Happy Birthday Barbara Payton

Margie: Edna, today is the birthday of actress Barbara Payton (1927- 1967). I bet our readers never heard of her. Actually, I probably never would have either but she was in some of the movie magazines I used to read.

Remember that magazine called Confidential? Lawsy me, I didn't dare let Mama catch me reading that. She said movie magazines were "pure trash."

Edna: Hmm, count me in with our readers who've never heard of her. But I have to say, it doesn't surprise me one bit that you'd be reading magazines Mama thought was trashy.

Goodness, but she wasn't very old when she died. What happened?

Margie: Edna, it's a tragic story. She supposedly got her movie roles via the old casting couch routine then she began drinking which led to her being called a "party girl." That was not what a female wanted to be called back then.

In the end she died a prostitute on a park bench. I wonder if the library has her autobiography?

Edna: Oh my, that is a sad story! But I bet it's not an unusual one, especially for Hollywood in those days. I'd be curious to read her autobiography, her story sounds like the kind of thing they would make a movie-of-the-week out of.

Would I know any of her movies?

Margie: Probably not. You never liked that kind. I do know one thing for sure, Edna. She was a smart lady to have an affair with that delicious Guy Madison. What a hunk!!!