Alix Talton; Actress Often Portrayed ‘Other Woman’

Alix Talton, a statuesque former Miss Georgia who frequently played “the other woman” in films of the 1950s, has died. She was 72.

Miss Talton died Tuesday at St. Josephs Pavilion in Burbank of lung cancer.

The actress’s better known works include “In a Lonely Place” opposite Humphrey Bogart in 1950, Alfred Hitchcock’s remake of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” with James Stewart and Doris Day in 1956, and “Romanoff and Juliet” with Peter Ustinov in 1961.

On television, she portrayed the socially snobbish Myra Cobb in Joan Caulfield’s series “My Favorite Husband,” and was featured in Kirk Douglas’ series, “The Vikings.”

She also had regular roles in television’s top dramatic shows, including “Four Star Theater,” “Philco Playhouse” and “Ford Theater,” and was a guest star on such variety shows as “Jack Benny.”

Her career was interrupted in the early 1950s when she was thrown from a horse at a resort near San Bernardino and broke two vertebrae.

Miss Talton attracted public notice in 1954 when she successfully pleaded with a Georgia parole board to release her brother, Richard, from prison, where he was serving a sentence for a 1950 robbery near Atlanta.

Miss Talton set her heart on becoming an actress when she was a child in Atlanta. She studied singing and dancing, and, against her father’s wishes, entered the Miss America contest, winning her state title of Miss Georgia.

She modeled in New York, and then joined a singing group called “The American Jubilee.” She studied her craft by working in a summer stock group in Brattleboro, Vt.

Miss Talton was singing in a Miami nightclub when a Hollywood producer offered her a contract to do films.

She is survived by a son, producer and director Bruce Kerner; a daughter, Claudia Cahan, and two grandchildren. She had divorced her first husband, producer Lou Kerner, and was widowed last year by the death of her second husband, George Cahan.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to the Actors Fund of America.

A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.