Margo(1917-1985)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
The daughter of a Mexican surgeon, Maria Margarita Guadalupe Teresa
Estella Castilla Bolado y O'Donnell was born in Mexico City. As a niece
to famous bandleader Xavier Cugat, she
performed with his orchestra from the age of nine as a specialty dancer
in nightclubs, and, later, on the Starlight Roof of the hotel Waldorf
Astoria in New York. When she was fifteen years old, she was
head-hunted by writers Ben Hecht and
Charles MacArthur, who saw her dance
and cast her in the Claude Rains drama
Crime Without Passion (1934).
Her debut as Rains' ex-lover who ends up being murdered by him, was
well-received, critic Mordaunt Hall describing her performance as
'excellent'. Margo was best-known, however, for her role as the slum
girl Miriamne Esdras in both stage and screen version of Maxwell Anderson's
play Winterset (1936) and for her
poignant performance as the young girl leaving Shangri-La (to her
detriment) in Lost Horizon (1937).
She also appeared on Broadway in 'Masque of Kings' (1937) and 'The
World We Make' (1939) and had another small screen role in
The Leopard Man (1943).
Margo was married for 39 years to the actor Eddie Albert, residing in Pacific Palisades, California. In later years, she became involved in the public sector, in 1974 becoming Commissioner for Social Services in Los Angeles.
Margo was married for 39 years to the actor Eddie Albert, residing in Pacific Palisades, California. In later years, she became involved in the public sector, in 1974 becoming Commissioner for Social Services in Los Angeles.
