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(Born: 1899 in San Francisco,
California - Died: 1989 in Palm Springs, California)
A former member of Gus Edwards' near-legendary vaudeville troupe,
blonde American leading lady Josephine Hill came to prominence in
the 1910s opposite Chaplin imitator Billy West.
From low-budget slapstick comedy, it was on to low-budget
B-Westerns, where Hill found a berth opposite Gower Gulch rebel Leo
Maloney, a tireless mini-tycoon who not only produced, directed, and
starred in his own films but often also contributed to the
screenplays. Many believed Hill and Maloney to be man and wife
offscreen as well, but Hill in fact married yet another low-budget
cowboy star, Jack Perrin.
An otherwise accomplished stunt woman, Hill came close to being
clawed to death by a leopard during the filming of the 1922 serial A
Dangerous Adventure, but in spite of such mishaps she remained
almost fearless and was one of the best horsewomen in the business.
Like so many of her contemporaries, Josephine Hill's career suffered
at the advent of sound when Westerns and action adventures suddenly
fell out of favor. |
