Born to Wall Street financier E.F. Hutton and Post cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, a debutante-age Merrill gave up college after one year and moved to New York to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She debuted on Broadway in "The Mermaids Singing" (1945) and kept busy for the next decade with acting studies, Broadway and stock theater roles and work in early TV anthology dramas. Already in her thirties, Merrill made her film debut with a sweet performance as part of Katharine Hepburn's reference department staff in "Desk Set" (1957). Several leads soon presented themselves; the biggest hit film of these, "Operation Petticoat" (1959), cast the attractive and self-assured Merrill as one of a bevy of nurses who end up on a broken-down Naval submarine.By 1960, though, Merrill was alternating supporting roles with occasional leads, and was spending much of her time doing tours and regional work on stage. Film work capitalized on her off screen lifestyle, as in "The Young Savages" (1961), with Merrill as crusading DA Burt Lancaster's socialite spouse, and "Butterfield 8" (1960), as the colorless, long-suffering wife that wealthy Laurence Harvey cheats on with Elizabeth Taylor. Later in the decade Merrill began acting in TV-movies, providing gracious professional turns over the years in "The Sunshine Patriot" (1968), "The Letters" (1973), "The Tenth Month" (1979), and "Fear" (1990). Merrill also racked up over 100 guest credits on various TV series, and tried one herself, "Hot Pursuit" (ABC, 1984). The premise of a couple accused of murder attempting to find the real killer themselves was a neat revamp of "The Fugitive", with Merrill as the victim's rich and vengeful widow, but the show never caught on.
Feature work resumed in the mid-70s, and Merrill gave an excellent performance as part of a well-to-do but wacky marriage party in Robert Altman's underrated satire, "A Wedding" (1978). Subsequent film work has been erratic, ranging from interesting, offbeat items (Altman's "The Player" 1992, the odd mystery "Suture" 1993) to misfires and genre fodder ("Twisted" 1986, "Caddyshack II" 1988). Stage work continued with "Angel Street" (1976) and "On Your Toes" (1983), but Merrill's primary interest became Pavilion, a film and entertainment development and production company she formed with Ted Hartley in 1988. The two married in 1989 and that same year acquired RKO Pictures, renaming their company RKO Pavilion. Merrill is vice chariman of the company.
Merrill's second husband (1966-89) was actor Cliff Robertson, Shame to her Calamity Jan in two guest spots on TV's "Batman" in the 60s.
Profession(s):
Actor, businesswoman
Sometimes Credited As:
Dina Merrill-Hartley
Nedenia Marjorie Hutton
Family
daughter:Heather Robertson (Born in 1969; father, Cliff Robertson; died in May 2007 from ovarian cancer)
daughter:Nina Rumbough (Father, Stanley M. Rumbough, Jr.)
father:E F Hutton (Founder of the Wall Street brokerage firm, E F Hutton & Co Inc)
grandfather:Charles W Post (Founder of Post breakfast cereal empire)
husband:Cliff Robertson (Married Dec. 21, 1966; divorced in 1989; appeared together in a two-part episode of the campy 1960s crimefighter series, "Batman" (ABC) as Western villains Shame and Calamity Jan)
husband:Stanley M Rumbough Jr (Heir to the Colgate-Palmolive toothpaste fortune; married March 23, 1946; divorced in 1966)
husband:Ted Hartley (Married Nov. 18, 1989; he and Merrill had become business partners in 1988, forming Pavilion (later RKO Pavilion), an entertainment and film development production enterprise; has son Philippe (born c. 1955) from a relationship with a Morrocan woman)
mother:Marjorie Merriweather Post (Heir to the Post breakfast cereal empire; born in 1887; died in 1973)
son:David Rumbough (Father, Stanley M. Rumbough Jr.)
son:Stanley M Rumbough III (Father, Stanley M. Rumbough Jr.)
2004 Cast in the action thriller "Shade," set in the L.A. scene of poker hustlers
2002 Co-starred in the A&E miniseries version of "The Magnificent Ambersons"
1986 Returned to features after another absence, this one of six years, to play a prominent role in the film, "Twisted"
1984 First TV series role as regular, the short-lived NBC adventure series, "Hot Pursuit"; played Estelle Modrian
1983 Returned to Broadway to play a role in the revival of the landmark Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart-scored, George Balanchine-choreographed musical, "On Your Toes"
1981 Acted in a production of the play, "The V.I.P.s"
1979 First TV miniseries, "Roots: The Next Generations"
1976 Returned to Broadway to act a leading role in the play, "Angel Street"
1975 Returned to features to play roles in "The Meal" and "Deliver Us From Evil"
1968 First TV-movie, "The Sunshine Patriot"
1965 Last feature for ten years, "I'll Take Sweden" starring Bob Hope, Tuesday Weld and Frankie Avalon
1965 Acted as part of the Shaw Festival Repertory in stage productions of "Major Barbara" and "Misalliance"
1963 Acted in a summer theater tour of the play, "Write Me a Murder"
1961 Acted in a summer theater revival tour of the John van Druten comedy-drama, "The Voice of the Turtle"
1960 Began playing mostly supporting roles in features again with the films, "Butterfield 8" and "The Sundowners"
1960 First played Shakespeare onstage in a production of "Othello"
1958 Played first leading lady role, "A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed"
1957 Made feature film debut in a supporting role in the Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn romantic comedy, "Desk Set"
1945 Made Broadway debut in the play, "The Mermaids Singing"
Gained acting experience in stock companies and Broadway theater
Acted in a number of TV anthology dramas of the 1950s, including "DuPont Show of the Month" and "The Desilu Playhouse"
