Marilyn Louise Brown was born March 19, 1953 in San Jose, California, her first name chosen by her father after his favourite actress, Marilyn Monroe. Like Barry, her IQ tested out high, near genius level, and she studied modern dance, tap dancing, and acting from an early age, beginning in pre-teens and continuing into her late teens when she married a man she met at an acting school run by the actor Bo Hopkins, where she appeared in a couple of off-off broadway plays there. Her brother Jim attended one of her plays and recalled her performance was outstanding.

Like Barry, she idolised James Dean and Montgomery Clift, a small but telling point of pride for Barry and Marilyn was they could, on cue, bring real tears to their eyes if the role required it; it was a kind of joke between them that other trained actors, particularly film actors, often had to have drops placed in their eyes to simulate real tears. But Marilyn was shy, as was the true Barry, which again, in a small way, contributed to their drinking, because the alcohol helped make them less introspective and better able to socialise.

Thanks to Jim Brown for background & photos.

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Marilyn Brown -