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Hugh Marlowe (Jan 30.1911 - May 2.1982)
Height: between 5'11" and  6'1".
Weight: 170-175 pounds
Eyes: blue
Hair: brown
Siblings: Sidney (1909), G. Worthington (twin),
Shirley R. (1912)
 Marriages:
(1) Margaret (Peggy) Davis, radio drama actress
      (Nov 23. 1932 - Feb 1938, divorced)
(2) Edith Atwater, actress
      (Nov 15/18, 1941 - Sep 16 1945, divorced)
(3) K.T. Stevens (aka Gloria Wood), actress
      (May 7, 1946 - Sep 1967, divorced)
      Sons:
      Chris(tian) Marlowe, sportscaster (Sep 28, 1951)
      Jeff Marlowe, cinematographer (Jul 7, 1948)
(4) Rosemary Macellaro Torri, actress
      (aka Rosemary Murtagh)
      (1968 - 1982, his death)
      Son : Hugh Marlowe Jr. (Feb 1969)		 A young Hugh Marlowe
 

Hugh Marlowe was born on January 30, 1911 as Hugh Herbert Hipple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of Mildred Schroeder and George W. Hipple of Chicago.

He went to Senn High School in Chicago where he made his first steps on stage. He played football at Wisconsin University. Marlowe liked to read, he got that way in Marshall-Field's book department as a clerk. He hated chemistry but if he had had another chance at college he'd have become a doctor or a chemist.

He was in little-theatre work (The Goodman Little Theater group), toiled as truck driver, grocery clerk, tie salesman in between his earliest acting jobs.

A newspaper report dated May 3, 1931, reported that Little Theatre groups would be represented in the annual drama competition. The Players Guild of Evanston brought The String of the Samisen by Rita Wellman; with among others Brett Morrison (The Shadow!), Hugh Hipple and Miss Peggy Davis. They came in second but won the award for best diction.
On November 29. 1931 the same guild staged The Mollusc in its studio theatre under direction of Melita H. Skillen, director of dramatic art at Senn High School. The group was largely made up of Senn High graduates who pleaded to further develop the talent she discovered. Hugh Hipple is mentioned as a member of the players' staff having played in the comedy You and I earlier that month.

Started his career as a radio announcer at WOC-WHO in Davenport/Des Moines, Iowa in 1931-1932. The actor was remembered by staff as "a thick-spectacled, mustached, long-haired lover of horseplay, whose resonant voice and flawless diction seemed at first, an affectation."
Miss Margaret Davis, daughter of a Chicago department store owner, and Hugh Hipple, announced on a Davenport, Iowa, radio station, are seen here after their wedding in the bride's home at Evanston, Illinois.
Above: Miss Margaret Davis, daughter of a Chicago department store owner, and Hugh Hipple, announced on a Davenport, Iowa, radio station, are seen here after their wedding in the bride's home at Evanston, Illinois.

In November 1932 he married Peggy Davis from Chicago. She was the daughter of Arthur Davis, a former executive of State Street department store. They met when Miss Davis took part in an amateur theatrical organization to which Hipple belonged, and their friendship was strengthened through mutual interests when both entered the radio field. Miss Davis appeared in radio presentations (Princess Pat, NBC).

When he left the WOC-WHO station his old job was given to another would-be actor named Ronald Reagan. In March 1933 it was announced that Hugh Hipple was added to the announcing staff of KYW, Chicago. After being a radio announcer for two years, he quit to attend Pasadena Playhouse in California for training (still as Hugh Hipple).
 
Marlowe's film debut as John Marlowe in "Brilliant Marriage" (1936)."It Couldn’t Have Happened (But It Did)" (1936) Evelyn Brent as Beverly makes goo-goo eyes at Edward (Hugh Marlowe)
 Above left: Marlowe's film debut as John Marlowe in Brilliant Marriage (1936).
Above right:  It Couldn’t Have Happened (But It Did) (1936) Evelyn Brent as Beverly makes goo-goo eyes at Edward (Hugh Marlowe)
Marlowe gained experience with Victor Jory at the Pasadena (Community) Playhouse, a celebrated movie-actors' training ground in those days. Among the plays he performed in there were: Boulevard Stop (July 1934) which contained smart revue numbers and had Phyllis Cooper, Ralph Freud, Ray Murray, Jack Harling, June Shafer and Naomi Burston as his co-stars; The Joyous Season (November 1934), Philip Barry's play which also included Margaret Clark, Harrison Ford, Jean Inness, Ruth Covell, Frank Lyman; Hedda Gabler (Jan 1935), Ibsen's drama had Jean Inness in the role of the malign Hedda with Elizabeth Dial, Jerome Coray, and Willard Davis co-starring. Reportedly Hugh as the professionally minded husband brought considerable humor and feeling to his lines; Henry VI (July 1935), in which Hugh played Richard Plantaganet with emotion of high order, depth and intensity next to Onslow Stevens and Jean Inness; I Am Laughing (Aug 27. 1935) under Jory's direction, here Hugh was considered too young for the author part, but according to critics did the assignment well.

He separated from his wife Peggy Davis in January 1936 and divorced her in 1938.

"I knew it wouldn't be easy and it wasn't," Hugh once said. "I put in three years at the playhouse before a talent scout took me to MGM for the first test. It didn't get me a movie role." This all led to a slow launch of his film career in 1936 with roles in two movies (for Invincible Pictures Corp.) and a short (" a MGM miniature").

Understandably he changed his name when he started out as an actor. Marlowe (starting as John Marlowe switching to Hugh) appeared in some 75 plays there before he flunked a second screen test, leaving the West Coast to make his stage debut on Broadway in Arrest That Woman (1936). He made his film debut as "Hugh Marlowe" a year later in Married Before Breakfast (MGM, 1937). MGM had him in a few films only to drop him again.

Late in 1938 at the Pasadena Playhouse Jory got restless and said "Let go to England. I have some pretty good connections there and I think the change of scene will do us good." Marlowe said yes. Two piled into a car and burned up the roads coming East. In Manhattan Jory had to clean up a little personal business before the sailing. A friend of Marlowe's called and suggested he drop over to the Guild Theater. Auditions for the Guild Council's "Young Hopefuls" group were being held. Marlowe went around to 52nd Street and recited parts from Having Wonderful Time. A few hours later he got a call from Brook Pemberton who was busy casting Kiss the Boys Goodbye There was a part in it for an actor who could pretend to be an indolent, polo-playing millionaire. Marlowe accepted and was thinking how he would break the news to Jory. Jory came around and hinted sheepishly he'd better be getting back to Hollywood. Both were happy.

He would usually be a secondary lead. He preferred character parts. Marlowe also has a way of speaking with clear and precise enunciation of words so that the audience has no trouble hearing and understanding what he is saying. Marlowe spoke Spanish, liked Classical music, read the Bible, Shakespeare, and Dante.

It is more and more common to (wrongfully) minimize the radio career actors had. As was the case with Hugh his days as a radio announcer were a steppingstone for his stage and movie career.
His radio debut was in Leslie Howard's serial The Amateur Gentleman (Oct 1935 -Mar 1936), he has worked on The Kate Smith Hour, Shell Chateau (NBC Red, 1935-1937); Hollywood Hotel (CBS, probably in  "Between Two Women" Jul 2. 1937), The American School of the Air, and as Jim on the Brenda Curtis (CBS, 1939) series. Brenda Curtis was a promising actress who gave up her career for house and home. Vicki Vola played the title role.
Hugh Marlowe and Marion Shockley appear before a CBS microphone to promote the Adventures of Ellery Queen

However his most well-known part on radio came when he played Ellery Queen in the first season of the successful series (1940) opposite Marion Shockley (Pictured right), a role he would reprise for TV later.
This might be some polished scene from an adventure of radio's gentlemen detective, Ellery Queen, for both Ellery and Nikki seemed to be in character as this photograph was taken. But it isn't. Good pals in life, as well as on the air, they were photographed while enjoying an outing on Mark Warnow's yacht. - ED (Picture by Walter Seigal) (from Radio Guide 40-01-05)Arthur Mann, was Ted Cott's victim on the popular Sunday afternoon musicquiz, "So You Think You Know Music." Then he umpired his own sports quiz, and wound up the day matching wits with Ellery Queen. No wonder Arthur looks bewildered... (from a Radio Studio Picture)
Above left: This might be some polished scene from an adventure of radio's gentlemen detective, Ellery Queen, for both Ellery and Nikki seemed to be in character as this photograph was taken. But it isn't. Good pals in life, as well as on the air, they were photographed while enjoying an outing on Mark Warnow's yacht. - ED (Picture by Walter Seigal) (from Radio Guide 40-01-05).
Above right: Arthur Mann, was Ted Cott's victim on the popular Sunday afternoon music quiz, So You Think You Know Music. Then he umpired his own sports quiz, and wound up the day matching wits with Ellery Queen. No wonder Arthur looks bewildered... (from a Radio Studio Picture, May 1940)
Throughout his career Hugh kept performing on Broadway. In late 1940 early 1941, he was romantically linked to actress Cynthia Carlin. In 1941 he performed in the Broadway play The Land is Bright as Wayne Kincaid. In this play he met K.T. Stevens, daughter of director Sam Wood. But he married Edith Atwater in Chicago on November 15, 1941. The news came as a surprise even to their friends, for the the young actress and actor only decided to get married a day or two before. A quiet ceremony with no wedding trip, for the bridegroom had performances of The Land is Bright planned the same day. The couple appeared together in a Barnard Bond show at McMillin Theater on April 23. 1942 in a sketch entitled "A Very Nice Dinner". He divorced Edith in September 1945.

Co-starring with K.T. Stevens again in a 1944 Chicago production of The Voice of the Turtle, they fell for each other and married in 1946 in San Francisco. The couple went on to grace more than 20 stage shows together, including a Broadway production of the classic film Laura (1944),
 
Broadway play 1941-42 "The Land is Bright" as Wayne Kincaid opposite Diane Barrymore. Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Marlowe (Edith Atwater), who are having a reunion with their Chicago friends while he is here to play opposite Gertrude Lawrence in "Lady in the Dark" at the Civic Opera House. (Jan, 1943).
 Above left: Broadway play 1941-42 The Land is Bright as Wayne Kincaid opposite Diane Barrymore (related to Drew Barrymore!).
Above right: Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Marlowe (Edith Atwater), who are having a reunion with their Chicago friends while he is here to play opposite Gertrude Lawrence in Lady in the Dark at the Civic Opera House. (Jan, 1943).
Going my way?... But it's more a command than a question, When Lana Turner puts it to Hugh Marlowe in a scene in Metro-Goldwyn Mayer's "Marriage Is A Private Affair" (1944). As her husband and a habitual drinker, Marlowe has been missing for days and in a round-about way throwing more strain on Lana's marriage in the story to John Hodiak. Robert Z. Leonard directed the drama of a wartime bride and her emotional problems. K.T. Stevens and Hugh Marlowe, who were offstage principals in a marriage ceremony this week, continue to delight audiences with their make believe romance and bright comedy in "The Voice of the Turtle," a Broadway hit (1946).
Above left: Going my way?... But it's more a command than a question, When Lana Turner puts it to Hugh Marlowe in a scene in Metro-Goldwyn Mayer's Marriage Is A Private Affair (1944). As her husband and a habitual drinker, Marlowe has been missing for days and in a round-about way throwing more strain on Lana's marriage in the story to John Hodiak. Robert Z. Leonard directed the drama of a wartime bride and her emotional problems.
Above right: K.T. Stevens and Hugh Marlowe, who were offstage principals in a marriage ceremony this week, continue to delight audiences with their make believe romance and bright comedy in The Voice of the Turtle, a Broadway hit (1946).
 
Marlowe appeared in such notable movies as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Twelve O'Clock High (1949), All About Eve (1950) (below top), Night and the City (1950) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) with Patricia O'Neal (below bottom right).
The phenomenal cast of "All about Eve" (1950) during a pause in filming. (L to R) Anne Baxter, Gary Merrill, Marilyn Monroe, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Bette Davis and Hugh Marlowe.
Episode of radio's "Lux Radio Theatre" (April 3. 1950) reenacting "Come to the Stable", which had been released in cinemas the previous year....With Patricia O'Neal in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951).
Top: The phenomenal cast of All about Eve (1950) during a pause in filming. (L to R) Anne Baxter, Gary Merrill, Marilyn Monroe, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Bette Davis and Hugh Marlowe.
Above left: Episode of radio's Lux Radio Theatre (April 3. 1950) reenacting Come to the Stable, which had been released in cinemas the previous year. Hugh Marlowe and Loretta Young reprised their roles.
Above right: With Patricia O'Neal in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). 
Making his first TV Guest Appearance in 1953's The Philco Television Playhouse episode: Train to Trouble (episode # 6.4). Soon thereafter he got the title role in The Adventures of Ellery Queen (1954-56) a role he already played some 14 years earlier in radio.

In 1954 Hugh Marlowe had this to say on TV sleuths: "In spite of what everybody says, a mystery plot is one of the few that can be solved in 28 minutes. You don't need Robert E. Sherwood to write it. I would rather do a 28-minute mystery well than some great classic that would require 50 hours of rehearsal and would fail because It couldn't be crowded into an hour." 
Florenz Ames (left) as Inspector Queen, and Hugh Marlowe as Ellery Queen in a tense moment from one of the thrilling episodes of Mystery is My Business. This episode is entitled "Mardi Gras".A televised scene from The Adventures of Ellery Queen. In the centre is Hugh Marlowe who plays the title role.
Above left: Florenz Ames (left) as Inspector Queen, and Hugh Marlowe as Ellery Queen in a tense moment from one of the thrilling episodes of The Adventures of Ellery Queen aka Mystery is My Business. This episode is entitled "Mardi Gras" (Oct. 09 1955).
Above right: A televised scene from The Adventures of Ellery Queen. In the centre is Hugh Marlowe who plays the title role. He's looking at actress Jean Willes.
The episodes were shot at the Motion Picture Center early in 1954. When interviewed on Ellery Queen Hugh had this to say: "Queen is a changed man now. Then he relied strictly on his wits to solve crimes. There wasn't much physical work involved. But television has toughened him up. Now I get to trade punches with a few of the hardened criminals with which I come in contact."
 
Hugh Marlowe and Marjorie Lord in "Her Kind of Honor", a story of love and intrigue in the days of Napoleon on "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (March 19. 1954)Hugh Marlowe, Nina Foch, Edward G. Robinson in "Illegal" (1955) where Marlowe plays a young, ambitious lawyer.
Dr. Russell Marvin (Hugh Marlowe) and his wife Carol Marvin (Joan Taylor) both scientists experimenting with rockets to probe the upper atmosphere for future space flight in "Earth vs Flying Saucers" (1956).Hugh Marlowe and Eva Bartok in an episode from "The Joseph Cotton Show - On Trial!" called "The Case of the Abandoned Horse" (NBC-television, April 12.1957)
Top left: Hugh Marlowe and Marjorie Lord in "Her Kind of Honor", a story of love and intrigue in the days of Napoleon on  TV's Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (March 19. 1954).
Top right: Hugh Marlowe, Nina Foch, Edward G. Robinson in Illegal (1955) where Marlowe plays a young, ambitious lawyer.
Above left: Dr. Russell Marvin (Hugh Marlowe) and his wife Carol Marvin (Joan Taylor) both scientists experimenting with rockets to probe the upper atmosphere for future space flight in Earth vs Flying Saucers (1956).
Above right: Hugh Marlowe and Eva Bartok in an episode from The Joseph Cotton Show - On Trial! called "The Case of the Abandoned Horse" (NBC-television, April 12.1957)
 

The TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) has had several roles for Hugh Marlowe playing Harold Skinner, Rev. Richard Fell, Dr. Ralph Mannick, Philip Baxter Sr., and Bernard Butler.

On April 8. 1956 Hugh and K.T.'s Brentwood home suffered an estimated $25,000 damage after fire broke out in a closet. It spread to several other rooms before firemen controlled it. The actor was appearing in a stage play. Luckily his wife and children and a housekeeper fled unharmed.
Hugh on a trip with the family to San Juan Capistrano in the photo with son Jeff (left) and Chris (right).
Above: Hugh on a trip with the family to San Juan Capistrano in the photo with son Jeff (left) and Chris (right).
 

Racier than any of his on-screen roles was an incident that took place around the same time as the fire when Marlowe was starring in Anniversary Waltz at the Alcazar Theatre in San Francisco in April 1956. A few seconds after the curtain went down on the second act, his co-star Marjorie Lord slapped his face and sent him reeling. And Marlowe slapped her back. The tabloids loved it. HE KISSES, SHE SLAPS, HE'S FIRED, headlined the New York Journal-American. Versions of the incident differed. The feud had started a week or so earlier when Marjorie Lord objected that Marlowe was "overly ardent in the love scenes." She accused him of inventing 'some quite violent embraces that weren't in the script at all." That night something happened to provoke the fight. In newspapers Marjorie was quoted "Frequently he...well, some things just weren't in the script," and "Mr. Marlowe didn't seem to be impressed with dialogue so I slapped him."
Marlowe replied "So I slapped her right back in the heat of emotion. And I told her, 'I wouldn't let President Eisenhower himself do that if I was right.' Then she said, 'You're never going to be allowed to kiss me like you did tonight any more.' That's all there was to it. She's a wonderful person."  After the incident the actors finished the performance. The following night, however, when Marlowe showed up at the stage door, it was barred to him. The actor was informed his contract had been terminated.

The role of a doctor is a popular role for Hugh Marlowe. In Earth vs. Flying Saucers (1956) he played Dr. Russell A. Marvin, in World Without End  (1956) he was Dr. John Borden and Doc Carozal in Castle of Evil (1966). 
 
Dody Heath and Hugh Marlowe TV studio show promo photo for the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episode "Touché " aired Jun 14, 1959In "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962) as Roy Comstock
Hugh Marlowe in "13 Frightened Girls" (1963).In the episode from TV's "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" , "Thing from Inner Space" (1966) Marlowe played Bainbridge Wells.
Top left: Dody Heath and Hugh Marlowe TV studio show promo photo for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Touché " aired Jun 14, 1959.
Top right: In Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) as Roy Comstock
Above left: Hugh Marlowe in 13 Frightened Girls (1963)
Above right: In the episode from TV's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea , "Thing from Inner Space" (1966) Marlowe played Bainbridge Wells.

From then on he appeared primarily as a television guest star, usually in westerns or crime dramas. In 1962, Marlowe played the part of Sam Garner in the episode "The Pitchwagon" on CBS's Rawhide. He made six guest appearances on Perry Mason, (1959-1965) playing several different characters he was Doctor Lambert, Brander Harris, Cmdr. James Page, Guy Munford, Jarvis Baker, and Ernest Stone.

The marriage with KT Stevens went well until about 1966, when Hugh fell in love with his co-star, the talented young actress Rosemary Torri. They started an affair, and in mid 1968, Rosemary got pregnant. K.T. and Hugh divorced in a quick fashion and Hugh married Rosemary right after the divorce was made final. Their son, Hugh Marlowe III, was born in February 1969. 4

In off-Broadway productions Hugh Marlowe has been in The Deer Park (1967) and All My Sons (1974).
In "The Last Shot You Hear" (1969) Hugh played Charles Nordeck internationally famed marriage-counselor who demonstrates the use of his gun on his wife...From 1969 to 1982 Hugh Marlowe played Jim Matthews in the daytime serial "Another World."
Above left: In The Last Shot You Hear (1969) Hugh played Charles Nordeck internationally famed marriage-counselor who demonstrates the use of his gun on his wife.
Above right: From 1969 to 1982 he was the last of four actors to portray the Matthews family patriarch Jim Matthews in the daytime serial Another World .

In The Last Shot You Hear (1969) Hugh played Charles Nordeck internationally famed marriage-counselor who demonstrates the use of his gun on his wife. (above left).


From 1969 to 1982 he was the last of four actors to portray the Matthews family patriarch Jim Matthews in the daytime serial Another World (above right).

On May 2, 1982 Hugh Marlowe passed away in his Manhattan apartment New York, New York from a heart attack.
Notes:

All dates for movies are for the official US release.
All dates for TV programs are original first airdates.
All dates for (radio) plays are for the time span the actor was involved.

 Facts in red still need confirmation.
 
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Other references
(1) IMDb
(2) Wikipedia
(3) All About All About Eve, Sam Staggs (2001)
(4) K.T. Stevens, StellaStar on Those Obscure Objects of Desire
(5) RUSC Hugh Marlowe
(6) OTRRpedia
(7) Radiogoldindex
(8) IBDB
(9) IOBDB

Additional video & audio sources
(1) Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (Trailer, 1956) YouTube, YouTube Films
(2) World without End  (Clip, 1956) YouTube, Paid2tap
(3) Hugh Marlowe radio star at Old Time Radio Downloads
(4) The Last Shot you Hear (Full movie, 1969) YouTube, World of Cinema
 
This actor profile is a part of Ellery Queen a website on deduction. The actor above played Ellery Queen in an Ellery Queen radio and TV-series. Click Uncle Sam if you think you can help out...!
Many of the profiles on this site have been compiled after very careful research of various sources. Please quote and cite ethically!


Page first published before June 18. 2016 
Last updated December 20. 2023 

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