Marriage(s) and Relationships: Married to: Ted Hartley Child:Notes: Source: Leo van de Pas.
Dina Merrill, a beautiful lady of many talents, is adding two
more talents to her roster: that of vice chairman of RKO
Pictures, and that of executive producer for one of their
forthcoming films, Last Blossom on the Plum Tree.
Dina has starred in films, on Broadway, on television, in
musicals, drama, and comedy. Not bad for a beautiful blonde
who looks as if she had been brought up to take a place in
the Fashion Hall of Fame, which she did. Despite the fact that
her parents, Marjorie Merriweather Post and Edward F.
Hutton, were not enthusiastic about their daughter becoming
an actress, Dina was determined to have a career.
When she finished her schooling she enrolled at the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts,
worked hard, and soon established herself as an
up-and-coming professional actress. She
suspended her career, for several years while she took
time off to marry and have children
and to spend time with them. When they were old enough,
she returned to work and has
never stopped.
She has starred in twenty-two motion pictures, including
True Colors. On television, Dina
Merrill has guest-starred in innumerable major shows,
appearing in series, specials,
mini-series, and movies of the week, including Murder She
Wrote, Repeat Performance and
The Brass Ring. In between, she accomplished two of her
major goals, starring on Broadway
in the drama, Angel Street, and in her first musical, On
Your Toes.
In other fields, she has been described as a republican
with a democratic heart. She devotes
a great deal of her time working for the disadvantaged,
principally for the New York City
Mission Society. When one of her children was diagnosed
with diabetes, Dina become one
of the founders of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation,
which is dedicated to diabetic research.
On the artistic side, she is a trustee of the Eugene
O'Neill Theater Center and a director of the
Museum of Broadcasting. She was a presidential appointee
to the Board of Trustees of the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She is
also a director of Project Orbis, a
flying eye hospital which teaches advanced eye care and
surgical techniques all over the
world.
She divides her home between New York and Los Angles, the
film production base for RKO
Pictures. She is married to Ted Hartley, Chairman of RKO
Pictures.
Right here in San Diego, RKO Pictures is creating the
first of many RKO-HOLLYWOOD
entertainment complexes around the world. This one,
called Live from Xanadu, is scheduled
to open in 1995.
To quote Dina Merrill, "My work with RKO Pictures is an
exciting extension of my career and
keeps me in close contact with the creative community."
Dina brings professionalism, good humor, zest and sparkle
to her many roles as actress,
activist, mother, marriage partner and producer. To quote
an admirer: "Glamour - with both
feet on the ground."
Women's International Center is extremely proud to
acknowledge and honor Dina Merrill with
the Living Legacy Award for her contibutionsy as an
actress, entrepreneur, visionary,
humanitarian.. and a good friend to children..
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