Marie Astaire
Toronto Daily Star, January 10 1927
Marie Astaire (1907-1991) was not related to Fred Astaire (whose surname at birth was Austerlitz). She appeared in a number of movies in the 1920s. Her career did not make the transition into the sound era, as she mostly had uncredited roles in the 1930s. She married three times, none of which were to Michael Cudahy.
A search for Michael Cudahy and Marie Astaire turned up this article, which indicated that not only was the elopement frustrated by Michael's mother: he was actually put in jail to keep the marriage from going through. He had apparently met his bride-to-be only on the preceding day; they showed up to be married in Santa Ana at 4 am. I also found this photograph of the couple.
The article above also mentioned that Ms. Astaire's name used to be Esther Marie Von Brusberg, and that young Michael apparently might have secretly married Joan Crawford before this. She denied it, and her Wikipedia page does not mention him. Michael Cudahy married actress Muriel Evans in 1929; they divorced in 1930.
The photo caption above had it wrong: Michael Cudahy was the grandson of another Michael Cudahy. He and three of his brothers, Patrick, John, and Edward, were in the meat-packing business. When researching the Cudahy family, I discovered that Edward Cudahy had a son named Edward Jr. who was kidnapped in 1900.
Created October 14, 2025.