Actress. One of Hollywood’s earliest typecast ‘dumb blondes’, she is probably best remembered for her part in 1939’s Oscar-winning classic “Gone with the Wind”. Raised in Northern California from infancy, she became a model as a teenager, in 1930 was signed by MGM as a Goldwyn Girl, made her silver screen bow in the 1930 Eddie Cantor feature “Whoopee!”, and in 1932 moved to RKO. After appearing in such forgettable flicks as “The Roadhouse Murder” and “The Iceman’s Ball” (both 1932), she got her big break later that same year in a rather unusual manner; one day on the set of the comedy “The Half-Naked Truth” director Gregory la Cava and his star, the gorgeous-but-difficult Lupe Velez, were in the midst of a shouting match when la Cava yelled “I don’t need you, I can make a star out of the next girl who walks thru that door” just as Shirley walked in. The director was as good as his word, casting her in a number of features including “Dancing Lady”, “Melody Cruise”, and “Morning Glory” (all 1933), 1934’s “The Merry Widow”, “Calm Yourself” (1935), and the 1937 “Fit for a King”. Shirley was the legendary Lady Godiva for 1937’s “Nothing Sacred” then in 1939 was Belle’s Girl in the mega hit “Gone with the Wind”. Joining the USO at the outbreak of World War II, she entertained front-line units units in Europe and Africa before returning home in 1943 where she starred with Karl Malden and Mario Lanza during the Broadway run of the patriotic-themed “Winged Victory”. She made a final big screen appearance in 1947’s “The Homestretch, was seen in a 1966 episode of “My Mother the Car”, and over her last 30 working years was kept busy with television commercials and local theater productions. Shirley lived out her days in Los Angeles, went by the name of Nash at some point, and died of the effects of advanced age; at her demise, “Gone with the Wind” continued to be shown twice a day, every day, probably forever, at an Atlanta multiplex. (bio by: Bob Hufford)