Radio: New Marge

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Last February soap-operaddicts were stunned to hear that Donna Damerel Fick, the "Marge" of Myrt & Marge, had died in childbirth (TIME, Feb. 24). To many it seemed that Donna's mother, Myrtle Vail, the "Myrt" of the script, would not be able to carry on. But carry on she did, while Marge presumably was hiding in the hills because of a mix-up about a murder. Last week Marge reappeared.

To get Marge out of the hills took a lot of doing on the part of Colgate-Palmolive-Peet, which sponsors the show. The company interviewed 200 possible Marges, paraded 60 of them before Myrt, let her reduce the crowd to 35. Then it took over a couple of CBS studios, crowded advertising executives and the program director in one, put Myrt in the other. Forthwith auditions commenced. It took three days to pick the new Marge. Unanimous choice for Marge was pert, black-haired Cinemactress Helen Mack, who had the role of a streetwalker in His Girl Friday.