In the Spotlight:
MARY BETH HUGHES
The cool blonde was born Mary Elizabeth Hughes on November 13, 1919 in Alton, Illinois.
Her parents divorced in 1923. After the divorce, Hughes' mother moved with her only child to Washington D.C.
As a child, Hughes began acting in stage productions. While acting in a school play in the early 1930s, her performance caught the attention of a repertory theater company owner, who offered her a part in a touring production of "Alice in Wonderland". While touring with another production, she was offered a contract from a talent scout but declined the offer to finish high school.
Upon graduating from high school in 1937, she returned to the repertory theater company where she continued to appear in various stage productions until the summer of 1938 when she relocated to Los Angeles with her mother to pursue a film career.
After six months of failing to land movie roles, Hughes and her mother made plans to return to Washington D.C. until Hughes met an agent, who introduced her to powerful William Morris agent Johnny Hyde. Hyde landed Hughes a contract with MGM, and she soon landed a small, uncredited role in the 1939 film "Broadway Serenade".
Hughes appeared in other bit parts in films including "The Women" with Norma Shearer, "Dancing Co-Ed" with Lana Turner, and the Busby Berkeley film "Fast and Furious", and "Free, Blonde and 21".
Mary Beth, MGM starlet
Mary Beth with Robert Lowery in "Free, Blonde and 21" (1940).
One can vocalize lines and someone else can say anything they want to with their eyes. Mary Beth Hughes has such eyes as they are very expressive. She has the essence of innocence and naughtiness all at the same time, whereby she can change her look in an instant and it all looks so natural.
As a starlet under contract with MGM, Hughes went on studio appointed dates with several actors including Lew Ayres, Franchot Tone, Mickey Rooney, and James Stewart.
Mary Beth Glamour Shot
In 1940, Hughes was offered a contract with 20th Century Fox. Later that year, she landed a role opposite John Barrymore in "The Great Profile", a role that she later noted as one of her favorites.
John Barrymore, May Beth & Lionel Atwill in "The Great Profile" (1940).
She also appeared in, "Stardust", "Four Sons", "The Cowboy and the Blonde", "Charlie Chan in Reno", "Orchestra Wives", "Over My Dead Body", and "The Ox-Bow Incident" as Henry Fonda's fiancee.
Mary Beth, Alan Curtis, Don Ameche & George Ernest in "Four Sons" (1940).
(1941)
Mary Beth (left) points dagger eyes at Ann Rutherford (1942)
With Milton Berle (1942).
Mary Beth in costume as Rose in "The Ox-Bow Incident" (1943).
While under contract to Fox, she also went prearranged dates with Milton Berle and George Montgomery.
In 1940, against Fox's wishes, Hughes began a relationship with actor Robert Stack (her Bobby). The romance lasted a year.
In 1943, Fox did not renew her contract when it expired, and the following year, Hughes began appearing as a nightclub act and she soon signed a three-picture deal with Universal.
(1944).
Despite being a cult favorite, Mary Beth will probably be remembered best for her role in the outrageously campy "I Accuse My Parents" (1944), which was later used as cannon fodder for "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988).
Mary Beth as Gaye Livingston in "Take It Big" (1944).
With Dan Duryea (above) and Erich Von Stroheim (below) in "The Great Flamarion" )1945).
Mary Beth with Charles Russell in the B film noir "Inner Sanctum" (1948).
Mary Beth with a distressed Ray Milland in "Close to My Heart" (1951).
Throughout the mid-1940s and 1950s, Hughes appeared in film and television roles including the cult classic "I Accuse My Parents", "Men on Her Mind", "The Great Flamarion", "Caged Fury", "Inner Sanctum", "Young Man with a Horn", "Close to My Heart", "Highway Dragnet", and "Dig That Uranium" with the Bowery Boys.
In 1961, Hughes decided to retire from acting and began working as a receptionist in a plastic surgeon's office.
While working as a receptionist, she also continued her appearances in nightclubs. The following year, she directed and starred in a Los Angeles production of "Pajama Tops". For the rest of the 1960s, she would go on to appear in a variety of television shows like "Rawhide" and "Dennis the Menace".
In 1970, she landed a regular role on "The Red Skelton Show", appearing in 11 episodes before the show ended later that year.
In 1976, she again retired from show business citing that she was "tired of auditioning for sexy grandma roles". Hughes' last onscreen appearances was in "The Working Girls" and "Tanya".
In the late 1970s, Hughes opened a beauty parlor in Canoga Park, California. She closed the shop in the late 1980s and began working as a telemarketer until 1991 when she was laid off.
After her romance with Robert Stack ended, Hughes married actor Ted North in 1943. The couple had one son, Donald, before divorcing in 1947. In 1948, she married singer/actor David Street. The marriage ended in 1956.
In 1973, Hughes married her manager, Nicky Stewart, about 9 years older than she and probably loved cats as much as Mary Beth, as they lived with many of them in Mary Beth's humongous, ranch home in Sepulveda, California.
That marriage also ended in divorce four years later.
Mary Beth Hughes died at the age of 75 on August 27, 1995 of natural causes in Los Angeles.
Her only child, Donald North, was last known to be scuba diving and selling high-end underwater equipment.
Mary Beth Hughes (1919-1995)