{"id":10130,"date":"2025-05-26T06:06:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T01:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/?p=10130"},"modified":"2025-05-31T16:08:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T11:08:24","slug":"golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Age Hollywood Actress Died Earlier 2025; Cause Of Death Revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mara Corday, beloved by generations of classic monster movie fans as the star of Tarantula, died in February, with the news only now becoming public months later.<\/p>\n

The Golden Age actress, showgirl, and Playboy Playmate passed away on Feb. 9 at her home in Valencia, California. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health via The Washington Post, the cause of death was arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.<\/p>\n

\n
Marilyn Joan Watts was born on Jan. 3, 1930, in Santa Monica. As a teenager, she worked as a showgirl at the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard, where she adopted her stage name. In October 1958, she was Playboy\u2018s Playmate of the Month.<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Corday\u2019s breakout film role came in the 1955 sci-fi cult classic Tarantula (which was also the debut film of Clint Eastwood), starring alongside John Agar and Leo G. Carroll. The film was helmed by Jack Arnold, the director of the Universal Monster hallmark, Creature from the Black Lagoon.<\/p>\n

Per IMDb, Corday went on to pop up in roles in sci-fi classics like The Black Scorpion (1957) and The Giant Claw (1957). She also left her mark on the Western genre, appearing in films such as Drums Across the River (1954), The Man From Bitter Ridge (1955), and Man Without a Star (1955).<\/p>\n

According to The Hollywood Reporter, she said she was particularly proud of her turn as a fun-loving French girl in the 1954 musical comedy So This Is Paris, starring alongside Tony Curtis and Gloria DeHaven.<\/p>\n

After the death of her husband, Richard Long, in 1974\u2014whom she had met on the set of their 1954 film Playgirl\u2014Corday found support from her friend and Tarantula co-star Clint Eastwood. Eastwood played a pivotal role in reviving her career, casting her in several of his films, including The Gauntlet (1977), Pink Cadillac (1989), and The Rookie (1990).<\/p>\n

In the 1983 Dirty Harry sequel Sudden Impact, Corday plays Loretta, a waitress at the Acorn Cafe. To warn Dirty Harry about a hold-up, she subtly signals him by pouring too much sugar into his coffee. After Harry takes down the gunmen, the last surviving criminal takes Loretta hostage.<\/p>\n

The villain tries to decide whether to give in or risk it against Harry.<\/p>\n

Of course, this is when Eastwood utters the iconic line, \u201cGo ahead, make my day.\u201d
\nMeanwhile, Corday admitted having a rocky relationship with her late husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cRichard Long was an enigma,\u201d Corday told Western Clippings in 1996. \u201cI divorced him 10 times the first year of our marriage, getting a lawyer and everything \u2026 and 13 times the second year. He\u2019d plead \u2014 literally on his hands and knees, \u2018Please forgive me, I don\u2019t know why I did it, give me another chance.\u2019 I loved him and I am still in love with him \u2014 22 years after his death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corday was predeceased by her son, Carey Long, in 2008. She is survived by her daughter, Valerie Long, and her son, Gregory Long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mara Corday, beloved by generations of classic monster movie fans as the star of Tarantula, died in February, with the news only now becoming public months later. The Golden Age actress, showgirl, and Playboy Playmate passed away on Feb. 9 at her home in Valencia, California. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-memorial"],"yoast_head":"\nGolden Age Hollywood Actress Died Earlier 2025; Cause Of Death Revealed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mara Corday, beloved by generations of classic monster movie fans as the star of Tarantula, died in February, with the news only now becoming public\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Golden Age Hollywood Actress Died Earlier 2025; Cause Of Death Revealed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mara Corday, beloved by generations of classic monster movie fans as the star of Tarantula, died in February, with the news only now becoming public\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"USA Popular News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-26T01:06:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-31T11:08:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/star-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ayera Bint-e\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ayera Bint-e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ayera Bint-e\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/0a8f3730593b11b19b7a1788f425ab8f\"},\"headline\":\"Golden Age Hollywood Actress Died Earlier 2025; Cause Of Death Revealed\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-26T01:06:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-31T11:08:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/\"},\"wordCount\":484,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/star-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Memorial\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/\",\"name\":\"Golden Age Hollywood Actress Died Earlier 2025; Cause Of Death Revealed\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/star-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-26T01:06:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-31T11:08:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"Mara Corday, beloved by generations of classic monster movie fans as the star of Tarantula, died in February, with the news only now becoming public\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/star-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/star-1.jpg\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Golden Age Hollywood Actress Died Earlier 2025; Cause Of Death Revealed\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/\",\"name\":\"USA Popular News\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#organization\",\"name\":\"USA Popular News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/cropped-site-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/cropped-site-logo.png\",\"width\":277,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"USA Popular News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/0a8f3730593b11b19b7a1788f425ab8f\",\"name\":\"Ayera Bint-e\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72ce079b2d16ffa77ac4095170eb7b91d6cb9d12bf487a6e49d87be436430427?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72ce079b2d16ffa77ac4095170eb7b91d6cb9d12bf487a6e49d87be436430427?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ayera Bint-e\"},\"description\":\"Ayera Bint\u2011e has quickly established herself as one of the most compelling voices at USA Popular News. Known for her vivid storytelling and deep insight into human emotions, she crafts narratives that resonate far beyond the page.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Golden Age Hollywood Actress Died Earlier 2025; Cause Of Death Revealed","description":"Mara Corday, beloved by generations of classic monster movie fans as the star of Tarantula, died in February, with the news only now becoming public","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Golden Age Hollywood Actress Died Earlier 2025; Cause Of Death Revealed","og_description":"Mara Corday, beloved by generations of classic monster movie fans as the star of Tarantula, died in February, with the news only now becoming public","og_url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/","og_site_name":"USA Popular News","article_published_time":"2025-05-26T01:06:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-31T11:08:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/star-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ayera Bint-e","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ayera Bint-e","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/"},"author":{"name":"Ayera Bint-e","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/0a8f3730593b11b19b7a1788f425ab8f"},"headline":"Golden Age Hollywood Actress Died Earlier 2025; Cause Of Death Revealed","datePublished":"2025-05-26T01:06:24+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-31T11:08:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/"},"wordCount":484,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/star-1.jpg","articleSection":["Memorial"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/","url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/","name":"Golden Age Hollywood Actress Died Earlier 2025; Cause Of Death Revealed","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/star-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-26T01:06:24+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-31T11:08:24+00:00","description":"Mara Corday, beloved by generations of classic monster movie fans as the star of Tarantula, died in February, with the news only now becoming public","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/star-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/star-1.jpg","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/golden-age-hollywood-actress-died-earlier-this-year-cause-of-death-revealed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Golden Age Hollywood Actress Died Earlier 2025; Cause Of Death Revealed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/","name":"USA Popular News","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#organization","name":"USA Popular News","url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/cropped-site-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/cropped-site-logo.png","width":277,"height":90,"caption":"USA Popular News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/0a8f3730593b11b19b7a1788f425ab8f","name":"Ayera Bint-e","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72ce079b2d16ffa77ac4095170eb7b91d6cb9d12bf487a6e49d87be436430427?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72ce079b2d16ffa77ac4095170eb7b91d6cb9d12bf487a6e49d87be436430427?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ayera Bint-e"},"description":"Ayera Bint\u2011e has quickly established herself as one of the most compelling voices at USA Popular News. Known for her vivid storytelling and deep insight into human emotions, she crafts narratives that resonate far beyond the page.","sameAs":["https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us"],"url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}