Orien Heyward

Ravishing blonde Orien Heyward was born Alma Katherine Haywood in Kentucky, one of seven siblings. At the age of 14, she was named "the South's most patrician beauty", though she did not come from a well-to-do family. Under the name 'Kitty Barnett', she enjoyed a successful career as a high fashion model in New York and was featured on the cover of several popular magazines. A noted hat designer, G. Howard Hodge, referred to her as "the most beautiful girl in the world of hats". She also had a hand in designing some of the gowns in which she posed for photo sessions. In view of her obvious physical attributes, it was inevitable that movie producers would eventually knock on her door. In due course, she was signed under contract by Paramount's head of production, B.P. Schulberg, having since adopted her mother's christian name. Alas, Orien's movie career was doomed from the beginning. It began and ended after just two bottom-of-the-bill features (she had a speaking part in only the second one of these: She Asked for It (1937)). Neither picture made any money at the box office. Orien seems to have lost heart after this experience. In May 1938, she married a Los Angeles businessman and devoted herself to family life.