Mary Mayer Schroeder; Early Movie Publicist

Mary Mayer Schroeder, 93, one of the first female motion picture publicists. Working under her maiden name, Mayer began her writing career as a journalist at The Times, reporting on drama and dance for longtime entertainment editor William Schallert. In 1932, she joined the publicity department at MGM. (The studio head at the time, Louis B. Mayer, was no relation.) After working on the staff for several years, Mary Mayer became one of the first women named a unit publicist, or the person in charge of a film’s entire publicity campaign. Among the films she helped to tout were her first, “The Wizard of Oz,” whose star--the young Judy Garland--she befriended, and “Singin’ in the Rain,” “National Velvet,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” “The Harvey Girls” and “King Solomon’s Mines.” On Friday in Pasadena.