Marli Renfro
Marli Renfro | |
---|---|
Born | actress | April 3, 1938
Modeling information | |
Height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) |
Hair color | Red |
Marli Renfro (born April 3, 1938 in Los Angeles, California) is an American former showgirl, model, Playboy cover girl and actress.
She was the
Early career
Renfro, described as a free spirit with a lifelong commitment to nudism,
Renfro spent some time working as a showgirl in Las Vegas, and also worked as a Playboy Bunny.[5]
Film career
Unperturbed by working nude, Renfro was hired as the
Renfro subsequently appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's 1962 film Tonight for Sure.[10]
Decades later, Renfro was interviewed and featured in 78/52, director Alexandre O. Philippe's 2017 documentary film that examines Psycho and the shower scene.
Confusion regarding death
During the filming of Psycho, Janet Leigh also had a stand-in to check lighting.[5] Her name was Myra Davis, also known as Myra Jones.[11] In 1988 Davis was raped and murdered by her neighbor and handyman Kenneth Dean Hunt.[12] Possibly due to fascination with the shower scene, sections of the media confused Davis's role and published that she had been Leigh's body double.[13] The BBC went further and not only asserted that Davis was Leigh's body double, but also that Davis was the voice of Norman Bates' mother,[14] although this character had been voiced by Virginia Gregg and Jeanette Nolan.[1] In his 2002 book Body Double, author Don Lasseter compounded the confusion and wrote that Davis and Renfro were the same person, meaning that Renfro was dead.[15]
Author Robert Graysmith, who had a lifelong fascination with Renfro, noted a comment by Davis's granddaughter that Davis would never have done nude work.[5] He set out to find Renfro and discovered that she was living in California. He subsequently wrote a book, The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower (2010), about Renfro's role in Psycho and the confusion over Davis's death.[16]
Personal life
Renfro married and is known as Marli Renfro Peterson.[17] She has lived in the Mojave Desert since 1970.[18]
References
- ^ a b "Psycho - cast". allmovie.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Kandel, Susan (March 23, 2010). "'The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower,' by Robert Graysmith". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ "Marli Renfro". oldmags.com. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ "Playboy Cover September 1960". playboycoverarchive.com. January 5, 2010. Archived from the original on September 16, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ a b c Hodgkinson, Will (March 29, 2010). "Secrets of the Psycho shower". The Guardian. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ a b Graysmith, Robert (March 27, 2010). "Spotlight: Marli Renfro". The Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Robb, Stephen (April 1, 2010). "How Psycho changed cinema". BBC News. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Leibowitz, Barry (February 1, 2010). "Book 'Em: The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower". CBS News. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ISBN 0-517-70112-X.
- ^ Deming, Mark (2007). "Tonight For Sure". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ "Myra Jones". IMDb. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Decker, Twila (May 15, 2001). "The Man Who Almost Got Away". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ "National News Briefs; Jurors Fail to Agree On Penalty in 2 Murders". The New York Times. March 25, 2001. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ "Jail for 'Psycho' killer". BBC News. March 16, 2001. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Johnson, Brian D. (February 11, 2010). "The Psycho Effect". Macleans. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (April 3, 2010). "The Moment of Psycho: How Alfred Hitchcock Taught America to Love Murder by David Thomson – The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower by Robert Graysmith". The Guardian. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ "8 frames of "Psycho"". hitchcockwiki.com. May 8, 2008. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Ortuna Neil, Denise (February 2010). "Coachella Valley Confidential". The Sun Runner. p. 25. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-425-23231-X
- ISBN 0-942637-14-3
External links
- Marli Renfro at IMDb