Verna Hillie

Verna Dolores Hillie (May 5, 1914 – October 3, 1997) was an American film actress. First recruited into movie acting by a contest, she went on to star in films for Paramount Pictures and other studios through the 1930s, before retiring from acting in the early 1940s.

Acting career

Hillie began acting as a teenager in Detroit, Michigan, where she got a part in a radio drama on station WWJ. Against her wishes, her mother submitted her photo to a national competition for the role of "Lota the Panther Woman" in Paramount's 1932 film Island of Lost Souls. When Paramount contacted her for a tryout, she reluctantly agreed, but eventually came to enjoy the process. She lost the competition to Kathleen Burke, but the studio gave her a contract anyway, starting her with a bit part in Madame Butterfly. She also appeared in the Broadway production of Night of January 16th in 1935.

Personal life Hillie married radio emcee Frank Gill Jr., in 1933. They had two children (Kelly and Pamela Lincoln), and divorced in 1952. Hillie retired from acting in the 1940s to focus on raising her children, returning to work as "Clara Bagley" in two early 1950s episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. In 1952 she married NBC executive Richard Linkroun. They divorced after 11 years. After her divorce from Linkroun, Hillie worked in health care administration for several years. She was later the United States representative for English author Barbara Cartland. She died in 1997 in Fairfield, Connecticut from a stroke.

Selected filmography Madame Butterfly (1932) - Bridesmaid (uncredited) From Hell to Heaven (1933) - Sonnie Lockwood Under the Tonto Rim (1933) - Nina Weston Man of the Forest (1933) - Alice Gayner Duck Soup (1933) - Trentino's Blonde Secretary (uncredited) Search for Beauty (1934) - Susie (uncredited) Six of a Kind (1934) - Safe-Deposit Clerk (uncredited) House of Mystery (1934) - Ella Browning The Star Packer (1934) - Anita Matlock Romance in the Rain (1934) - Cinderella Girl The Trail Beyond (1934) - Felice Newsome Mystery Mountain (1934) - Jane Corwin I've Been Around (1935) - Girl Princess O'Hara (1935) - Alberta Whitley Rescue Squad (1935) - Norma Britt Mister Dynamite (1935) - Mona Lewis Rebellious Daughters (1938) - Barbara 'Babe' Webster The Reluctant Dragon (1941) - Sculptor (uncredited)