Thursday, August 10, 2017

The Girl Who Takes Jean Harlow's Place

When I was assigned to interview Marjorie Woodworth, the girl Hal Roach has tabbed to take Jean Harlow's place--and the girl Harvard undergrads recently used as a target for a soft orange---I thought, "Just another hopeful. I'll bet she doesn't look any more like Harlow than my redheaded granddaughter does." 

Then I sat down to luncheon with her (chaperoned by publicity chief Jules Seltzer of the Hal Roach Studios, where's she's starring in "Broadway Limited"). I took one look, opened my mouth-and ate my words! 

Marjorie is a natural blonde with heliotrope eyes, long lashes and features not exactly like Harlow's, but close enough-and plenty good! Her figure is a little larger, proportionately, but just as trim as was La Belle Jean before her untimely death. Marjorie measures five feet five inches tall (in stocking feet); hips, thirty-four inches; bust, thirty-four; waist, twenty-four; shoe, 5-B; hat, twenty-one and one-half; weight, 117 pounds. I didn't get her phone number because Seltzer was eavesdropping and besides, her dad, Clyde Woodworth, is the city attorney of Inglewood, Calif.! That's where Marjorie was born, June 5, 1921, and reared. Funny thing about that June 5 date. It was on her nineteenth birthday last year she was signed by Roach. 

Margie Starts Harvard Riot 

About her trip east on a bid from the president of the Harvard Lampoon, she was jubilant-in spite of the orange blitz, which happened when a rival Harvard Crimson faction tried unsuccessfully to kidnap Margie from the Lampoon executives. "They were just college boys having a little fun," said the honored guest and victim. "I'm a college girl and I understand them." She had two years at the University of Southern California. 

Is the Athletic Type 

Margie's favorite sports are ice-skating, swimming and horseback riding. She eats almost anything but dotes on prime roast beef rare. After a year of preliminary training, she's still studying dramatics and voice modulation at Max Reinhardt's school between picture calls. Asked if she had ever been told before Roach discovered her that she resembled Jean Harlow, she said, "Yes, many times in high school and college. But I don't know. I only saw her once---in 'Saratoga,' I believe." That was Harlow's last film. As for Marjorie's future success, she says, "I'm having fun!" and leaves the rest to movie-goers.- E. P.


Marjorie never came near the level of success that Jean Harlow had in Hollywood. She did a number of films in the 1940s but didn't catch enough attention from the movie-goers to become a star. This article originally appeared in the June 28th, 1942 issue of Movie Radio Guide. 

Movie Magazine Articles, another one of our ongoing series, feature articles like this reprinted for our reader's entertainment. Links to the original sources are available within the body of the text. In the future, simply search "Movie Magazine Articles" to find more posts in this series or click on the tag below. Enjoy!

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