Margaret Markov

Tall, graceful and willowy, with a shapely, slender figure, lengthy straw blonde hair, very precise and delicate facial features, quite solid and capable acting skills, a bright, sunny, upbeat persona, and, most refreshingly, a strong, durable, take-charge attitude, the strikingly statuesque Margaret Markov made a potent and positive impression in a handful of TV shows and 1970s drive-in exploitation movies, in which she was usually cast as a very willful, resourceful and self-sufficient heroine. Born in Stockton, California in 1948, Markov's acting career began in 1969: she has a small uncredited bit part as a vacuous college coed in The Sterile Cuckoo (1969) and a much bigger and showier supporting role as a sweet, innocent teenage girl who runs afoul of a brutish biker gang in Jack Starrett's superior Run, Angel, Run! (1969). Markov went on to portray one of the titular sexy young ladies in Roger Vadim's Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971), then tackled a far better and meatier starring part in the exciting women-in-prison romp, The Hot Box (1972), where Markov truly shines as "Lynn Forrest," the most passionate and dedicated of a trio of beleaguered nurses who escape from a foul, dingy, hellish Filipino penitentiary and join forces with a band of jungle-dwelling guerrilla fighters, who are trying to overthrow their country's current fascistic government regime.

Markov masterfully maintained the career momentum, beget by "The Hot Box," with her fantastic fiery performance as "Bodicia," an understandably embittered slave who's forced by her gross, sybaritic Roman captures to engage in brutal to-the-death gladiatorial combat with her fellow female prisoners in the excellent and exciting "Spartacus" variant, The Arena (1974). Fed up with being horribly mistreated by her cruel masters, Markov teams up with Pam Grier and, together, they get the other slaves to make a stand against the evil Romans. Markov and Grier proved to be a delightfully dynamic distaff duo who were seemingly conceived in 70s drive-in trash movie heaven, displaying a natural chemistry and sex appeal that was a true treat to watch. Markov starred again with Grier in the equally thrilling and enjoyable "The Defiant Ones" copy, Black Mama White Mama (1973), in which Markov's rugged revolutionary finds herself chained to Grier's brassy, jaded prostitute; the pair escape from prison and go on the lam. Besides her film credits, Markov also did guest spots on the television programs Hawkins (1973), The Sixth Sense (1972), The Jimmy Stewart Show (1971) and Cade's County (1971). Alas, following her appearance in the obscure and little seen movie, There Is No 13 (1974), Margaret abruptly stopped acting. Margaret Markov is married to hugely successful producer Mark Damon (she first met Damon during the shooting of The Arena (1974)); the couple have two children and reside in a mansion in Los Angeles, California.