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Versatile blond leading lady born Dorthea Sally Eilers on December 12,
1908 in New York she studied to be a dancer before heading to Hollywood
in
her
teens. She joined
the
Mack
Sennett
troupe
in the mid-1920s, graduating from bathing beauty roles to the lead in
Sennett's 1928 feature The Good-Bye Kiss; that same year, she was selected
as one of the WAMPAS "baby stars." One of the busiest actresses
in the early-talkie era, Sally appeared opposite James Dunn in a series
of popular Fox vehicles, including Bad Girl (1931), Sailor's Luck (1932)
and Arizona to Broadway (1933). She was married to Hoot Gibson in 1930,
but the union fell apart as her star soared and his diminished.
While
never a major star, Eilers retained her popularity into the late 1930s,
tackling such tricky roles as the Aimee Semple McPherson-ish heroine
in 1938's Tarnished Angels. She eased into character roles in the 1940s,
the most intriguing of which was her characterization of James Lydon's
mother in the 1945 Hamlet derivation Strange Illusion. Sally Eilers
retired from moviemaking in 1951 after completing her work on Stage to
Tucson.
Salley died January 5, 1978 in Woodland Hills, California.
Credit
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