Mari Aldon – a Hollywood actress who captivated American cinema audiences for two decades – was, in fact, Aldona Pauliutė, born in Tauragė, Lithuania. Her parents emigrated to Canada before the war, and fate later led the young woman to the United States.
Speaking on LRT TELEVISION’s programme Daiktų istorijos (The History of Things), historian and literary archive specialist Audrius Dambrauskas explains that although Aldon shone brightly in Hollywood and often found herself in the pages of the tabloid press, her life did not always resemble a glamorous Western film.
From Tauragė to Tinseltown: Mari Aldon’s journey
The remarkable story of Mari Aldon began in Tauragė. Her cousin, who still lives there, recalls visiting Aldona – by then living in sunny California – and experiencing the marvels of Hollywood and the American West, which remained unknown to most Lithuanians at the time.
“They finally let me go in late 1989. While I was visiting, the Berlin Wall fell. They showed me the streets of the stars, took me to St Casimir’s parish. They suggested I stay, saying I’d never have another chance... but my family and daughters were waiting for me,” says athlete Aloyzas Šlepavičius.
Šlepavičius, a champion runner, record holder and coach, proudly calls his cousin one of the rare Lithuanians who can rightly be associated with the word “Hollywood”.
“Usually, the Lithuanians we see on Hollywood screens are those born in America. But Aldona Pauliutė was born in Tauragė,” Dambrauskas notes.
After settling in the US, Aldona’s parents placed great emphasis on their daughters’ education. Aldona attended various clubs and took lessons in music and dance. Energetic and curious, she gradually paved her way to the world of television.
“She began with radio and small theatre productions, then moved on to more ambitious projects and began landing minor roles in films. One notable moment came when she was cast in Ambre Forever, which was intended as 20th Century Fox’s response to Gone with the Wind.
The real turning point came in 1951, when she appeared in Distant Drums. Though it was a supporting role, she starred alongside Gary Cooper – a true icon of the era,” the historian explains.
Accused of abandoning her roots
After her success in Westerns, Aldon was dubbed a real-life Cinderella by gossip magazines, given the opportunity to star alongside Cooper. It was her first step into the limelight of mainstream Hollywood.
“It meant becoming a star overnight – though she wasn’t quite there yet,” adds Dambrauskas.
Her cousin recalls stories of Mari Aldon’s friendship with US President Ronald Reagan, who, like her, once dreamed of becoming an actor. Yet her Hollywood dreams were not universally welcomed: among the Lithuanian diaspora, her success was met with suspicion and bitterness.
“For the first time, an actor of Lithuanian origin had broken into high-level Hollywood. She was one of the earliest to do so, and the Lithuanian press of the time – around 1951 – took notice. Anonymous articles began appearing in Lithuanian-American newspapers, criticising her for dropping her ‘beautiful Lithuanian name’ and shortening it to the unrecognisable ‘Aldon’. One anonymous author, styling himself ‘a compatriot’, even blamed her parents, claiming they had nothing positive to say about Lithuania and were ‘pink’ – not quite red, but leaning towards communism,” says the archivist.
At the height of her career, Mari Aldon married director and producer Tay Garnett, more than 30 years her senior. But tragedy soon struck: a disaster claimed the couple’s entire fortune. Eventually, Mari Aldon left her acting career behind.
“According to rumours, she lived quite comfortably – her husband owned a film studio – but everything burned down. They struggled to recover and eventually divorced, though they were married for 17 years,” recalls her cousin.
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