Michelle Triola, Nov. 13, 1933 – Oct. 30, 2009, nightclub singer and minor role actress who fought for palimony against Lee Marvin, has died in Malibu after fighting lung cancer for the last 18 months. She was 75.
She made history in 1976 when the California Supreme Court ruled that she (and others) could sue for property division when a relationship ended. And that is exactly what she did. Three years after the ruling Michelle Triola who changed her last name to Marvin, sued Lee Marvin for half of his 3.6 million dollar estate. She was only awarded $104,000 for what the judge called “rehabilitative purposes.” Appeals court blocked her from collecting the sum but the term “palimony” was coined becoming a dictionary entry as a result of combining the words “pals” and “alimony.” Lawsuits involving numerous other celebrities and their former cohabiting lovers soon followed.
Michelle Triola met Dick Van Dyke in the 1970s springing up a romance in 1976. Though they never married, they lived together for thirty years.
Besides Van Dyke, Marvin is survived by her sister, Diane Triola Johnson of Los Angeles; a niece and a nephew.
