Father: (Albert) Arno Merkel born May 9, 1882 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Died December 23, 1969 in Los Angeles, California. Mother: Bessie Phares Merkel died in New York, NY on March 5, 1945. She was 61 years old. Interred in Covington, Kentucky.
On March 2, 1952 Una Merkel was rushed to hospital after an overdose of sleeping pills and was in a coma.
She almost died in 1946 when her mother committed suicide by turning on the gas.
Was originally signed for the title role in Blondie (1938) but was replaced before filming began.