Arkansans in early Hollywood films

■ Gilbert Maxwell (Anderson) from Little Rock became Broncho Billy and starred in nearly 150 titles.

■ Robin “Bob” Burns, born in Greenwood and raised in Van Buren, was in Waikiki Wedding

(1937) with Bing Crosby.

■ Arkansas’ first film actress Barbara Castleton, from Little Rock, was in 25 silent films including For the Freedom of the World

(1917).

■ Katharine Alexander of Fort Smith landed some starring roles but had supporting roles in The

Painted Veil (1934) with Greta Garbo, That Certain Woman

(1937) with Bette Davis and In

Name Only (1939) with Cary Grant.

■ Betty Francisco, born in Little Rock, worked in Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s with roles in more than 60 films, including two of Harry Langdon’s classic silent comedies The Strong Man (1926) and Long Pants (1927).

■ The first-generation Arkansas actress with the longest career

in film is Little Rock-born Alma Mabel Conner. She went to Hollywood as child actress Ann Gillis and had roles in The Adventures

of Tom Sawyer (1938), Little Orphan Annie, and is the uncredited voice of Faline in 1942 animated Bambi.

■ Dick Powell, born in Mountain View, transformed his career with

Murder My Sweet (1944), a film adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely, which cast him as hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe.

■ Julie Adams had a lengthy career in both film and television but was destined to be remembered as the beautiful swimmer pursued by a prehistoric monster in Creature from the Black Lagoon

(1954) the pioneering 3-D thriller. ■ Alan Ladd made some 80 films, often in pairings with top leading ladies like Veronica Lake (This Gun for Hire, The Glass

Key, and The Blue Dahlia, among others), Olivia de Havilland (The Proud Rebel), and Sophia Loren (Boy on a Dolphin).