Sheila Bromley (born Louise Fulton; October 31, 1907 – July 23, 2003),[1][3] also billed early in her career as Sheila LeGay, Sheila Manners, Sheila Mannors or Sheila Manors, was an American television and film actress. She is best known for her roles in B-movies, mostly Westerns of the era.

Sheila Bromley
Bromley in Danger Ahead (1935)
Born
Louise Fulton [1]

(1907-10-31)October 31, 1907
DiedJuly 23, 2003(2003-07-23) (aged 95)
Other names
  • Sheila LeGay
  • Sheila Manners
  • Sheila Mannors
  • Sheila Manors
OccupationActress
Years active1930–1975
Spouses
  • Arthur Morris Applebaum[2]
Jairus Bellamy
(m. 1945)

Early years

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Louise Fulton was born in San Francisco, California. She attended Hollywood High School, and her first acting experience came at the Pasadena Playhouse.[4] She was a Miss California.[when?][5]

Career

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Bromley began her career in the early 1930s on contract with Monogram Pictures, she was first billed as Sheila LeGay starring in 1930 westerns alongside Tom Tyler. She frequently co-starred with Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Johnny Mack Brown, Bill Cody, and Dick Foran. She first starred alongside Bill Cody in the 1932 western Land of Wanted Men. She starred opposite John Wayne in the 1935 films Westward Ho & Lawless Range and the 1937 film Idol of the Crowds. Bromley appeared uncredited in the Marx Brothers film Horse Feathers (1932) where she delivered the famous line "The Dean is furious! He's waxing wroth!" In 1944, she appeared in the touring production of Good Night Ladies. [citation needed] Bromley performed on Broadway in Time for Elizabeth (1948).[6]

In 1960, she appeared as a central character Mrs. Spencer alongside Paul Brinegar's character Wishbone in the Rawhide episode "Incident of the Deserter". She appeared in one episode of I Love Lucy as Helen Erickson Kaiser, the childhood friend of Lucy Ricardo. She made five guest appearances on Perry Mason during the series' nine-year run on CBS. In her first appearance in 1959 she played co-defendant Agnes Nulty in "The Case of the Borrowed Brunette". In 1962 she played murderer Elizabeth Dow in "The Case of the Mystified Miner", and in 1964 she played Alice Bradley in "The Case of the Nervous Neighbor". She also guest-starred in a 1965 episode of The Cara Williams Show.

During World War II she worked often for the USO,[4] continuing that service until the war ended in 1945. There she met her second husband, Jairus Bellamy. She is credited with seventy-five films in her career, of which seventeen were westerns, for which she is best known. Bromley retired from films in the 1970s and lived in the Greater Los Angeles Area until her death.[citation needed]

Death

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On July 23, 2003, Bromley died in Los Angeles, California. The reference work Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2003 gave her age as 95.[3]

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b Birth Registry, CaliforniaBirthIndex.org. Accessed June 29, 2023.
  2. ^ Vincent Sherman (February 5, 2015). Studio Affairs: My Life as a Film Director. University Press of Kentucky. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-8131-5739-9.
  3. ^ a b Lentz, Harris M. III (2004). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2003: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture. McFarland. pp. 48–49. ISBN 9780786452088. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Vallance, Tom. "Sheila Bromley". The Independent. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  5. ^ Senn, Bryan (2006). Golden Horrors: An Illustrated Critical Filmography of Terror Cinema, 1931–1939. McFarland. p. 409. ISBN 978-0-7864-2724-6. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  6. ^ "Sheila Bromley". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on January 18, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
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