Linda Stirling

American leading woman, a popular action star of serials in the 1940s. She studied music, dance, and drama as a child and received a scholarship to a Hollywood acting school. But she arrived in Hollywood to discover the school had closed, and she took a job as a showgirl at the Earl Carroll Theatre in Hollywood. She modeled in fashion advertisements and one ad led to a screen test. She was cast as a model in The Powers Girl (1943), but more importantly, she was again spotted in an advertisement, this time by executives of Republic Studios, who were looking for a beautiful but athletic woman to star in their upcoming serial, The Tiger Woman (1944). Despite having no experience in the kind of stunts and athletics that would be required, Stirling was able to convince not only the executives but ace stuntman Yakima Canutt of her capability. She won the role and a contract from Republic, and played hard-riding and -fighting heroines in numerous serials, Westerns, and low-budget adventure films over the next three or four years. She married a screenwriter for Republic, Sloan Nibley in 1946 and shortly thereafter retired from movies. She made a few guest appearances on television in the 1950s, but spent most of her later years doing college work (as both student and teacher) and attending to her family life. She was widowed in 1990 and died of cancer in 1997.