Iris Meredith - Cowboy and Serial Heroine

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from L-to-R are Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith and Bob Nolan in SPOILERS OF THE RANGE (Columbia, 1939).

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

In the front row are Sons of the Pioneers member Bob Nolan (on the paint hoss), Iris Meredith and Charles Starrett in a lobby card from BLAZING SIX SHOOTERS (1940). In the back row are several other SOP members --- Lloyd Perryman (far left), Tim Spencer is behind Nolan, two unidentifieds are behind Iris and Starrett, and Hugh Farr is on the far right.

Iris Meredith is one of my favorite heroines ... and she is certainly among the most beautiful leading ladies of the B western and cliffhanger.

Her film career spanned from the early 1930s to the early 1940s. Most of her work was at Columbia Pictures in serials like THE SPIDER'S WEB (1938), OVERLAND WITH KIT CARSON (1939) and THE GREEN ARCHER (1940), as well as westerns starring Charles Starrett, Bill Elliott and Bob Allen. Her last films were a couple of sagebrush adventures for Monogram and PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation).

In later life, Iris Meredith fought a long battle with cancer which disfigured her face ... but the illness did not damper her grace, wit and spirit.

Meredith was married to Columbia Pictures director/assistant director Abby Berlin who is best remembered for helming many of the BLONDIE films of the 1940s. He later worked on TV shows for Columbia's Screen Gems TV subsidiary.

Les Adams has Iris identified in about 50 films, of which 32 are westerns and 3 are serials.

You may want to check the In Search Of ... page on the Old Corral, and go to the California Death Records database. There you will find a record for: Iris Marie Berlin, birthdate and location of 6/3/1915 and Iowa, Mother's maiden name of Ross, Father's last name of Shunn, and she passed away on 1/22/1980. There is a corresponding record in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

Above and below, Iris Meredith with Charles Starrett in RIDERS OF THE BLACK RIVER (Columbia, 1939).

(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

(Courtesy of Randy Laing)

Above, Bill Elliott and Iris in OVERLAND WITH KIT CARSON (Columbia, 1939) cliffhanger.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from L-to-R are Hank Bell, with his customary moustache, Starrett, Kenneth MacDonald, Iris Meredith and Ed Cobb in SPOILERS OF THE RANGE (Columbia, 1939).

Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on Iris Meredith: http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0580585/

There's a website devoted to the Spider pulp magazine, and it also has information on Iris Meredith and the Columbia Spider serials: http://members.aol.com/PulpSpider/page11.html