Saturday, September 10, 2011

Sally Rawlinson: Paramount Starlet and Daughter

Discovered by a Paramount scout while appearing in a play at Los Angeles City College, Sally Rawlinson (1925-2004) earned more ink for being the daughter of silent screen star and former serial hero Herbert Rawlinson than for any of her screen roles. Which, with the exception of a couple of Technicolor short subjects, were relegated to such standard background performing as "guest," or "party guest," or "model," or "lady-in-waiting."

Not that her father hadn't warned her. ""Father was opposed to [my acting]because he does not think acting should be a permanent career for women. He said he did not think it was conducive to a happy home life. "He talked to me many times about it, but he could, not change my mind about it."

But Sally had even bigger fish to fry than mere screen stardom: Broadway rather than Hollywood, according to International News Service Staff correspondent John Todd, “is the real goal of Sally, who is 21, five feet, five inches tall and weighs 117 pounds.

"She explained: 'I hope to make a success in Hollywood and then have a try at the stage, too. As difficult as it is to break into Hollywood, it's even harder on Broadway.' Anyone like me would hardly have a chance. I know a dozen girls who have tried."

Too true, and by 1951 she was working not on the Great White Way but in a Las Vegas chorus line. And so it goes.

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