Marion Bell

Marion Lee Bell (November 16, 1919 – December 14, 1997) was an American singer and musical theatre performer best known for her role in the Broadway musical Brigadoon. Personal life Bell was born in St. Louis. Her father was a freight agent on the Wabash Railroad. She had three sisters, Evelyn, Ruth, and Veronica. The family moved to California, and were established there by the time she was 15. In 1947, she married the librettist Alan Jay Lerner. She was the second of his eight wives, and the only one not to come from a wealthy, socially well-placed family. The marriage lasted two years. Lerner left her six months after Brigadoon closed its first Broadway run. Her third husband was Tom Charlesworth, an actor and singer she met during a production of The Chocolate Soldier. That marriage lasted only three months, but the two had a son. Bell was known for her "striking" appearance, and was described as "raven" haired, "big-bosomed and sexy," and "handsome to the eye."