Bad Powers

Born on December 20, 1931 in San Francisco, Mary Ellen Powers was the daughter of an executive at United Press, one of the most important American news agencies. Since she was little, she was very clear that her interpretation was hers, she appeared in various school functions, and she made her film debut, at the age of 10, in the detective film Tough As They Come , where she played a small role. . Years later, she was signed to take part in radio serials, thanks to which the actress Ida Lupino noticed her , who gave her the leading role of her in her drama De ella Outrage, in which she played a woman who was raped. The film was quite controversial, since the central theme had not been dealt with so explicitly in the cinema. The same year, 1950, the producer Stanley Kramer and the director Michael Gordon decided to hire her for their adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) , the immortal work of Edmond Rostand , where she would play the most remembered character of hers. Also in 1950 she filmed Cloud of Blood , by Mark Robson .

According to the commentators of the time, Powers had all the ballots to become a big star, but a serious illness kept her away from the cinema for a long time. When she returned, she had a hard time finding new roles, though she eventually starred in low-budget titles such as the western Rose of Cimarron and Budd Boetticher ‘s adventure The Underwater City . The tycoon Howard Hughes was impressed by her talent, and offered her an exclusive contract with RKO. For this production company, she would star in titles like Tammy, the wild girl, which had a much smaller impact than his first films. Starting in the 50s, the actress became a regular on the small screen, appearing regularly in series such as Wanted Dead or Alive , Bonanza , Maverick and Daniel Boone , where she was the protagonist’s wife. She remained active until 2002, when she starred in the unknown thriller Hitters , her last work.