Lori Martin

About Lori Martin

Who is it?: Actress
Birth Day: April 18, 1947
Birth Place:  Glendale, California, United States
Died On: April 4, 2010(2010-04-04) (aged 62)\nOakhurst, California, U.S.
Birth Sign: Taurus
Occupation: Film and television actress
Years active: 1956-1970
Spouse(s): Charles Breitenbucher (19??-1999; his death)
Children: Brett Breitenbucher

Lori Martin Net Worth

Lori Martin was born on April 18, 1947 in  Glendale, California, United States, is Actress. Lori Martin was born Dawn Catherine Menzer in Glendale, California. She was born at 10am, four minutes before her twin sister, Doree, arrived. Having an elder sister, Jean, and a younger brother, Stephen, she had plenty of company at an early age. At the age of six, her mother took her to an agent who dealt with child actresses. Her first job was filming a commercial for "Chrysler", followed by many other commercials. Her first film part was in Machine-Gun Kelly (1958), followed by The FBI Story (1959) and Cash McCall (1960), both in 1959. She also appeared in many televisions shows of the time. It was at the age of 12 that she won the part of "Velvet Brown" on television's National Velvet (1960), and changed her name to Lori Martin. Being a natural blonde, Lori had to have her hair dyed black for the part, many thought she had a resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor. It was this reason that the producers chose her out of 974 hopefuls for this part. The show ran for 54 episodes and was axed in 1962 after making Lori famous. In 1962, she made Cape Fear (1962) and said, afterwards, that it was the best performance of her life. She went on to continue in television shows and films for the cinema. She had also made a name for herself making records for her fans but, sadly, they were not hits.Lori later married her husband, Charles Breitenbucher, and retired to Oakhurst, California, where she enjoyed nature, birds, wild animals and her dog, Taylor. Sadly, her husband died in 1999, leaving her with an only son to raise. At this time, she became ill with bipolar and battled this for many years up until her death.
Lori Martin is a member of Actress

💰 Net worth: Under Review

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Biography/Timeline

1916

Lori Martin was born Dawn Catherine Menzer, in Glendale, California, at 10:02 a.m.; her fraternal twin sister, Doree, arrived four minutes later. As she weighed only 5 pounds and measured just 18 inches at birth, she spent the first few weeks of her life in an incubator, during which time her survival was somewhat doubtful. Her father, Russell C. Menzer (1916–1999), was an MGM and Warner Brothers commercial Artist and art Director. She had a younger brother, Stephen Menzer, and an older sister, Jean Coulter, a veteran Hollywood stuntwoman who doubled for Barbara Anderson on Ironside, and Farrah Fawcett and Cheryl Ladd on Charlie's Angels, sometimes Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith.

1958

As well as appearing in several commercials, including one for which her father designed the set and a Milky Way candy commercial, she won parts in the films Machine-Gun Kelly (1958), The FBI Story (1959), and Cash McCall (1959). She appeared in several television series, including Medic, Wagon Train, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave It to Beaver, and Whirlybirds.

1960

At the age of 12, Martin was the 975th young hopeful to be auditioned for the role of Velvet Brown in the NBC television version of National Velvet, the role for which she is best remembered. After being included in the final three, she was interviewed ten more times before winning the part. Ann Doran played her mother, Martha Brown; Arthur Space, her father, Herbert Brown. When she won the role, her name was changed from Dawn Menzer to "Lori Martin". On the change of name, Martin later said that, "I didn't like the name Lori at first. But I like it now. The reason I like it now is I've been brainwashed!" The show ran for fifty-eight episodes between 1960 and 1962.

1962

In 1962, Martin won the role of Nancy Bowden in the film Cape Fear, which also starred Gregory Peck, Polly Bergen, and Robert Mitchum. Martin later said that she delivered her best performance as Nancy but had nightmares for weeks after the filming of the scene in which her character is stalked by Mitchum's character. The Director of the film, J. Lee Thompson, originally wanted Hayley Mills for Martin's part. Because he could not get Mills, however, he later admitted to having deliberately given Martin a hard time during filming.

1963

Lori jumped on the singing teen idol bandwagon and released her only single on Bob Keane's legendary Del-Fi Records. Recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood in September 1963, the girl group-styled "The Home of the Boy I Love", backed with "Mine 'Til Monday" (Del Fi 4201), was mistakenly released with songwriting credits given to the successful team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil when in fact it was produced by Barry Mann and written by lesser known hit-man Sylvester Bradford. Bradford's claim to fame was his composition of "Tears On My Pillow", which was a #4 hit in 1958 for Little Anthony & The Imperials. Although Lori Martin's only record went nowhere fast, it has now become quite collectable and sought after among girl group record Collectors.

1970

During the early 1970s, Martin decided to put her acting career on hold. She later recalled that her reasoning behind her decision was that "I'd been in the Business long enough to know I'd been stereotyped. My mother was in poor health and I felt I had worked from such an early age I could take some time off and get a college education." A few years later, she tried to reactivate her career but unfortunately she became "discouraged by the many changes in casting and techniques".

1999

Martin married Charles Breitenbucher, had a son, Brett, and moved to Westlake Village, California, under her married name, Dawn Breitenbucher. She later moved to Oakhurst, California. She occasionally attended autograph signings and ran a medical supplies company with her husband until his death in 1999. In February 2008, she participated as an election worker when the people of Oakhurst voted on whether the community should become incorporated or not. During that campaign she gave an interview to the local ABC television station..

2010

Lori Martin, known legally as Dawn Breitenbucher, died on April 4, 2010, in Oakhurst, California, two weeks before her 63rd birthday, from undisclosed causes. She was survived by her son, Brett Breitenbucher, and her siblings, Doree Thompson Kelly, Jean Marek and Stephen Menzer, as well as extended family.