American Actress and Entertainer. Killingsworth moved to Los Angeles with her family in 1931, where they opened a canteen that later became a full-fledged restaurant in Hollywood. The restaurant’s success enabled the family to put her through dancing lessons. She left home at 15 to join a skating troupe and would later go on to become the skating and dancing partner of Gene Nelson. Later, she would transition to acting, appearing in such films as 'Silver Skates' (1943), 'Something for the Boys' (1944), 'State Fair' (1945), 'Rainbow Over Texas' (1946), 'Lullaby of Broadway' (1951), 'Sabrina' (1954), 'Red Garters' (1954) and 'Nob Hill' (1954). She also appeared as a "Redette" in the 'Red Skelton Hour' in the 1950s. On July 17, 1955, the day Walt Disney opened the gates for a 90-minute ABC-TV special that introduced the theme park to the world, she was the first person to play Snow White, where she rode atop a float down Main Street as the Disney character. In 1959, she and her then-husband James, began publishing a weekly magazine in Newport Beach that would become the Orange County Illustrated, which folded in the ’80s after the couple divorced. Killingsworth died of cancer.
American Actress and Entertainer. Killingsworth moved to Los Angeles with her family in 1931, where they opened a canteen that later became a full-fledged restaurant in Hollywood. The restaurant’s success enabled the family to put her through dancing lessons. She left home at 15 to join a skating troupe and would later go on to become the skating and dancing partner of Gene Nelson. Later, she would transition to acting, appearing in such films as 'Silver Skates' (1943), 'Something for the Boys' (1944), 'State Fair' (1945), 'Rainbow Over Texas' (1946), 'Lullaby of Broadway' (1951), 'Sabrina' (1954), 'Red Garters' (1954) and 'Nob Hill' (1954). She also appeared as a "Redette" in the 'Red Skelton Hour' in the 1950s. On July 17, 1955, the day Walt Disney opened the gates for a 90-minute ABC-TV special that introduced the theme park to the world, she was the first person to play Snow White, where she rode atop a float down Main Street as the Disney character. In 1959, she and her then-husband James, began publishing a weekly magazine in Newport Beach that would become the Orange County Illustrated, which folded in the ’80s after the couple divorced. Killingsworth died of cancer.
Bio by: Louis du Mort
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