Toby Wing

Martha Virginia "Toby" Wing was an American Actress. Her father was photographer, Paul Reuben Wing (1891-1957) and her mother was equestrian Martha Gill Thraves (1893-1981). She had siblings Gertrude and Paul. Gertrude was also an actress and Paul was a businessman, involved in real estate. Toby's film career began when she was nine. Her father was working as an assistant director for Paramount Pictures and her mother was employed as a Hollywood stunt rider. After about ten uncredited juvenile roles Toby became one of the first "Goldwyn Girls" in "Palmy Days" in 1931. Toby appeared in more than forty feature films and fourteen short subjects during the period of 1924 to 1938. She was memorable, though uncredited, as the "young and healthy" blonde in "42nd Street" in 1933. Among other low budget features, she starred in "Silks and Saddles" 1936. Her last movie was "The Marines Come Thru" filmed in 1938 and released again in 1942 as "Fight On, Marines!". She also appeared on Broadway in the Cole Porter musical "You Never Know" 1938. In 1939 she toured with Rita Rio and her "All Girl Orchestra" to help raise money for charity. While in Hollywood, she was a stand-in for Carole Lombard and Jean Harlow, was a celebrity spokeswoman for Max Factor Makeup, and she was a tabloid sensation due in part to her well-known romances with such prestigious leading men as Jackie Coogan, a child star and better known as "Uncle Fenster" on television's "Adams Family" in his later years, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr., and Maurice Auguste Chevalier. Toby retired from films at age 23 after her marriage to aviation pioneer, Henry Tyndall "Dick" Merrill (1899-1982) in 1938. Dick was 20 years her senior. The couple had two sons, Henry Tyndall Merrill Jr. (1939-1940) and Richard Wing Merrill (1940-1982). Henry did of "crib death" and Ricky as murdered in his parents' Miami home in September 1982, at age 42. He was on bail for smuggling marijuana. The murder is still unsolved. She was an ardent member of the Episcopal church, had a second successful career in real estate, and died on 23 March 2001 in Mathews, Virginia aged 85. Toby Wing has a star recognizing her contribution to the Motion Pictures Industry on the "Hollywood Walk of Fame" at 6561 Hollywood Boulevard. See more about her career and life at IMDb Biography of Toby Wing