The Very Fine
Martha Vickers

Illustrated with four seldom-seen pictures, the attached piece was perhaps the first magazine article about the beautiful actress Martha Vickers (1925 – 1971) who is best remembered by fans for her performance as the fabulously slutty “Carmen Sternwood” in the 1946 film The Big Sleep.

This article tells the tale of her early days in 1940s Los Angeles and her work as a photographer’s model, which turned a few of the crowned heads of Hollywood:

“A color photograph of her was seen by David Selznick, who forthwith signed her. Selznick gave her drama and diction classes for a year without casting her in a picture, and when option time came up, her contract was dropped. That, naturally, was a great disappointment…”