Due to the fact that her given name was originally, Melinda Mary Markey, her nickname since she was a child has been "Mims".
Her father's fourth wife was Lucille Parker Wright, widow of Warren Wright, the late owner of the Calumet Farm horse racing stable in Lexington, Kentucky. One of the farm's champion horses, a Filly named, Our Mims, was named in her honor.
Her second husband owned a pool cleaning business in the Los Angeles area. One of his customers was Robert Stack.