Goldwyn Girl Dies

By Stephen M. Silverman

09/09/1997 at 12:00 AM EDT

Actress and original Goldwyn Girl Toby Wing Merrill, 85, who made 38 films under the name Toby Wing, died Friday in Mathews, Va., of natural causes, according to The New York Times. (The chorus line that formed the Goldwyn Girls was Hollywood studio mogul Sam Goldwyn's answer to New York's Ziegfeld Girls.) In 1932, the very pert Wing appeared in "The Kid from Spain" with Eddie Cantor, and she also hoofed it in "42nd Street" for the musical number "Young and Healthy." During World War II, Wing was the GIs' favorite pin-up girl, notes The Times . . . that is, until Betty Grable came along.