Martha Manning(II)
- Actress
She was born Martha Katherine Bergstrom in Leed, South Dakota, to immigrant Swedish parents, and moved to Southern California with her widowed mother when she was a young girl. She attended Fairfax High School and L.A. City College. During high school she took dancing lessons from Rita Hayworth's father, Eduardo Cassino, and was subsequently hired by choreographer Busby Berkeley to dance in many of his famous musicals. She was in dozens of films during the height of Hollywood's glamour era and worked for Paramount Pictures, MGM Studios, RKO Pictures, and the Hal Roach Studios. During the early 1940's, she worked as Claudette Colbert's stand-in on several films. Besides her dancing and acting career, Martha was an accomplished ice skater and toured with the Westwood Ice Follies. When Olympic Gold Medalist Ice Skating Champion Sonja Henie spotted her at an audition Martha was hired as a member of her "Hollywood Revue" Ice Show and toured a dozen major U.S. cities with her. Martha was also cast in four of Sonja's film productions. Martha was introduced to her future husband, Martin V. "Bud" Smith, on a blind date in 1942 and they were married a year later. They moved to Ventura County just before Bud was shipped off to the South Pacific with the Army Air Corps. While her husband was away, Martha helped run Bud's restaurant, The Colonial House, on Hwy 1 in Oxnard, and along with her mother and sisters-in-law, developed the former hot dog stand into a thriving business during and after the War. Martha gave up her career in film to be a wife and mother to her four daughters. She dedicated her life to caring for her husband, family, and scores of friends who loved and admired her generous and loving spirit. Martha Manning Passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Thursday, January 30, 2003, after a short illness.