Leona Maricle

Leona Maricle (December 23, 1905 – March 25, 1988) was an American actress who worked in both stage and film, earning recognition for her distinctive characterizations of colorful ladies. Born to Mr. and Mrs. Peter Maricle, she pursued her education at the College of Industrial Arts before embarking on a professional career in the theatre.

Maricle's Broadway career spanned more than three decades, from 1927 to 1962. Her debut came in The Trial of Mary Dugan in 1927, and she went on to appear in numerous productions including First Mortgage, Under Glass, First Episode, and It's You I Want. Her final Broadway appearance came in Never Too Late in 1962.

Alongside her stage work, Maricle built a substantial film career through the 1930s and 1940s. Her screen credits include O'Shaughnessy's Boy (1935), Theodora Goes Wild (1936), Women of Glamour (1937), Woman Chases Man (1937), The Lone Wolf in Paris (1938), Curtain Call (1940), Under Age (1941), The Hard Way (1943), and My Reputation (1946).

In 1928, Maricle married actor Louis Jean Heydt in New York City. During the mid-1930s, the two were active together in summer stock theatre in Skowhegan, Maine. The marriage ended in divorce in either 1947 or 1948, and Maricle did not remarry.

Maricle died on March 25, 1988, of an apparent heart attack in her Manhattan apartment. Her obituary in The New York Times listed her age as 81.