Lynn Merrick

Merrick was born Marilyn Llewelling on November 19, 1919 in Fort Worth, Texas.^[1]

In the 1930s, Merrick studied acting and worked as a model after moving to California.^[2]

In 1940, Merrick was one of thirteen women selected by the Motion Picture Publicists Association as a "Baby Star", a selection process which was meant to highlight the most promising new film stars.^[3] She made the bulk of her films during the 1940s, starring in 22 feature films for Republic Pictures; 16 of these were Don Barry westerns.

Merrick's first Barry film was Two Gun Sheriff and her last was Fugitive from Sonora. She later worked for Columbia Pictures, where she starred in films alongside Richard Dix, Chester Morris, and Warner Baxter. Merrick retired from films after Escape from Terror (1955),^[2] starring and directed by Jackie Coogan.

In 1948, Merrick and her husband at the time, Conrad Nagel, appeared in summer stock theater in Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut.^[4] After retiring from acting, Merrick was an executive with the Barbizon School of Modeling.^[2]

Merrick was married and divorced twice. Her first marriage was to Nagel. They received an interlocutory decree on March 26, 1947,^[5] and the divorce became final on August 26, 1948.^[6]

On October 26, 1949, Merrick married producer Robert Goelet, Jr. in Europe.^[4] Both unions were childless. In 1950, Merrick received emergency treatment at Santa Monical Hospital after taking an overdose of sleeping pills. A news story distributed by International News Service described the overdose as "the climax to a spat with her husband, wealthy Robert Goelet."^[7]

Merrick died on March 25, 2007, at age 87, at her home in West Palm Beach, Florida.^[8] Her remains were cremated and her ashes scattered.^[9]