Marilyn Granas as Lulu Parsnips in ***The Kid’s Last Fight*** (1933)

My aunt Marilyn Granas, who was Shirley Temple’s first “stand-in”, a co-star in some of Shirley’s “Baby Burlesque” shorts, the star of avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger’s first publicly shown film Escape Episode (1947), and later a casting agent, has passed away at age 98.

I recall, after actress Shirley Temple died (See: End Credits # 12), Marilyn saying to me "my time with her was a wonderful adventure and I will always be grateful for having had the experience."

My aunt and I were close. During our many shared meals together (a tradition at Il Fornaio in Beverly Hills, sometimes with my wife and father, more often just the two of us) Marilyn would recount her experiences working with Shirley Temple and how famously the two of them got along, becoming practically inseparable in work and play. Once, she shared a rather eye-opening anecdote about keeping her Jewish heritage a secret over worries that Shirley’s mother Gertrude’s perceived prejudice might negatively impact both Marilyn’s professional and personal relationship with Shirley.

We spoke of other important events in our lives. I reminded Marilyn that she gave me my first book on the movies as a 15 year old: Peter Cowie’s ‘Seventy Years of Cinema’, a publication which further fuelled my love of world cinema, one I still own and have referred to often. She told me of dalliances with industry professionals such as L.A. Times film critic Charles Champlin (See: End Credits # 25) and Planet of the Apes (1968) producer Arthur P. Jacobs, the former of whom I chatted with regularly at a bookstore/cafe in Santa Barbara, the latter of whom was brought up when I mentioned seeing Planet of the Apes as a 13 year old at The Beverly Theatre once located across the street from Il Fornaio. Marilyn told me about a reunion held in Santa Monica of child actors that one of our Facebook chat room members later recalled having attended. Marilyn stated she was treated like royalty there.

When we returned to her Beverly Hills home on Palm Drive, my aunt always invited me in and I would ask about a picture of her naked with Yul Brynner holding her that I remembered seeing on the wall as a young child when staying over at her Mom Rose’s house, and a painting of all blue which was given to my Grandma that I did in first grade. This was my place of residence for a short time after Rose moved out. I was a young teenager living with my father there soon after my mother and father divorced.

The last time I spoke with my aunt on the phone was on her 96th birthday. She was having dinner out with her neighbours. I told her about filmmaker Kenneth Anger’s death and for the first time she said that her memory was starting to fade. Sometime later, I tried calling her again but her phone would ring without any answer. For months I called numerous times repeatedly… no answer. We also corresponded by email but these went unresponsive to as well. This was worrisome especially when recalling those words about her declining cognitive abilities and how even that phone conversation seemed to be, more or less, of a one-sided nature compared to our others.

I decided to call around various hospitals and rest homes like the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills but could not locate her anywhere. Finally I returned to her Beverly Hills residence only to find a caregiver who was gracious enough to allow me to see Marilyn but my aunt was bedridden with an advanced case of dementia, barely recognised me, and spoke incoherently. I tried asking my aunt about her memoirs, which we once agreed I would edit and have published for her, but she couldn’t comprehend what I was referring to. Seeing her in that state only added to my sadness upon hearing of her death. Marilyn Granas (August 15, 1927 - October 22, 2025) R.I.P.

The Cinema Cafe

End Credits #108: Cinema's Lost Treasures 2025 Marilyn Granas, A Personal Memoir