Born Mary Elizabeth Greear, the actress best known as Joan Barclay came out to Hollywood when her mother, anxious to leave Minnesota's cold climate, put "Florida" and "California" in a hat and let young Mary Elizabeth draw. One of her earliest acting jobs was a role in The Gaucho (1927) with Douglas Fairbanks, who wanted to make her his next ...
August 31, 1914, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Died
November 22, 2002, Palm Desert, California, United States
Place Of Birth
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Height
5' 4" (1.63 m)
Profession
Actress
Spouse
Leroy Hillman (m. 1945–1967), George Sullivan
Children
Donna Hillman-Walsh, Lloyd Hillman
Star Sign
Virgo
#
Quote
1
The shooting was fast and hectic in those days. I was used to it, and I enjoyed it.
2
The one who was the nicest to me was [James Cagney]. He used to take me and sit me down in his dressing room at Warners and say, "Now, Geraine, you have an opportunity here that you seem not to realize. You should go take acting lessons, singing lessons, dancing lessons, and you could become a star." I said, "Well, yeah, Jimmy, thanks a lot, I'll do that." And of course it went in one ear and out the other, I didn't do one darn thing about it. I was just frivolous-minded, and as long as I was working and making money, I didn't mind just being a nobody.
Married three times. First husband, Paul Fitzgerald, was a Marine. Second husband, and the father of her two children, Leroy D. Hillman, was an heir to a family fortune. Her marriage to third husband, George Sullivan, lasted 18 years until his death.
3
Had two children by husband Paul Hillman, Lloyd and Donna. Her son died in a car accident in 1967.
$19 Million
