In Remembrance: Mala Powers

     Mala Powers, the actress who played Roxanne to Jose Ferrer’s Cyrano de Bergerac in the 1950 classic film of the same name, has passed away on June 11, 2007 in Burbank, CA. She was 75.

     Born Mary Ellen Powers on December 20, 1931 in San Francisco, CA, Powers came t acting as a child, studying at Max Reinhardt’s Dramatic Workshop. By the time she was 11 she had already landed a bit part in the Bowery Boys film Tough As They Come (1942). However, actress Helen Thimig convinced her to place her career on hold and continue studying acting. Powers resumed her studies with noted acting coach Michael Chekov. She would work in radio, appearing on such series as The Cisco Kid, Red Ryder, This Is Your FBI and Lux Radio Theater.

     Powers returned to the screen in 1950 with powerful performances in both Cyrano de Bergerac and as a rape victim in director Ida Lupino’s Outrage. With its unprecedented and frank treatment of rape, Outrage caused a sensation with both critics and audiences. Impressed with her work, RKO head Howard Hughes placed her under contract to the studio.

     Unfortunately, whatever career momentum Powers had achieved was stalled by a blood disorder that grew out of an unexpected allergy to medication prescribed when she fell ill doing a USO tour in Korea.

     Returning to the screen in the 1952 western Rose Of Cimarron, Powers found herself moving from studio to studio for work in such films as City Beneath The Sea (1953), Geraldine (1953), Rage At Dawn (1955), The Storm Rider (1957), Tammy And The Bachelor (1957) and The Colossus Of New York (1958). As the decade progressed, Powers found herself working more in television than in movies. By the 1960s, television completed dominated her career. She would only appear in three films over the decade- Fear No More, Flight Of The Lost Balloon (both 1961) and Daddy’s Gone A-Hunting (1969).

     From the 1970s on, Powers continued to work in television and on the stage. She also wrote two children’s books- Follow The Star published in 1980 and Follow The Year published in 1985. She also taught acting at UCLA.

     Powers’ final film was the 2002 independent organized crime-drama Hitters.