Film & TV
Martha Vickers
1925–1971 · actress, model
Carmen Sternwood of The Big Sleep (1946), born Martha MacVicar in Ann Arbor and briefly raised in Detroit.
- Born
Ann Arbor, Michigan- Died
Hollywood, California
aged 46- Birth name
- Martha MacVicar
- Detroit years
- 1925–1930s
- Field
- Film & TV
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Martha Vickers was born Martha MacVicar in Ann Arbor and spent her early childhood there. Her father's work kept the family moving, with stops that included Detroit, before they settled in Burbank, California, in 1940 when he took charge of an agency there. In Hollywood she started as a photographer's model and signed with Warner Bros. under the name Martha Vickers. Her defining role came in Howard Hawks's The Big Sleep (1946), where she played Carmen Sternwood, the wild younger sister of Lauren Bacall's character, in scenes with Humphrey Bogart that are still counted among film noir's most memorable. She went on to films such as The Man I Love and Ruthless, and later worked mostly in television. She was briefly married to Mickey Rooney. She died in 1971 at the age of 46.
Highlights
- Carmen Sternwood in The Big Sleep (1946)
- Signed with Warner Bros. in the 1940s
- Films include The Man I Love (1947) and Ruthless (1948)