Western and Serial Heroines

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Barbara Weeks
1913 - 2003

Barbara Weeks was a 1931 WAMPAS Baby Star winner, and her career amounted to about 30 films, of which 8 were westerns starring Tim McCoy, Buck Jones, Tom Tyler and Charles Starrett. She was once married to Guinn "Big Boy" Williams.

Many sources mistakenly report that she passed away in 1954. Boyd Magers provided an update: Barbara Weeks was born July 4, 1913 according to her own interview in the book Sound of Silence, published in '98. The interview was done in '96. She was born in Somerville, MA and got into the business through the Ziegfeld Follies --- "Whoopee" in particular in 1928, followed by the film version.

In Boyd's Western Clippings issue #56 (November-December, 2003), Michael Fitzgerald has a lengthy bio on Weeks, including: she was born in Somerset, MA on July 4, 1913. She quit the film business in the late 1930s after marrying Lockheed test pilot Lewis Parker in 1938. Barbara was widowed when Parker's plane disappeared on a flight over the North Atlantic after World War II. She did fashion modeling in New York, and married William Cox in 1949, and they had a son in 1950, Schuyler John Wing Cox. The marriage was short-lived, and Barbara became a secretary, and in later life, resided with friends in Las Vegas for five and a half years. Weeks passed away on June 24, 2003 in Las Vegas, a few weeks short of her 90th birthday.

Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on Barbara Weeks: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0917298/

(From Old Corral collection)

Above are George Cooper, Buck Jones and Barbara Weeks in FORBIDDEN TRAIL (Columbia, 1932).

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above are Charles Starrett, Barbara Weeks and Bruce Lane in TWO-FISTED SHERIFF (Columbia, 1937). Earlier, Bruce Lane was 'Yancie Lane', the star of TRAIL OF THE HAWK (Affiliated Pictures, 1935).

(From Old Corral image collection)

Sheila LeGay
Sheila Manners/Mannors/Manors
Sheila Bromley
1911 - 2003

Sheila was born in California in 1911. Her film credits include the names of Sheila LeGay, Sheila Bromley, Sheila Manners/Mannors/Manors, and she began her Hollywood career in early 1930s sound films and continued working through the World War II years before doing USO, stage work, and TV work.

Her earliest films, billed as Sheila LeGay, were B-westerns with Tom Tyler at Syndicate circa 1930.

During the 1930s, she worked at Monogram, Tiffany, Allied, Columbia, Supreme, Republic and Warners with range heroes Bill Cody, Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Tim McCoy, Johnny Mack Brown, Dick Foran and John Wayne. During the 1950s and 1960s, she did bits and minor supporting roles in a dozen or so films.

Les Adams has Sheila identified in about 75 films, and of that number, 17 are westerns.

Sheila passed away on July 23, 2003.

Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on Sheila Manners/Mannors/Bromley/LeGay: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0111355/

The Independent.co.uk website has an obituary on Sheila titled "Sheila Bromley - Hollywood actress with multiple screen names who was a leading lady to John Wayne": http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sheila-bromley-37007.html

(Courtesy of Ed Tabor)

Above from L-to-R are Andy Shuford, Sheila, and Bill Cody in a lobby card from LAND OF WANTED MEN (Monogram, 1932). She was billed as Sheila Manors in this oater.

(From Old Corral collection)

Above - Sheila with a young John Wayne in a tender scene from WESTWARD HO (Republic, 1935), Wayne's first film under the Republic Pictures logo. In this western, she was billed as Sheila Bromley.

Veda Ann Borg
1915 - 1973

Veda Ann Borg's career lasted about 25 years, from the mid 1930s through about 1960.

She did about 80 films of various types, and that includes about a dozen westerns and a couple of serials. Her two cliffhangers were THE SHADOW (Columbia, 1940) and JUNGLE RAIDERS (Columbia, 1945).

She was often a wise-crackin', fast-talking, tough cookie ... not the quiet ingenue that was typical of the B films of the period. A good example (non-western) is her portrayal of the taxi driver chauffeuring Tom Conway around in THE FALCON IN HOLLYWOOD (RKO, 1944).

She was severely injured in an automobile accident in the late 1930s, and reconstructive surgery had to be done on her face.

One of her marriages was to Andrew V. McLaglen (son of actor Victor McLaglen), and they had a son, Andrew McLaglen, Jr. McLaglen (Sr.) is a prolific film and TV director, having helmed later John Wayne films such as McLINTOCK! and CAHILL-US MARSHAL, as well as episodes of GUNSMOKE, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, more.

Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on Veda Ann Borg: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0096458/

Jim Tipton's Find-A-Grave website notes that Veda Ann Borg was cremated: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6657976

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above, Veda Ann Borg with Bob Steele in a crop from a lobby card from MARKED TRAILS (Monogram, 1944).