Trudy Marshall, 84; Starred in Several Films in 1940s

Trudy Marshall, a former New York photographers’ model who starred with Laurel and Hardy in the 1943 film “Dancing Masters” and appeared in a number of other films in the 1940s, died May 23 in her Century City home. She was 84.

Her family said she had suffered from lung cancer.

Marshall, the mother of actress Deborah Raffin, had roles in about 30 films, including playing one of the Sullivan sisters in “The Sullivans” (1944) and appearing with John Payne and Maureen O’Hara in “Sentimental Journey” (1946) and Red Skelton in “The Fuller Brush Man” (1948).

She also had a small role in the 1975 film “Once Is Not Enough,” in which her daughter was featured.

Marshall was an active member of Motion Picture Mothers and of the Screen Smart Set Auxiliary of the Motion Picture & Television Fund.

Born Feb. 14, 1922, in Brooklyn, Marshall married Phillip Raffin, a Los Angeles meat brokerage executive, in 1944. He died in 1982.

Besides Deborah Raffin, she is survived by another daughter, Judy Holston of Brentwood; a son, Bill Raffin of Malibu; and three grandchildren.

Services will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary, 6001 Centinela Ave., Los Angeles.

Instead of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Motion Picture & Television Fund, 22212 Ventura Blvd., Suite 300, Woodland Hills, CA 91364, or Operation Children, 270 N. Canon Drive, Suite 1274, Beverly Hills, CA 90210.