BY RICK HILL | Friends, relatives, fellow actors and admirers gathered Sun., Feb., 12 at Greenwich Village Funeral Home on Bleecker St. to remember actress Mary Tahmin. Tahmin died Jan. 29 at age 89 in her apartment at 12 Fifth Ave. near W. Eighth St. following recovery from a fall and a brief stay in a nursing home.
Born Despina Tahmin on Dec. 28, 1927, in the Bronx, she was the eldest of three children of Greek ancestry, although her father was born in Istanbul. Despina is the Greek version of Mary, but, as the story goes, sounded too much like “subpoena,” so she went by Mary. Her brother Gus spoke at the memorial, while her brother Jimmy in Venice Beach, California, unable to attend, had visited Mary in recent years at her home and nearby beloved senior day center.
Her niece Chris emceed the memorial. Chris, home healthcare aide Kay, and longtime friend Roz Kozlofsky all helped Mary in her last days.
Actor Charles Turner, understudy to James Earl Jones, cut a striking figure at the podium recalling Mary’s career. Turner has done “On Golden Pond” and “The Trip to Bountiful.” He directed Mary with Deborah Pautler in a two-part 2001 short movie, “The Switch,” set in Chelsea Market and available on the Internet.
Laura Marceca, director of the Center on the Square / Greenwich House Senior Center, at 20 Washington Square North, fondly recalled longtime member Tahmin.
“She was a truly wonderful, lovely and warm woman who brought a lot of happiness to those around her,” Marceca said. “She was a very good friend with many members. She will be missed deeply.”
Harvey Osgood recalled how Mary spoke at the senior center “Let’s Listen” series from her memoirs about her dalliance with Marlon Brando. The famed actor once drove her on his motorcycle to an audition, and was so obsessed he would lock her in his dressing room during his performances.
Fellow actor Paul Rossen expressed concern at the close date of Mary’s memorial, saying many actors would have come if they had more advance notice.
Mary was working diligently in her last years on her memoirs, which included running off from the Bronx without completing high school to join the circus. Blessed with good looks and figure, she acted and danced and had her professional associations with fellow actors like Brando, Maximilian Schell, Peter Falk, Buddy Hackett and Tony Franciosa.
Mary spoke Hebrew, Spanish, German, Greek and English. One friend joked he knew what play she was in by what accent she was speaking in.
Mary appeared in a film shot in Greece, funded in part by the Greek government, but it was shelved after the junta. She dubbed the voice of Italian actress Anna Magnani in another film.
A career highlight was forgoing a promising audition through Jane Wyman’s secretary to help out juggler Francis Brunn, who needed an assistant. She went on to be his assistant for seven years. Brunn died in 2004 at 81.
His son, Raphael, spoke at Mary’s memorial. Brunn was considered royalty in show business and one of the world’s finest jugglers. For her onstage role with him, Mary learned some juggling. Brunn performed everywhere, including on the popular “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “The Perry Como Show” and for President Eisenhower and royalty worldwide.
Roz Koslosfsky, 84, was her best friend for 55 years since 1962. They met through Roz’s childhood friend Anita, who briefly shared Mary’s apartment at 12 Fifth Ave. Roz visited Mary on the set of the Greece film shoot and in Pennsylvania when Mary did “Two for the Seesaw.”
Roz loved theater and joked about all the shows she saw through Mary’s “comp” tickets and Actors’ Equity / SAG connections, some of which Mary was in. Mary took over when Lee Grant got sick and worked with Anne Bancroft in “The Miracle Worker,” getting good reviews. Mary lost a replacement role in the show at one point to Suzanne Pleshette.
Mary coached Renee Taylor, the mother in the ’90s TV show “The Nanny,” in the stage comedy “Bermuda Avenue Triangle.”
Roz spoke of Mary meeting Elvis Presley and Robert Q. Lewis and Mary’s boyfriend Herb Reed of The Platters. But the love of Mary’s life, Roz said, was Avron, an Israeli. Roz spoke of Dustin Hoffman coming to Mary’s apartment to do lines.
Mary enjoyed teaching belly dancing, making jewelry, coaching actors and directing smaller productions and staged readings.
Roz recalled Mary’s gifts as an organizer, negotiator and helper. She played Constanza in “Our Lady of Perpetual Danger” in 1991; at one location, Mary rescued a collie mix in a trash can and kept it as her dog.
