Margaret Early

An Alabama native she made a name for herself playing good girl roles in the 1940s. The middle of six children she was born in Birmingham, Alabama on Christmas Day 1919 to William and Gladys Early, both of whom had originally come from Montgomery. She was raised on the family chicken farm rooted in home-sprung tradition and religious faith. Her early acting endeavors usually involved her work in Christmas and Easter pageants at her local Baptist church but in the mid-1930s she found herself starring in leading roles while touring in stock companies, which found her performing in various stage productions in New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. In 1936 while starring in "Idiot's Delight" on Broadway she was spotted by a talent scout who brought her to California for an RKO screen test. She made her screen debut in Stage Door (1937) followed by turns in Jezebel (1938), Judge Hardy and Son (1939), Strike Up the Band (1940), Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1941), and Stage Door Canteen (1943). With 13 film titles to her resume she left movies in 1946 following her appearance in Cinderella Jones (1946) and moved to Laguna Beach where she spent the remainder of her life working as a receptionist for a local doctors office and she continued to be active in the Baptist church and Republican politics. She died in 2000 from complications of congestive heart failure at age 80.