Muriel Evans

Muriel Evans (born Muriel Adele Evanson; July 20, 1910 – October 26, 2000) was an American film actress. She is best known for her many appearances in popular westerns of the 1930s for which she won a Golden Boot Award.

Early life and career Evans was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Norwegian immigrant parents. Her father died when she was only two months old, forcing her mother to move to California to find work, where Evans' mother took a job as a maid at First National Studios. She spent her afternoons on film sets and was soon noticed by a studio executive. The executive introduced her to the director Robert Z. Leonard, who gave her a small role opposite Corinne Griffith in the 1926 film, Mademoiselle Modiste. She continued attending classes at Hollywood High School and landing bit parts in stock theater productions and silent films.

In 1929, Evans co-starred in the silent, comedic short films, Good Night Nurse and Joyland, starring Lupino Lane. Shortly after completing Joyland, Evans put her acting career on hold to finish school. In July 1929, Evans announced her engagement to Michael J. P. Cudahy, the grandson of Michael Cudahy, one of the founders of the Cudahy Packing Company. They were married on July 7, 1929 in Riverside, California. Evans and Cudahy traveled the world and settled in Paris. In 1930, they returned to the United States and Evans filed for divorce. Their divorce was finalized in October 1930. Evans, who gave up her career upon her marriage, returned to Hollywood, signed a contract at MGM and began making films again.

In March 1932, Evans (and 11 other actresses) won a two-day beauty contest sponsored by Paramount Pictures, after which she starred in six films, most notably Young Ironsides with Charley Chase and Pack Up Your Troubles with Laurel and Hardy. She would go on to star in eight more shorts with Chase before his death in 1940.

Evans' success was due in large part to her pleasant speaking voice. She made a smooth transition from silent pictures to talkies, and throughout the 1930s, Evans continued to work steadily. She appeared in Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Manhattan Melodrama with Clark Gable and William Powell, and The Prizefighter and the Lady with Myrna Loy. By the mid-1930s, Evans also began co-starring in popular westerns alongside Tom Mix, John Wayne and Tex Ritter. She also starred in three Hopalong Cassidy films opposite William Boyd, and did seven westerns with Buck Jones.

Later years

In 1936, Evans married a theatrical agent, Marshall R. Worcester. By age 30, she retired from acting. One of her last film appearances came in 1946, in the Pete Smith short, Studio Visit. Soon after retiring, Evans and her husband settled in Washington, D.C. Over the next decade, she starred in four radio shows and in the television show Hollywood Reporter. In 1951, the couple moved back to Hollywood, although Evans never resumed her acting career. Eventually, the couple bought property in Tarzana, California, where Evans dabbled in real estate.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1928 Wife Trouble Short 1929 Good Night Nurse Short 1929 Joyland Short 1932 Sinners in the Sun Fashion Model Uncredited 1932 Young Ironsides Muriel Evans Short 1932 Pack Up Your Troubles Wrong Eddie's bride 1932 Hot Spot Wife Short 1932 Girl Grief Miss Evans Short 1932 Now We'll Tell One Muriel Evans Short 1932 Mr. Bride Muriel Evans Short 1933 Fallen Arches Muriel Gilbert Short 1933 Fast Workers Nurse 1933 Nature In the Wrong Muriel ShortAlternative title: Tarzan In the Wrong 1933 His Silent Racket Muriel Short 1933 Arabian Tights Miss Evans Short 1933 Thundering Taxis Mrs. Blacker Short 1933 Broadway to Hollywood Maid UncreditedAlternative title: Ring Up the Curtain 1933 The Prizefighter and the Lady Linda Alternative title: Every Woman's Man 1933 Dancing Lady Chorus Girl Uncredited 1933 The Women in His Life Molly 1933 Queen Christina Barmaid at Inn Uncredited 1934 Heat Lightning Blonde Cutie 1934 Manhattan Melodrama Tootsie Malone 1934 The Big Idea Honey, Ted's Fiancee Short 1934 Hollywood Party Show Girl Uncredited 1934 Attention Suckers Demonstration Watcher Short 1934 Hide-Out Baby 1934 Have a Heart Helen, Schauber's Secretary 1935 The Roaring West Mary Parker Serial 1935 The Throwback Muriel Fergus 1935 Nurse to You! Muriel Chase Short 1935 The New Frontier Hanna Lewis 1936 Silver Spurs Janet Allison Alternative title: Silverspurs 1936 Call of the Prairie Linda McHenry 1936 King of the Pecos Belle Jackson 1936 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Theresa Uncredited 1936 Three on the Trail Mary Stevens 1936 Two-Fisted Gentleman June Prentice 1936 Missing Girls Dorothy Benson Alternative title: When Girls Leave Home 1936 House of Secrets Julie Kenmore 1936 Under Your Spell Governess Uncredited 1936 The Boss Rider of Gun Creek Starr Landerson 1936 Ten Laps to Go Norma Corbett Alternative title: King of the Speedway 1936 Don't Be Like That The Faithful Wife Short 1936 Headline Crasher Edith Arlen 1936 Robin Hood, Jr. 1937 Rich Relations Trixie Lane 1937 Smoke Tree Range Nan Page 1937 Rustlers' Valley Agnes Randall 1937 Law for Tombstone Nellie Gray 1937 Boss of Lonely Valley Retta Lowrey 1939 Home Boner Mrs. Errol Short 1939 The Rookie Cop Fern, Joey's Girl Alternative title: Swift Vengeance 1939 Chicken Feed Girlfriend Short 1939 Westbound Stage Joan Hale 1939 Dog-Gone Miriam Jones Short 1940 Roll Wagons Roll Ruth Benson Alternative title: Roll Covered Wagon