Fans would stop Marlo Thomas on the street just to call her ''That Girl''
Marlo Thomas, who played the role of Ann Marie, didn't mind when fans called her out as "that girl" because having a starring role on That Girl (1965) helped make her career.
Thomas owed a lot to the series, her many fans, and her character, who she began to see as an extension of herself. She was "that girl" on TV and "that girl" on the streets.
According to a 1967 interview with The Star Press, Thomas said being called "that girl" was so much better than being called "Danny Thomas' daughter," especially since she had spent most of her life trying to escape her father's shadow and start fresh in the acting industry.
That Girl helped establish her acting career and put Marlo on the map. Her character, Ann Marie, was a young, aspiring actress living in New York City. She would find herself in hilarious situations filled with loveable antics, which made both Thomas and her fans happy each week.
While That Girl wasn't the highest-rated television series at the time, it was still well-received by fans all over the country—especially women.
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"I think the show has good appeal because many young girls can relate to it," Thomas said. "And many parents see in it the realities of what their children face and try to accomplish when they go out into their own world."
According to the interview, Thomas said she saw many parallels between her character and herself.
For example, just like Ann Marie, Marlo moved out of her parents' house, and hoped to become an actress and find independence. Both she and Ann Marie felt the need to leave home and start their careers, rejecting the traditional role of a woman staying at home.
In the interview, Thomas said that occasionally she would have to travel to New York for exterior shoots. She knew she had made it in her career when a busload of children drove by during a crucial filming moment and started yelling her name out of the windows.
"We had to reshoot a scene that we had spent almost an hour preparing for," Thomas said.
Another time, a woman rushed up to her at a restaurant and said, "I just had to see 'That Girl.'"
Both on-screen and off, Marlo Thomas really was "That Girl," and she had no problem embracing her new star status.
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