Sally Payne (September , â€" May , ) was an American actress. She
featured in several B-Westerns in the s.Payne worked as a model for
artists before making her first film, Hollywood Hobbies (), where she
appeared in the bit part of a tourist. She became a leading actress in
B films, usually westerns. She also played in comedy shorts for RKO
Radio Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She is most remembered for her
performance as Calamity Jane in the Roy Rogers western Young Bill
Hickok (), as well as acting the role of Belle Starr in Robin Hood of
the Pecos (), where her performing style echoed that of a
contemporary, Una Merkel. Just before her association with Rogers
ended, her status had enlarged from a supporting-role character to
that of first-billed actress.Payne's characters were usually the
tomboy type, often helping men rather than being dependent on them.
She frequently wore men's clothing, carried a weapon, drove
stagecoaches and rode horses. Her male associates identified strongly
with her ability to survive a rough environment like the Old West
frontier, but she was never the object of male fantasies. Rarely did
Payne's characters become physically intimate with her masculine
counterparts; thus if she were called on to display affection of any
sort, the relationships never went beyond the strictly platonic. Thus,
her persona was that of a female sidekick, but never a lover.At one
point in her career, when a studio told Payne to undergo a
rhinoplasty, reporters interviewed her at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital,
where she told them, "I've always found it a pretty good nose, but if
they want to change it, I guess I'll let 'em do it. Things are that
way in Hollywood."
featured in several B-Westerns in the s.Payne worked as a model for
artists before making her first film, Hollywood Hobbies (), where she
appeared in the bit part of a tourist. She became a leading actress in
B films, usually westerns. She also played in comedy shorts for RKO
Radio Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She is most remembered for her
performance as Calamity Jane in the Roy Rogers western Young Bill
Hickok (), as well as acting the role of Belle Starr in Robin Hood of
the Pecos (), where her performing style echoed that of a
contemporary, Una Merkel. Just before her association with Rogers
ended, her status had enlarged from a supporting-role character to
that of first-billed actress.Payne's characters were usually the
tomboy type, often helping men rather than being dependent on them.
She frequently wore men's clothing, carried a weapon, drove
stagecoaches and rode horses. Her male associates identified strongly
with her ability to survive a rough environment like the Old West
frontier, but she was never the object of male fantasies. Rarely did
Payne's characters become physically intimate with her masculine
counterparts; thus if she were called on to display affection of any
sort, the relationships never went beyond the strictly platonic. Thus,
her persona was that of a female sidekick, but never a lover.At one
point in her career, when a studio told Payne to undergo a
rhinoplasty, reporters interviewed her at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital,
where she told them, "I've always found it a pretty good nose, but if
they want to change it, I guess I'll let 'em do it. Things are that
way in Hollywood."
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.