Cat. #00051132: JULIE BISHOP

Charming vintage 5x7-inch swimsuit sepia-tone portrait, boldly signed and inscribed in blue fountain pen in the 1940s. In good condition. Originally known as Jacqueline Wells, Julie Bishop began her 35-year film career as a child actress in silents in 1923. Blossoming into gorgeous leading lady material, she became a reigning queen of "B"-pictures throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, toiling away at Universal, where she starred in the horror gem The Black Cat (1934); Monogram, where she made The Mouthpiece (1934); Hal Roach, which featured her in The Bohemian Girl (1936); and Producers Pictures, where she shone in the thriller Torture Ship (1939). After switching her name to Julie Bishop and reinventing herself from imperiled ingenue to self-assured, quip-spewing, all-purpose leading lady at Columbia. Though many of her roles under her new name were secondary, including the creepy gem The Hidden Hand in 1942, they attracted attention to her acting abilities, and even gave her an occasional opportunity to sing.  Among her better assignments during this period were such roles as Mrs. Ira Gershwin in Rhapsody in Blue (1945) and John Wayne's wistful one-night stand in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).