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(From Old Corral collection)
1950s		 
(From Old Corral collection)
1935



(From Old Corral collection)


(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Julie Bishop
Jacqueline Wells
Diane DuVal
Real name: Jacqueline Wells Brown
1914 - 2001


Jacqueline Brown was born in Colorado on August 30, 1914, and the family lived for a time in Texas before arriving in Hollywood in the early 1920s.  The youngster appeared in about a dozen films including the silent serial, THE BAR-C MYSTERY (Pathe, 1926) and then took several years off to attend high school and study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse.

She returned to films as a teenager in the early 1930s, and worked in a half dozen or so Hal Roach shorts at MGM with Charley Chase, Laurel and Hardy, and the 'Boy Friends' series.

She did a trio of early sound cliffhangers. In HEROES OF THE WEST (Universal, 1932), Universal decided to bill her as "Diane DuVal". The April 7, 1932 Film Daily had a blurb about HEROES and her new screen name - extract: "The romantic leads are Onslow Stevenson and Jacqueline Wells. For picture purposes, Universal has changed both of these names. Onslow Stevenson will be Onslow Stevens and Jacqueline Wells as Diane Duval."

The Duval name was quickly dropped and she was back as Jacqueline Wells in CLANCY OF THE MOUNTED (Universal, 1933) with Tom Tyler and TARZAN THE FEARLESS (Principal, 1933) with Buster Crabbe.

She worked with W. C. Fields in TILLIE AND GUS (Paramount, 1933), and was the object of Bela Lugosi's creepy affection in Universal's THE BLACK CAT (Universal, 1934), which also starred Boris Karloff. And she was featured with Laurel and Hardy in THE BOHEMIAN GIRL (MGM, 1936).

The WAMPAS Baby Stars was an annual event that spotlighted new starlets and the event began in the early 1920s. The sponsor was The Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers. Jacqueline Wells was among the 1934 winners, which was the final year for the WAMPAS awards.

Around 1935, Jacqueline Wells became a contract player at Columbia, and over the next five years or so, she did bits, supporting roles, and leads in various films including her first B western, SQUARE SHOOTER (Columbia, 1935) with Tim McCoy.

She then signed with Warner Bros. and became Julie Bishop. There, she was the female lead in WILD BILL HICKOK RIDES (Warners, 1942) with Bruce Cabot, NORTHERN PURSUIT (Warners, 1943) with Errol Flynn, and ACTION IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC (Warners, 1943) with Humphrey Bogart. And she had lesser roles in other Warners films including RHAPSODY IN BLUE (Warners, 1945), the screen bio of George Gershwin which starred Robert Alda, Alexis Smith and Joan Leslie.

In between Columbia and Warners, she did heroine duty in a quartet of Republic oaters: the Three Mesquiteers adventure THE KANSAS TERRORS (Republic, 1939), BACK IN THE SADDLE (Republic, 1941) with Gene Autry, and a pair with Roy Rogers, THE RANGER AND THE LADY (Republic, 1940) and YOUNG BILL HICKOK (Republic, 1940).

Bishop's career slowed after her 1944 marriage to Air Force officer Clarence Shoop and birth of their two children. She and former Tarzan Buster Crabbe re-united in LAST OF THE REDMEN (Columbia, 1947), another Hollywood version of James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Last of the Mohicans (with Crabbe as bad Indian "Magua" and Bishop as "Cora Munro"). You can spot her with John Wayne in SANDS OF IWO JIMA (Republic, 1949) and THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (Warners, 1954). Bishop was also one of the many ladies trekkin' west with Robert Taylor in WESTWARD THE WOMEN (MGM, 1954). Her last film was THE BIG LAND (Warners, 1957) which starred Alan Ladd.

In the 1950s, Julie Bishop did some television, and that included playing the love-struck secretary to Bob Cummings in his first TV series, MY HERO.

In addition to the name changes, Bishop had several hair colors. In some of her early roles (such as TARZAN THE FEARLESS), she's a blonde. But most of us tend to remember her with dark hair ... and her natural hair color was red.

She officially retired around 1957 but did some plays at the Pasadena Playhouse and was involved in various charitable functions.

She was married three times - to wealthy Walter Booth Brooks III from 1936 to 1939; to Major General Clarence A. Shoop from 1944 until his death in 1968; and her third was Beverly Hills surgeon William F. Bergin. The Shoops had two children - son Stephen and daughter Pamela. Pamela got the acting bug and has done a significant amount of TV and film work.

Clarence Shoop participated in the D Day Invasion, became base commander at Muroc Army Air Field (Edwards Air Force Base) in 1945, and as Major General Shoop, he became commander of the California Air National Guard in 1957. He was a military advisor on several films, and after retirement from the Air Force, was an executive with Hughes Aircraft.

In a film career that spanned 30+ years - from 1920s silents through Cinemascope of the 1950s - Julie Bishop did about 75 sound films plus a dozen kid roles in silents.

She passed away from pneumonia on her 87th birthday, August 30, 2001.

  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Jacqueline Wells / Julie Bishop, husband Clarence Shoop, and their daughter Pamela:

     Jacqueline Wells / Julie Bishop: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0084098/
     Pamela Susan Shoop Sweeney: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794870/
     Clarence Shoop: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0794866/

Family Search (free), Ancestry.com (subscription), and newspapers provide more on Julie Bishop and family:

Find A Grave website has Major General Clarence A. Shoop (1907 - 1968) and Julie Shoop Bergin (1914 - 2001) interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Glendale, Los Angeles County, California: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6000981

YouTube has many episodes of the MY HERO TV program with Bob Cummings, Julie Bishop, and John Litel: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bob+cummings+%22My+Hero%22

Daniel Neyer's "The Files of Jerry Blake" website has a webpage on Jacqueline Wells in serials: https://filesofjerryblake.com/serial-heroines/jacqueline-wells/

Getty Images has photos of Jacqueline Wells / Julie Bishop:
With John Wayne in SANDS OF IWO JIMA: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/american-actors-john-wayne-and-julie-bishop-on-the-set-of-news-photo/607436566
With Buster Crabbe in TARZAN THE FEARLESS: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/american-actor-buster-crabbe-as-tarzan-and-wearing-a-loin-news-photo/52762653
With Denise Darcel in WESTWARD THE WOMEN: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/actress-denise-darcel-and-julie-bishop-in-a-scene-from-the-news-photo/1065223824
Many more photos of her: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/photos/jacqueline-wells?assettype=image&family=editorial&phrase=%22JACQUELINE%20WELLS%22&sort=mostpopular



Photo ad for 12 year old Jacqueline Wells in the February, 1927 issue of the Standard Casting Directory.



Universal decided to bill her as "Diane Duval" in the serial HEROES OF THE WEST (Universal, 1932). But that name change was brief. Above from a November, 1932 issue of the Universal Weekly trade publication, available at the Internet Archive.



Tom Tyler and Jacqueline Wells starred in CLANCY OF THE MOUNTED (Universal, 1933; 12 chapters). She was about 19 years old when she did this cliffhanger. Above from a December, 1932 issue of the Universal Weekly trade publication, available at the Internet Archive.



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is from the pressbook for the Three Mesquiteers adventure THE KANSAS TERRORS (Republic, 1939). Raymond Hatton and Jacqueline Wells shown in the upper right.



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from L-to-R are Henry Brandon, Jacqueline Wells, Chuck Baldra, and Roy Rogers in THE RANGER AND THE LADY (Republic, 1940).

Serial fans remember Brandon for his role as the titled villain in DRUMS OF FU MANCHU (Republic, 1940; 15 chapters).



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