Mary Jo Tarola, a stunning beauty with a radiant honey blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and a flawless peaches-and-cream complexion, was born in Portland, Oregon, to Joseph and Mildred Tarola. She was destined for stardom, and her captivating smoky voice seemed to be the perfect tool to propel her to Hollywood fame. However, fate had other plans, and her movie career was marked by only three forgettable films, including two Tim Holt westerns and a marital comedy where she was billed third behind Victor Mature and Jean Simmons.
Despite her failed film career, Mary Jo's personal life was filled with drama and scandal. In 1952, she married Pat DiCicco, a self-proclaimed "Glamour Boy of Hollywood" with alleged ties to the mob, who operated as a talent agent but was known for pimping out prostitutes and peddling drugs in Tinseltown. DiCicco's reputation for violence and abuse towards women was well-documented, with his two former wives, actress Thelma Todd and heiress and fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt, both filing for divorce due to cruelty.
Mary Jo's marriage to DiCicco lasted an astonishing seven years before ending childless. She then remarried in 1964 to Hank Greenberg, a Hall of Fame baseball legend with the Detroit Tigers. Her second marriage was a happier and more enduring one, lasting until her husband's passing in 1986. As Mary Jo Greenberg, she spent her remaining years in her luxurious Beverly Hills Regency-style mansion, valued at $9.5 million.
