Biography
Born Priscilla Jones Shortridge on March 8, 1914, in Indianapolis, she was the daughter of a locomotive mechanic. The dark-haired, voluptuous Priscilla Lawson worked as a professional model in her early twenties. In 1935, after being crowned "Miss Miami Beach," she found employment as an Earl Carroll chorus girl at a local casino.
With her exotic and striking appearance, her pageant win attracted the attention of Universal Pictures, which signed her to a contract. She started with small starlet roles, often playing nurses, hat check girls, native women, switchboard operators, and secretaries in films such as His Night Out (1935), The Great Impersonation (1935), The Phantom Rider (1936), and The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936). Throughout her Hollywood tenure, she mostly appeared in similar minor parts but occasionally had featured roles in movies including Rose Bowl (1936), Double Wedding (1937), The Girl of the Golden West (1938), Test Pilot (1938), and Heroes of the Hills (1938).
Priscilla's brief and modest career in the 1930s culminated with her portrayal of the alluring and scheming Princess Aura, daughter of Ming the Merciless, in the classic serial Rocket Ship (1938), a role that earned her cult status. Universal dropped her within a year or so, and MGM signed her in 1937. However, her film career ended within five years, with her final appearances being minor roles as a hairdresser in The Women (1939) and a barmaid in Billy the Kid (1941).
She was briefly married at 18 and later wed actor Alan Curtis, her second husband, though that marriage was short-lived. During World War II, Priscilla joined the Women's Army Corps under her married name. It is believed she lost a leg in a war-related jeep accident and later ran a stationery shop in Los Angeles after leaving active duty.
Her ex-husband, Curtis, passed away on February 2, 1953, at the age of 43. Priscilla died a few years later, on August 27, 1958, at age 44, in the Veterans' Administration hospital in Los Angeles. Her death was attributed to cirrhosis of the liver and upper gastrointestinal bleeding caused by a duodenal ulcer.
