Caren Marsh Doll

Early life

She was born in Hollywood, California. Her father was a Hollywood stockbroker. She and her family were active in the Methodist church. In 1937 she graduated from Hollywood High School and wanted to become an actress. Her parents did not approve of this choice and preferred she pursue a college education. They compromised by telling Caren that unless she could land an acting job she would be sent to school.

She auditioned for a role in Rosalie (1937), starring Nelson Eddy and Eleanor Powell but did not win the role. She later re-auditioned for that movie and got the part. She was hired as Judy Garland's dance stand-in for The Wizard of Oz. She was hired largely mostly because she was similar in height and build to Garland and even received her own pair of ruby slippers. She served as a stand-in for Garland a second time with Ziegfeld Girl (1941).

Acting career

Using the last name of Marsh, she began to appear in several musical features at MGM Studios and Warner Bros. in such films as Seven Sweethearts (1942), Best Foot Forward (1943), Hands Across the Border (1944) and Night and Day (1946). She did appear in speaking parts in films as Secrets of a Sorority Girl (1945) and Navajo Kid (1945).

In 1947, she was named Miss Sky Lady of 1947 and began appearing in fewer films to focus on her new interest in dance.

Plane crash survival

On July 12, 1949, Marsh was one of 35 passengers on a Standard Air Lines flight, when the plane flight Standard Air Lines Flight 897R crashed. The flight had left Albuquerque, New Mexico at 4:43 am. While on approach to the Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, California at 7:40 am, the twin engine plane, flying too low, crashed near Chatsworth, California, and Marsh was one of the 14 people who survived. Marsh was hospitalized at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, known today as Cedars Sinai, for several weeks, and nearly had her left foot amputated. Marsh's doctors told her that she would likely never dance again, but after careful exercise she was able to heal and continue in her dancing.

Life today

She ended her acting career in 1956 after an appearance on The Gabby Hayes Show. She moved to Palm Springs, California, in 1957 and married Bill Doll, a press agent to Mike Todd. The Dolls had one son. Bill Doll passed away in 1979. Her actress sister, Dorothy Morris, became her neighbor when Marsh retired in 1971. The sisters lived next door to each other until Dorothy's death on November 20, 2011.

Autobiography and 'Oz' festivals

In November 2007, Marsh published her autobiography, Hollywood's Babe, in which she discussed her life in Hollywood, and her love affair with "The Wizard of Oz". In 2011 she served as the Grand Marshal of the Oz-Stravaganza Parade in Chittenango, New York.

Dance instructor

Once a month on the first Monday, Marsh volunteers as a dance therapy instructor at the Palm Springs Stroke Activity Center where the styles taught range from themes like ballroom dancing, country, Hawaiian, and belly dancing. She is an active member of The Palm Springs United Methodist Community Church.