He made one movie in 1937 and would make a cameo appearance in another movie many years later.
Atlantic Flight (1937)
DICK MERRILL-Holder of the World's Round Trip Atlantic Record!...America's famous Viking of the Air rockets across the stormy Atlantic.
Both Dick Merrill and Jack Lambie received $2,500 for their roles in this movie. Dick, an inveterate gambler, blew his entire salary at Santa Anita the weekend after shooting wrapped.
Dick Merrill joked about his lousy performance in this movie for the rest of his life.
Probably the only way to appreciate Atlantic Flight is to understand why it was made at all. In 1937 when pilots were treated like Apollo astronauts 30 years later, 43-year old Dick Merrill was the second-most famous aviator in the country. He'd flown the first two commercial round-trip Atlantic Ocean flights, first with millionaire nightclub singer/pilot Harry "Puttin' On the Ritz" Richmann in 1936 (the plane ended up crashing in a peat bog in Nova Scotia thanks to Harry accidentally dumping the fuel and enraging Merrill) and the second 'Coronation Flight' doing a quick turn around to haul newsreel film back from England with a far more capable co-pilot (and movie co-star!) Jack Lambie. Atlantic Flight proves why they never quit their day jobs with Eastern Airlines (they'd both end up retiring from EAL, Dick in 1961 and Jack in the early 70's). This movie was made by Monogram--- which had just reformed after a brief troubled merger with Herbert J. Yate's Republic--- as a chance to capitalize on Dick's fame. Merrill spent the rest of his life joking about his terrible performance in his one shot as a movie star--- he was right, it's awful! […] An interesting curio for aviation buffs for the 1930's aircraft and shots of the actual Vultee used by Dick and Jack. Merrill, an inveterate gambler, was said to have blown his movie pay at Santa Anita the weekend after the film wrapped up--- fortunately he'd soon marry 22-year old actress Toby Wing and go on to enjoy a remarkable 45-year life together. Atlantic Flight is a B-movie tribute to an A-list pilot.
Henry Tindall “Dick” Merrill married Martha Virginia “Toby” Wing twice in 1938. Their elopement to Tijuana, Mexico, upset Toby’s mother. A second wedding was performed at the home of Sidney Shannon (an early backer of Eastern Airlines and close personal friend of both Dick and Eddie Rickenbacker) in Fredericksburg, VA. This second ceremony went unnoticed until another friend of Dick's, Walter Winchell broadcast the news.
Toby Wing Merrill was the daughter of Paul R. Wing, who along with Clem Beauchamp, had won the 1935 Academy Award [Oscar], as co-assistant directors for The Lives of a Bengal Lancer. The category of Assistant Director was discontinued after 1937. Toby Wing’s mother was a Virginian.
Toby Wing, often described as a “blonde bonbon”, was a showgirl. She had been one of the “most engaged” starlets in Hollywood and had made 38 movies. In 1937 Toby Wing was appearing on Broadway in the Cole Porter flop You Never Know when she met world-famous pilot Henry Tindall “Dick Merrill, the first Aviator to fly the Transatlantic Route round-trip.
Despite all the engagements, Toby Wing had found true love. She eloped with Dick Merrill to Tijuana, Mexico, in 1938. At the time of their marriage Toby was 22, Dick was 43 and they'd known each other for six months.
Toby Wing essentially retired from acting to a life as a Miami Beach housewife on Di Lido Island in 1940. She dabbled in real estate and helped Cuban refugees, who could not obtain financing, to acquire homes.
Dick Merrill retired from Eastern Airlines in 1961. Despite the twenty-two year age difference, Dick Merrill and Toby Wing remained happily married until his death in October, 1982, in Lake Elsinore, California. Sadly, Dick and Toby Merrill outlived both of their children, a son who died in his crib in 1940 and a younger son who was the victim of an unsolved murder in 1982. Toby Wing Merrill died peacefully at her home in Virginia in 2001, still beautiful, and still in love with Dick Merrill.
3. The world's first round trip transoceanic flight was performed in 1928 by H. T. Merrill, from Iuka. The flight to England was made in a plane loaded with ping pong balls.