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In 1940, a blonde, sultry-looking model from Fort Worth, Texas (birth name Marilyn Llewelling) calling herself Marilyn Merrick, was cast in two Warner Bros. features and one short. She also had a role in "Dr. Christian Meets the Women (RKO)", and one of the two leading ladies opposite Johnny Mack Brown in in "Ragtime Cowboy Joe(Universal)". The WAMPAS Baby Stars, a yearly selection of 13 promising starlets, was conducted by the Western Association of Motion Pictures Advertisers from the early 1920s through the mid-1930s. Marilyn was a Baby Star but not during the WAMPAS sponsorship. In 1940, the Motion Pictures Publicist Association selected 13 "Baby Stars", who were featured in a Harriet Parsons-produced, Republic Pictures-distributed series called "Meet the Stars" in a 1941 entry called "Baby Stars." No claim was made that the starlets in this shot were WAMPAS selections. The 13 starlets in this short were: Ella Bryan, Lucia Carroll, Peggy Diggins, Lorraine Elliott, Jayne Hazard, Joan Leslie, Kay Leslie, Gay Parkes, Lois Ranson, Shelia Ryan, Patricia Van Clive, Tanya Widrin, and Marilyn Merrick. Two months later, March 3, 1941, Republic Pictures Corporation signed Marilyn Merrick to a Term Players Contract (with six-months options), changed her name to Lynn Merrick, and this 21-year-old actress made 22 films for Republic until her contract expired on March 30, 1943. She was the leading lady in 17 of those films, opposite Don "Red" Barry in 16 of them. Columbia Pictures then used Lynn Merrick in 17 films over the next three years, primarily as a lead or second lead in the majority of them, especially those from 1943 and 1944.
