Linda Darnell

Linda made her film debut in 1939 as Marcia Bromley in Hotel for Women, becoming Hollywood's youngest leading lady at 16. She followed with Day-Time Wife (1939) and Star Dust (1940). Her beauty made her a standout in The Mark of Zorro (1940) opposite Tyrone Power, and she reunited with him in Blood and Sand (1941). She showed comedic range in Rise and Shine (1941). In 1945 she played Netta Longdon in Hangover Square, a box-office hit. The next year she starred with Lillian Gish in Centennial Summer and later co-starred with Henry Fonda and Victor Mature in My Darling Clementine (1946), earning some of her best reviews. She scored another hit opposite Cornel Wilde in Forever Amber (1947), surviving the Great London Fire. In 1952 she appeared in Blackbeard, the Pirate with Robert Newton and William Bendix. Her final screen role was in the low-budget western Black Spurs (1965).

Linda married three times: cinematographer J. Peverell Marley (1944-1952), brewer Phillip Liebmann (1954-1955), and airline pilot Merle Roy Robertson (1957-1962). She died on April 10, 1965, from burns received in a fire at her former secretary's house, while watching Star Dust (1940) on television. She had appeared in 46 films. Often called the "girl with the perfect face," she was 41 years old. Her measurements were 33-24-33, bra 38B, and she stood 5'4" with a slim build. She was American, Caucasian, and straight. Her brown hair and eyes were as classic as her screen presence.