Dina Merrill Dies at 93
Dina Merrill, the rebellious heiress who defied her super-rich parents to become an actress, often portraying stylish wives or "the other woman," has died at 93. Merrill died Monday at her home in East Hampton, New York; her son, Stanley Hutton Rumbough, told the New York Times she had Lewy Body dementia.
With the help of Katharine Hepburn, who recommended her for the 1957 comedy The Desk Set, Merrill was a popular star for years, due in part because of her resemblance to Grace Kelly. Her films included Operation Petticoat, The Sundowners, and Robert Altman's Hollywood satire The Player.
Merrill was born in New York City on December 29, 1923. She was the only child of Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, who built Mar-a-Lago, and her second husband, the Wall Street investment broker Edward Francis "E.F." Hutton.
She adopted the stage name Dina Merrill, borrowing from Charles E. Merrill, a distant relative and a famous stockbroker like her father. Merrill made her debut on the stage in the play The Mermaid Singing in 1945. During World War II, she was part of the Moss Hart USO troupe and performed throughout the Pacific Theatre of Operations. Her stage career in regional and Broadway theater took off after the war and continued through the 1990s. It included the 1983 Broadway revival of the Rodgers & Hart musical On Your Toes.
Merrill, who was married three times and had three children, was also a dedicated philanthropist. She was chairman of the board and director emeritus to the New York City Mission Society, to which she contributed 50 years of service. When her son David was diagnosed with diabetes, Merrill founded the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, dedicated to diabetic research. She served as the international ambassador for ORBIS International, a flying eye hospital that teaches advanced eye care and eye surgical techniques around the world.
She was also a passionate supporter of the arts. Merrill was a founding trustee of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and an early director of the Paley Media Center. She served for 12 years as presidential appointee to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She was honored by Guild Hall, where she performed on stage for many summers in East Hampton, with the naming of its theater and back theater spaces as the Dina Merrill Pavilion. She was also a trustee of the Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens in Washington, D.C.
Merrill is survived by her husband, Ted Hartley, son Stanley Hutton Rumbough, daughter Nedenia Rumbough Roosenburg, and six grandchildren.
With reporting by the Associated Press
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