Marlene Schmidt

Biography

Fled East Germany in 1960 to live in Stuttgart and work as an electronics engineer. Soon after, she entered a beauty contest on a whim and ended up winning the title of Miss Germany. That led to being crowned Miss Universe in 1961. She married actor Ty Hardin in 1962, but the marriage only lasted 3 years. In 1969, she married Iraqi-born filmmaker Howard Avedis. Their partnership resulted in numerous drive-in hits and cult classics, including The Stepmother (1972), The Teacher (1974) and Mortuary (1983). Marlene always produced, sometimes wrote and usually appeared in supporting roles in these productions.

Known For

Acting

1968

Farewell, Lebanon

as

1974

The Teacher

as

Alice Roberts

1972

The Stepmother

as

Sonja Hill

1975

Dr. Minx

as

Harriet Thomas

1968

The Red Plain

as

1968

Destiny

as

1988

Kidnapped

as

Secretary

1978

The Fifth Floor

as

Night Nurse

1981

Separate Ways

as

Pat Ingram

1978

Texas Detour

as

Lady Bartender

1982

Mortuary

as

Lois Stevens

1984

They're Playing with Fire

as

Gas Station Customer

Production

1976

Scorchy

as

1988

Kidnapped

as

1984

They're Playing with Fire

as

1968

Destiny

as

1978

Texas Detour

as

1982

Mortuary

as

1974

The Teacher

as

1972

The Stepmother

as

1975

The Specialist

as

1978

The Fifth Floor

as

1981

Separate Ways

as

Shoebox Zoo

as

Crew

Directing