Penny Edwards

Vivacious blue-eyed blonde 'Penny Edwards' (qv) was born in New York City in 1928 and displayed signs of musical talent as a youth. She began studying dance by age six and, as a teen, appeared on Broadway in "The Ziegfeld Follies of 1943". After a couple of other musicals and a stint with the St. Louis Municipal Opera, she was signed by Warner Brothers in 1947. She showed great perk and promise as a second lead, singing and dancing opposite the likes of 'Dennis Morgan' (qv) and 'Ben Blue' (qv) in her film debut, _My Wild Irish Rose (1947)_ (qv). She continued on winningly in the 'Shirley Temple' (qv) vehicle _That Hagen Girl (1947)_ (qv); then alongside Morgan again in _Two Guys from Texas (1948)_ (qv); with 'Donald O'Connor' (qv) and 'Marjorie Main' (qv) in the rube musical _Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' (1948)_ (qv); and in another musical, _Tucson (1949)_ (qv).After a successful vaudeville tour, Penny was signed by Republic Pictures and started off in a series of "prairie flower" ingénue roles while temporarily replacing a pregnant 'Dale Evans' (qv) in a number of 'Roy Rogers' (qv) oaters. In 1951, she wed agent Ralph Winters and had two daughters: 'Deborah Winters' (qv) (born 1954), who would go on to become an actress in her own right, and Rebecca (born 1956). After a succession of "B" movies, Penny left Hollywood to focus on religious work. She later reappeared on the more popular TV shows of the day, including the westerns _Tales of Wells Fargo (1957)_ (qv), _Wagon Train (1957)_ (qv) and _Bonanza (1959)_ (qv), and in light-hearted entertainment alongside 'Robert Cummings' (qv) and 'Red Skelton' (qv) in their respective shows. Penny's lovely, ladylike features also made a significant dent in the commercial market, appearing as "The Lux Girl", "The Palmolive Girl" and "The Tiparillo Girl".Following her divorce in 1958, Penny married 'Jerry Friedman' (qv) and they had a son, David. That 1964 union would end up in the divorce courts as well. Penny retired from show biz completely by the mid-1960s and died, in 1998, of lung cancer, just two days after her 70th birthday.::Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net