Marie Harmon, known for her roles in well-known 1940s western films such as The El Paso Kid (1946) with Sunset Carson and Nighttime in Nevada (1948) with Roy Rogers, died Monday, January 2nd in Los Angeles. She was 97. According to Deadline, her daughter Sondra Currie (The Hangover) confirmed that her death was caused by natural causes.
Although known mainly for her films in westerns, Harmon was signed with Republic Pictures and appeared in many of their films, including The Sailor Takes a Wife, (1945) Her Lucky Night (1945) with the Andrews Sisters, and Killer McCoy (1947) with Mickey Rooney.
Harmon was born on October 21st, 1923, in Oak Park, Illinois, being one of seven children. She came to Hollywood in 1942 at the age of 18 working as a car-hop at a drive-in. Just a year later, Harmon was spotted by a Universal Pictures executive while appearing in a play in Beverly Hills and was then offered a role in Hers to Hold (1943). She starred alongside Deanna Durbin and Joseph Cotten, and this was the beginning of her long lasting career.
In addition to Sondra Currie and her husband, producer-director Alan J. Levi, Currie is survived by her twin daughters, Cherie and Marie Currie, her son, Don, and grandchildren Tina, Trevor, Jake and Grace.