She was born Priscilla Helen Shortridge
March 8, 1914
Indianapolis, Indiana. Her father, Elmer Shortridge, was a railroad yard foreman and her mother, Elizabeth, was a housewife. On her eighteenth birthday she married Gerald Lawson. Tragically her husband died the following year from pneumonia. Priscilla began her career as a model and won the title of Miss Miami Beach. Then she started working as an Earl Carrol chorus girl. A talent scout saw her and offered her a contract at Universal. She made her film debut in the 1935 drama His Night Out. Then she was cast as the beautiful Aurora in the science fiction serial Flash Gordon. The series was a hit and audiences loved her performance earned her a cult following.
Priscilla appeared in more than a dozen films including Wives Never Know, Double Wedding, and The Big Broadcast of 1937. Unfortunately most of her roles were uncredited bit parts. She married actor Alan Curtis on November 14 1937. They divorced three years later. Her final film was the 1941 western Billy The Kid. During World War 2 she enlisted in the Women's Army Corp. Later she became the manager of a stationary store. As she got older she began suffering from alcoholism which led to numerous health problems. Sadly on August 27, 1958 she died from gastroinstestinal bleeding and an ulcer caused by cirrhosis of the liver. Priscilla was only forty-four years old. She was buried at Live Oak Memorial Park in Monrovia, California.
