Saturday, April 12, 2025

106

Wow!  Happy Birthday to Caren Marsh Doll, who is still going strong at 106! 
Caren was Judy Garland's stand-in on The Wizard Of Oz and Ziegfeld Girl. In Oz it's her feet that are seen clicking their heels together. In fact, Caren was given her own pair of Ruby Slippers at the end of filming the movie.

Caren Marsh Doll (nÊe Morris; born April 6, 1919), also credited as Caren Marsh, is an American former stage and screen actress and dancer specializing in modern dance and tap. She is notable as one of Judy Garland's stand-ins in The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Ziegfeld Girl (1941). She is one of the last surviving actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood. From 1937 until 1948, Marsh appeared in motion pictures with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, including a small uncredited part in Gone with the Wind. She became a dance instructor in 1956.

On July 12, 1949, aged 30, Marsh was aboard Standard Air Lines Flight 897R, when the C-46E crashed. The flight had left Albuquerque, New Mexico, at 4:43 am. While on approach to the Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, California, at 7:40 am, the twin engine plane, flying too low, hooked a wingtip on a hill and crashed near Chatsworth, California, and Marsh was one of the 13 people who survived. Marsh was pulled from the wreckage by another passenger named Judy Frost. Marsh was hospitalized at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital for several weeks, and nearly had her left foot amputated. Marsh's doctors told her that she would likely never dance again, but after careful exercise she was able to heal and continue in her dancing.

Marsh moved to Palm Springs, California, in 1957 and married Bill Doll (died 1979), a press agent to theatre and film producer Mike Todd. She turned 100 in April 2019. Her younger sister was film and television actress Dorothy Morris.

Once a month on the first Monday, Marsh volunteers as a dance therapy instructor at the Palm Springs Stroke Activity Center where the styles taught range from themes like ballroom dancing, country, Hawaiian, and belly dancing. She is an active member of The Palm Springs United Methodist Community Church.
 

Perfect weather to be outside 🌞 #firstcut

Porky - Joey D. Vieira R.I.P. #Lassie

Happy David Cassidy's birthday 🎂

I will be bringing some of these to my events! The first of which, is less than a month away! #Thundercats #Rankinbassproductions