louis, Missouri and gravitated towards a career path to entertainment, as she studied at London's Royal Conservatory of Music under Sir. Thomas Beecham. Her break came on the Arthur Godfrey radio program "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" and at the age of twenty-one, she landed a regular spot when he moved to television. During her run of five years as a regular performer, she partnered with Frank Parker and the pair became a popular duet as they sang romantic ballads including "Moonlight and Roses" (1952). In 1959, their album titled "Sweethearts" was released by Columbia. Individually, Marlowe scored a Top-20 Billboard hit with "The Man In The Raincoat" (which reached number 14 in 1955). Along with several other personnel changes Marlowe was fired by Godfrey in 1955, however this action would not leave her without being in-demand. She married television producer Larry Puck (twenty-nine years her senior, who was also a victim of Godfrey's purging) and was immediately sought by Ed Sullivan to perform in a series of appearances over the next several years on his show. She adorned the cover of the publication TV Radio Mirror in February of 1956 and expanded her talents to the theater, as she originated the role of Elsa Schraeder in the long-running Broadway production "The Sound of Music" (1959 to 1963). This was followed with the off-Broadway play "The Athenian Touch" (1964) and an association with the Kenley Players of Ohio.