1938. Joan Perry was a model when, dancing with an escort in New York’s Central Park Casino, she caught the eye of Harry Cohn, the head of Columbia Pictures. He invited her to make a screen test, on which he lavished 1,200 feet of film. “He really must go for this gal,” whispered one of his hirelings. “He’s made whole features that cost less!” Joan was signed to a studio contract in 1935, the year before Rita Hayworth joined its roster. Cohn, a notorious lothario whose first marriage was on the skids, told Joan: “Hayworth will be a star, and you’ll be my wife.” When the couple married in 1941, she retired with 19 movies under her belt. Photo by A L “Whitey” Schafer.
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