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(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)



(Courtesy of Les Adams)
Above are Rex Lease and Muriel Evans in the auto racing flick, 10 LAPS TO GO (Fanchon Royer Pictures, 1936; TV title: KING OF THE SPEEDWAY).
Muriel Evans

Real name: Muriel Adele Evanson

1910 or 1911 - 2000


Muriel Evans was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 20, 1910 or 1911 and passed away from colon cancer on October 26, 2000 at the Motion Picture and Television Home in Woodland Hills, California.

In 1929, she married Michael J. P. Cudahy, the grandson of one of the founders of the Cudahy meat packing company, but that pairing was short-lived. In 1936, she married stockbroker Marshall R. Worchester and that union lasted until his death in 1971. The obituary on Evans notes that she lived for many years in Tarzana, California and had no surviving relatives. When her health declined, she moved to the Motion Picture Home.

There is no record for Muriel in the California Death Records database since that only covers the years 1940 thru 1997.

Les Adams has her identified in about 50 sound era films, which includes 13 sagebrush adventures and one western themed serial. Muriel also did comedy features and shorts. Examples: she worked in nine of the Charlie Chase comedies as well as PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES (1932) with Laurel and Hardy. Most of her film work occurred in the 1930s, and her finale as a heroine and leading lady was at Monogram with Tex Ritter in WESTBOUND STAGE and ROLL, WAGONS, ROLL.

Sometimes a blonde and sometimes a brunette, Muriel's western and cliffhanger roles consisted of multiple film appearances with William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy), Buck Jones, John Wayne and Ritter:

Muriel with William Boyd (as Hopalong Cassidy):
CALL OF THE PRAIRIE (Paramount, 1936)
THREE ON THE TRAIL (Paramount, 1936)
RUSTLER'S VALLEY (Paramount, 1937)

Muriel with Buck Jones:
THE ROARING WEST (Universal, 1935) serial
THE THROWBACK (Universal, 1935)
SILVER SPURS (Universal, 1936)
BOSS RIDER OF GUN CREEK (Universal, 1936)
LAW FOR TOMBSTONE (Universal, 1937)
SMOKE TREE RANGE (Universal, 1937)
BOSS OF LONELY VALLEY (Universal, 1937)

Muriel with John Wayne:
THE NEW FRONTIER (Republic, 1935)
KING OF THE PECOS (Republic, 1936)

Muriel with Tex Ritter:
WESTBOUND STAGE (Monogram, 1939)
ROLL, WAGONS, ROLL (Monogram, 1939)



In 1994, Muriel was awarded the Way Out West Tent Lifetime Achievement Award (from the Laurel and Hardy fan organization) for her work in the feature film PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES (1932): http://www.wayoutwest.org/archive/33-6.html

The Images Journal website has a photo of Muriel with Charlie Chase from the 1933 NATURE IN THE WRONG: http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue05/reviews/chase.htm

The Los Angeles Times newspaper has a death announcement on Muriel Evans: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-oct-30-me-44273-story.html

  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Muriel Evans: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0263088/



(From Old Corral image collection)

Above from left to right are John Wayne, Murial Evans, Murdock MacQuarrie-and Mary MacLaren in Wayne's THE NEW FRONTIER (Republic, 1935).



(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Above are Muriel Evans and Hopalong Cassidy helper James Ellison in the early Hoppy adventure THREE ON THE TRAIL (Paramount, 1936).



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

From L-to-R are Muriel Evans, Dickie Jones and Buck Jones (on Silver) in SMOKE TREE RANGE (Universal, 1937). Muriel did six features and one serial with Buck and was his most frequent female lead.



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