Norwood Native Marion Rosamond Seeks Hollywood Stardom Despite Striking Resemblance to Bette Davis
HOLLYWOOD — Blond, 21-year-old Marion Rosamond of Norwood, Massachusetts, arrived in Hollywood with a clear ambition to become a professional actress, despite a striking resemblance to Hollywood icon Bette Davis that many warned could work against her.
“I suppose that will be against me,” she remarked, “but I want to act, and now that I’m here—I’m going to stay while my money holds out.”
With aspirations dating back years, Marion Rosamond brought a modest theatrical background to California, including school dramatics, a summer season of stock theater with the Harlan Grant Players in Vermont, and a small role in the Broadway musical “Louisiana Purchase.”
From New York, she and five other fashion models traveled west for a film appearance in “The Road to Rio.” Beyond her acting ambitions, she shares several notable parallels with Bette Davis: both hail from neighboring Massachusetts communities—Davis being from Newton and Rosamond from Norwood—and both previously worked as theater usherettes to fund their dramatic coaching.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Norwood Messenger
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Another Bette, Or a New Star For Hollywood?-August 1, 1941
Norwood resident Marion Rosamond arrived in Hollywood to launch her acting career, facing both the challenge of looking like Bette Davis and the determination to succeed.
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