Some time ago I posted this Glamour cover from 1944 and I asked the question, what are these two young women discussing? It seems as if they were wearing the same coat design. I’m still not completely sure about the conversation, but I now know the identity of the woman on the right. Last week I got an email from her grandson who is working on a family project. I asked if he could tell me a little about his grandmother, and his answer was a bit of a surprise.
Thank you! I would be happy to. My grandmother’s name is Dina Merrill. She is 93 years old now. She is a well known actress and you could learn much more on google than I could tell you. After she graduated from the University of Wisconsin, she moved to New York in 1941 (despite her parents’ objections) and insisted she paid her way through acting school (Academy of Dramatic Arts) by modeling for Conde Nast, even though her parents (Marjorie Merriweather Post and E.F. Hutton) were extremely wealthy. Anyway, she put her acting on hold when she met, fell in love and married my grandfather, Stanley M. Rumbough, Jr. in 1946 and started a family. They had three children (the oldest is my dad) and once she felt they were old enough, decided to pursue her career. So, she changed her name to Dina Merrill from Nedenia Hutton and landed her first movie, Desk Set with Katherine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy. Then the rest is history.
You just never know who is going to show up in old fashion magazines. Here’s another photo of Nedenia/Dina modeling a hat in Glamour.
The Vintage Traveler 