1. Dawn Catherine Menzer, known professionally as Lori Martin, was an American actress.
17 Facts About Lori Martin
1. 2.
Lori Martin spent the first few weeks of her life in an incubator, during which time her survival was somewhat doubtful.
3.
Lori Martin's father, Russell C Menzer, was an MGM and Warner Brothers commercial artist and art director.
4.
Lori Martin had a younger brother, Stephen Menzer, and an older sister, Jean Coulter, a veteran Hollywood stuntwoman who doubled for the lead actresses on Ironside and Charlie's Angels.
5.
When Lori was six years old, her mother took her to an agent who specialized in child actors.
6.
Lori Martin thought that acting might be a healthy outlet for Lori.
7.
Lori Martin auditioned so well that her parents soon allowed her to attend them by herself.
8.
Lori Martin got out of the car, walked six blocks, found the right office, told the receptionist who she was, went in for her interview and got the job.
9.
Lori Martin appeared in several television series, including Medic, Wagon Train, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave It to Beaver, and Whirlybirds.
10.
At the age of 12, Lori Martin was the 975th young hopeful to be auditioned for the role of Velvet Brown in the NBC television version of National Velvet, a role which brought her to wide attention.
11.
In 1962, at age 14, Lori Martin gained further attention in the role of Nancy Bowden in the film Cape Fear, in which the character played by Robert Mitchum intends to do harm to her family.
12.
Lori Martin later said that she delivered her best performance as Nancy but had nightmares for weeks after the filming of the scene in which her character is stalked by Mitchum's character.
13.
Lori Martin married Charles Breitenbucher, had a son, Brett, and moved to Westlake Village, California, under her married name, Dawn Breitenbucher.
14.
Lori Martin occasionally attended autograph signings and ran a medical supplies company with her husband until his death in 1999.
15.
Lori Martin, known legally as Dawn Breitenbucher, died on April 4,2010, in Oakhurst, California, two weeks before her 63rd birthday, as a result of suicide via gunshot wound.
16.
Lori Martin struggled with mental illness and illicit drug use in the decade after her husband died.
17.
Lori Martin was survived by her son, Brett Breitenbucher, and her siblings, Doree Thompson Kelly, Jean Marek and Stephen Menzer, as well as extended family.