Patricia Hall (1924-2010) was hands-down the most photographed woman of the 1940s, appearing in hundreds of magazines. She was born Patricia Barbara Hall in Seattle, Washington to Harry and Edith Hall. She was raised in Orange County, California until her teens when her parents decided to live in Oregon. Patricia opted to stay in California because she loved the weather. Her parents were reluctant to agree to it, but she proved them wrong by supporting herself and never once asking for a loan.
Patricia enrolled in courses at Fullerton Community College while working part-time as a factory canning goods. She was later hired as a stenographer, which is when she was discovered by a photographer who sold one of her photographs to Popular Photography. She was gorgeous. She had blonde hair and green eyes. In addition, she was a savvy business-minded person who acted as her own agent. She carried scrapbooks with her, sent greeting cards to prospective modeling agencies, etc. This led to a successful acting career after Buddy Westmore, a makeup artist, got her a contract with Universal Studios. She never once studied acting though. She learned it by doing it, like some of the greatest instructors would say is the proper way to learn it.
Patricia enrolled in courses at Fullerton Community College while working part-time as a factory canning goods. She was later hired as a stenographer, which is when she was discovered by a photographer who sold one of her photographs to Popular Photography. She was gorgeous. She had blonde hair and green eyes. In addition, she was a savvy business-minded person who acted as her own agent. She carried scrapbooks with her, sent greeting cards to prospective modeling agencies, etc. This led to a successful acting career after Buddy Westmore, a makeup artist, got her a contract with Universal Studios. She never once studied acting though. She learned it by doing it, like some of the greatest instructors would say is the proper way to learn it.
Among her films were Every Girl Should Be Married (1948), Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (1949), Riding High (1950), and Two Tickets to Broadway (1951). She was usually cast in a swimsuit. It was by the 1950s that she became the most photographed model in the world according to columnist Gene Sherman, having posted for 5,000 photographs and appeared in hundreds of magazines. She was crowned with some hilarious titles too, such as Miss Seven-and-a-Half Cent Cup of Coffee, Miss Refrigerated Air, Miss Vigoro, Miss Cottage Cheesecake, Miss Beautiful Feet, Miss Good Posture, Miss Cedar Chest, and Miss Everything. Her greatest title though was Girl with the Most Beautiful Legs, which was on the front page of most newspapers in the country.
Her career declined afterwards. A failed screen test at 20th Century-Fox crushed her hopes of being an actress, saying
“very few kids become stars. I guess I’m one of those who just missed. .” She made an interesting decision that -rather than wearing swimsuits- she wanted to design swimsuits. She started her own line of them and was very successful. On Nov 9, 1963, she married a grocer named Lewis Kenneth Coil. They’d spend their retirement in Sarasota, Florida.
50s
