Una Merkel(1903-1986)

Actress
Additional Crew
Soundtrack

A plain, repressed spinster falls for a dashing young medical student who prefers the wilder life, until it's too late.

Play trailer3:41

Summer and Smoke (1961)

Una Merkel began her movie career as stand-in for Lillian Gish in the movie The Wind (1928). After that, she performed on Broadway before she returned to movies for the D.W. Griffith film Abraham Lincoln (1930). In her early years, before gaining a few pounds, she looked like Lillian Gish, but after Abraham Lincoln (1930) her comic potential was discovered. She mostly played supporting roles as the heroine's no-nonsense friend, but with her broad Southern accent and her peroxide blond hair, she gave one of her best performances as a wisecracking but not-so-bright chorus girl in 42nd Street (1933). Perhaps she is best remembered for her hair-pulling fight with Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again (1939). In 1962, she was nominated for the Academy Award as best supporting actress in Summer and Smoke (1961).

IMDbProStarmeter See rank

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 3 wins & 1 nomination total

Photos217

+ 211

Known for

The Parent Trap

7.2

Verbena

1961

Abraham Lincoln

5.7

Ann Rutledge

1930

Ginger Rogers, Warner Baxter, George Brent, Bebe Daniels, Allen Jenkins, Ruby Keeler, Guy Kibbee, Una Merkel, Dick Powell, Ned Sparks, and George E. Stone in 42nd Street (1933)

42nd Street

7.3

Lorraine Fleming

1933

Summer and Smoke

6.8

Mrs. Winemiller

1961

Credits

IMDbPro

Actress

NET Playhouse
6.6
TV Series
- Ann Rutledge
- 1972
I Spy
7.2
TV Series
- Aunt Alta
- 1968
Spinout
5.8
- Violet Ranley
- 1966
Burke's Law
7.4
TV Series
- Clara Lovelace
- Miss Samantha Cartier
- Mrs. Thomas Barrett
- 1963–1965
The Cara Williams Show
7.1
TV Series
- Amelia Hofstetter
- 1964
A Tiger Walks
6.2
- Mrs. Watkins
- 1964
Destry
7.3
TV Series
- Granny Farrell
- 1964
The Bill Dana Show
7.2
TV Series
- Mrs. Hatten
- 1963
Summer Magic
6.9
- Mariah Popham
- 1963
The Real McCoys
7.6
TV Series
- Mrs. Gaylord
- 1962
Summer and Smoke
6.8
- Mrs. Winemiller
- 1961
The Parent Trap
7.2
- Verbena
- 1961
The Mating Game
6.9
- Ma Larkin
- 1959
The United States Steel Hour
8.0
TV Series
- Alice Fraser
- 1958
The DuPont Show of the Month
6.7
TV Series
- Aladdin's Mother
- 1958

Additional Crew

Soundtrack

A Tiger Walks
6.2
- performer: "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah"
- 1964
Destry
7.3
TV Series
- performer: "Buffalo Gals" (uncredited)
- 1964
The DuPont Show of the Month
6.7
TV Series
- performer: "Opportunity Knocks But Once"
- 1958
The Kentuckian
6.2
- performer: "Possum Up a Gum Tree" (uncredited)
- 1955
Saratoga
6.5
- performer: "The Horse with the Dreamy Eyes" (1937) (uncredited)
- 1937
Born to Dance
6.7
- Soundtrack
- performer: "Hey, Babe, Hey" (1936) ("Hey, Babe, Hey" (1936))
- 1936
The Night Is Young
6.3
- performer: "My Old Mare" (1935), "The Noble Duchess" (1935) (uncredited)
- 1935
42nd Street
7.3
- performer: "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" (1932) (uncredited)
- 1933
They Call It Sin
6.4
- performer: "Comin' Thro' the Rye" (uncredited)
- 1932
Man Wanted
6.5
- performer: "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" (1930) (uncredited)
- 1932

Videos12

Personal details

Height
- 5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
Born
- December 10, 1903
- Covington, Kentucky, USA
Died
- January 2, 1986
- Los Angeles, California, USA(undisclosed)
Spouse
- Ronald Lucin BurlaJanuary 1, 1932 - March 26, 1947 (divorced)
Parents
Other works
Active on Broadway in the following productions:
Publicity listings

Did you know

Trivia
During the filming of True Confession (1937) she rescued a movie property man Arthur Camp from drowning at Lake Arrowhead, California, when the backwash from her motorboat upset his skiff. She caught his suspenders with a boat hook then held his head above the water until help arrived from the shore as Camp was unable to swim.

Quotes
[on Pamela Franklin] In "A Tiger Walks"there was a little girl who is now in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," and she is excellent----Pamela Franklin. I can't understand why she wasn't nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.