With coaching and encouragement from her mother, Katherine Grant entered — and won — the 1922 “Miss Los Angeles Beauty Contest.” Her new-found fame landed her roles in several of Hal Roach’s “Little Rascals” comedy shorts. As the winner of the local beauty contest, Katherine entered the “Miss America” pageant, but lost to Mary Katherine …
Pretty Christine Maple was a character. Moving to Los Angeles from her native rural Kansas, the vivacious blonde began appearing in local beauty pageants. Her film debut in 1930 led to a coveted spot in the Ziegfeld Follies. During a performance, she surprised her fellow cast members, the audience and Ziegfeld himself, when she appeared …
Katalin Karády was a pretty big star in her native Hungary, with a career that mirrored her Hollywood counterparts of the time. She gained the persona of “diva” and “sex symbol” after her 1939 debut in the film Halálos Tavasz (“Deadly Spring”). Katalin was also a popular vocalist. Her songs were heard frequently on Hungarian …
For the better part of six years, Joanna Lee struggled through an unfulfilling acting career, landing few roles of little significance. She appeared uncredited in the Frank Sinatra film The Joker is Wild, as well as Ed Wood’s notorious sci-fi schlockfest Plan 9 from Outer Space. A serious car accident sidelined Joanna’s acting career, but …
Seventeen-year old Marvel Rea joined up with the Keystone Film Company, landing a spot among the famed Sennett Bathing Beauties, a celebrated group of young ladies assembled by producer Mack Sennett. The Bathing Beauties made promotional appearances for the movie studio and were well received where ever they went. Marvel made her film debut in …
One day, a New York City couple dropped several of their ten children off at an orphanage and left… never to be seen by their abandoned children again. One of those kids was Edith Massey. Edith wound up in a foster home, where she endured cruel treatment. She put up with it as long as …
