Mary Ashcraft

Born in Arkansas in 1905, Mary Ashcraft spent at least a few of her formative years in Oklahoma before heading to California to pursue her show business dreams.

She was saved by none other than Gertrude Ederle (1905-2003), the first woman to swim the English Channel who also happened to be one of the stars of the film. Whether those events actually took place or they were merely an invention of a studio publicity department is unknown, but it was one of Ashcraft's first mentions in the press.

Her first known screen appearance came in the film, "Swim Girl, Swim" (1927), a move that almost had disastrous consequences. If the reports of the day are accurate, she nearly drowned while filming in the water at Santa Monica after suffering a cramp and getting caught in a riptide.

She went on to appear in titles such as "Whoopee!" (1930), "Palmy Days" (1931), and "Dante's Inferno" (1935). A beautiful redhead, she was perhaps ahead of her time in connecting her appearance to her diet. She was vocal about fresh fruits and vegetables being the mainstays of her meals and she ate meat only on occasion.

In 1931 she wed Charles Bohny (1906-1963), a cameraman for Howard Hughes productions who just so happened to be the younger brother of movie star Billie Dove (1903-1997).

Ashcraft and 11 other actresses (out of 300) won a 2-day beauty contest sponsored by Paramount Pictures in March, 1932. The celebrity judges were actress Carole Lombard, costume designer Travis Banton and director William C. de Mille.

The union did not last, however, and the couple divorced in 1937. Leaving show business behind, she married at least two additional times.