Mary Carlisle, a Hollywood actress who enjoyed popularity in the 1930s as a wholesome ingenue in musical comedies opposite singer Bing Crosby, died Aug. 1 at a retirement community for actors in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles.
Her son, James Blakeley III, confirmed the death but did not provide an immediate cause. She was believed to be 104 but never confirmed her real age, even to her family. As a centenarian, she was known to tell visitors that her true age was “none of your business.”
With her blond hair, blue eyes and alabaster skin, Ms. Carlisle had the delicate beauty of an all-American porcelain doll. “This girl has the most angelic face I ever saw,” Universal studio production chief Carl Laemmle Jr. reportedly declared upon spotting the unknown Ms. Carlisle at the company’s canteen. “I’ve got to make a test of her right away.”
Ms. Carlisle appeared in more than 60 films in a career that lasted about a dozen years. Much to her dismay, she was typecast as the perpetual innocent, a decorative virgin.
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