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Afterword

Michelle Triola Marvin dies of lung cancer at 75

By Claire Noland
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Michelle Triola Marvin, 75, whose lawsuit against her actor companion Lee Marvin resulted in the introduction of the term ‘palimony,’ died today in Malibu, where she shared a home with actor Dick Van Dyke. She had been diagnosed with lung cancer last year.

Michelle Triola Marvin and Lee Marvin were not married, but when she and the Oscar-winning star of ‘Cat Ballou’ split up, she felt she deserved $1.8 million, half what he made during the six years they were together. Celebrity divorce lawyer Marvin Mitchelson represented her, arguing that unmarried couples base their relationships on contracts that may be unwritten but remain as legitimate and binding as those with a marriage certificate.

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She ultimately received no money from Marvin, but she did help ‘palimony’ become part of the Hollywood lexicon.

More later at www.latimes.com/obits.

-- Claire Noland

Afterword
Claire Noland

Claire Noland, who joined the Los Angeles Times in 1994, became editor of curated email newsletters in spring 2015. She had been in the Obituary Department since 2006, the last six years as editor. Before that, she was an editor in Sports. A California native and graduate of Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, she worked at the Antelope Valley Press, Los Angeles Daily News and Minneapolis Star Tribune. She left The Times in December 2015.

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