- Of the 15 WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1932, Mary Carlisle was the last surviving member, dying at age104 in 2018. Those who died previously were Gloria Stuart at age 100 years, Dorothy Layton 96, Ruth Hall 92, Eleanor Holm 90, Dorothy Wilson 88, Ginger Rogers 83, Toshia Mori 83, Lilian Bond 83, June Clyde 77, Lona Andre 77, Evalyn Knapp 73, Marion Shockley 70, Patricia Ellis 53 and Boots Mallory 45.
- Was taught how to dance by Ann Dvorak which helped her to land studio contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
- Upon her death, she was cremated and her ashes scattered in the Rose Garden at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.
- Took her stage name from her maternal grandmother Mary Ella Carlisle (née Johnson).
- She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6679 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.
- Gave birth to her only child at age 30, a son James Edward Blakeley III, on June 15, 1944 in Los Angeles, California. Child's father was her husband James Blakeley.
- She was a lifelong Democrat and a strong supporter of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.
- Niece of film editor Grant Whytock.
- She was believed to be 104, but never personally confirmed her age or birth date during her life.
- Her mother's twin sister, Leotta Whytock, was a film editor.
- Carlisle was discovered by studio executive Carl Laemmle Jr. at the age of 14 while she was eating lunch with her mother at the Universal Studios canteen. She was praised for her angelic looks, and Laemmle offered her a screen test. Though she passed the test and started doing extra work at Universal, she was stopped by a welfare officer who noticed that she was underage and had to finish school first.
- In later life, Carlisle was the manager of the Elizabeth Arden Salon in Beverly Hills, California.
- Born into a religious family, she was educated in a convent in Back Bay, Boston, after her family moved to that neighborhood when she was six months old.
- Some time after her father's death, when she was 4, Carlisle and her mother relocated to Los Angeles.
- In the early 1930s her home studio was MGM. Her major acting break came when MGM loaned her out to Paramount to star in the musical comedy College Humor (1933) alongside Bing Crosby. MGM continued loaning her out to different studios, resulting in her working more on loan-out than at her home studio. In 1937 she was signed up by Paramount and started getting good roles in more prestigious movies (two more with Bing Crosby, for example) than many of her loan-outs had been.
- Mary had a pet dog in the 1930s named Sammy. Sammy appeared in many publicity stills with Mary.
- Mary collected Staffordshire porcelain dog figurines.
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