Verna Hillie (May 5, 1914 â€" 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.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 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 became better known after her supporting
role in Under the Tonto Rim in 1933. When Hillie contracted Bell's
palsy, Paramount dropped her contract, but she soon recovered and
began working for other studios. In 1934 she co-starred with Ken
Maynard in Mystery Mountain, a Western serial film from Mascot
Pictures. She then starred opposite John Wayne in The Star Packer and
The Trail Beyond for Monogram Pictures. She had some minor roles in
movies for Universal Studios, such as I've Been Around in 1935, but
the studio stopped using her after she spurned romantic advances from
production executive Carl Laemmle, Jr. She also appeared in the
Broadway production of Night of January 16th in 1935.
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.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 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 became better known after her supporting
role in Under the Tonto Rim in 1933. When Hillie contracted Bell's
palsy, Paramount dropped her contract, but she soon recovered and
began working for other studios. In 1934 she co-starred with Ken
Maynard in Mystery Mountain, a Western serial film from Mascot
Pictures. She then starred opposite John Wayne in The Star Packer and
The Trail Beyond for Monogram Pictures. She had some minor roles in
movies for Universal Studios, such as I've Been Around in 1935, but
the studio stopped using her after she spurned romantic advances from
production executive Carl Laemmle, Jr. She also appeared in the
Broadway production of Night of January 16th in 1935.
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