The daughter of a United Press executive, Mala Powers attended the Max Reinhardt Junior Workshop as a kid and fell in love with acting the first time she set foot on a stage. She made her film debut in Universal's 1942 Tough As They Come (1942) before actress Helene Thimig ( Max Reinhardt 's wife) convinced her to continue studying rather than become a child actress. Powers worked in radio ("Cisco Kid", "Red Ryder", "This Is Your F.B.I.", "Lux Radio Theater", "Screen Guild on the Air") and met actress Ida Lupino while working on the latter show; Lupino auditioned and approved Powers for the top role in Outrage (1950), made by Lupino's Filmmakers production company. Powers' promising career was derailed by illness in the early '50s; when she resumed work, it was as the "B queen" of Westerns and sci-fi flicks (and much TV). For many years she has been lecturing on and teaching the Michael Chekhov acting technique throughout the U.S.

Dated Ross Martin .She was a visiting professor at a number of universities.Studying with Michael Chekhov in her early years, she later was one of the founders of the National Michael Chekhov Association and is considered a leading authority on his acting techniques. She is the author of the book "Michael Chekhov on Theatre and the Art of Acting: The Five-Hour Master Class". In addition, she is the executrix of his estate.While on a Christmas entertainment tour in Korea in 1951 she became ill and subsequently developed an allergy to the medication prescribed, which caused a blood disorder.She has one child, TorenShe was born Mary Ellen Powers on December 20, 1931, in San Francisco to journalist parents who moved to Hollywood after losing their jobs. She began training as an actress early on and at age 11 played in "Tough as They Come.".Attending UCLA to study acting, she later taught acting using the Michael Chekhov method. Her last performance on stage occurred in 2003 at the Laguna Playhouse in a production of "Mr. Shaw Goes to Hollywood".Best remembered film role was playing the lovely Roxanne opposite Oscar winner José Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac (1950). Also known for playing a rape victim in the landmark Ida Lupino film Outrage (1950). A sensitive subject, rape had not yet been given such a frank treatment in films, due to censorship.Howard Hughes took a strong interest in Powers and put her under contract at RKO in the early 50s. When her film career declined, she continued on radio, stage and TV.Became very close friends with Ida Lupino , who directed Mala in her first big film, Outrage (1950). When Lupino died in 1995, Mala was the executrix of her estate.Is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.