View source for Priscilla Lawson

{{Short description|American actress (1914–1958)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Priscilla Lawson
| image              = PRISCILLALawson (cropped).jpg
| imagesize          = 250px
| caption            = Lawson in 1936
| birth_name         = Priscilla Jones Shortridge
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1914|3|8}}
| birth_place        = [[Indianapolis, Indiana]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1958|8|27|1914|2|8}}
| death_place        = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| occupation         = Film actress
| yearsactive        = 1935-1941
| spouses            = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Gerald Lawson|1932|1933|reason=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Alan Curtis (American actor)|Alan Curtis]]|1937|1940|reason=divorce}}
}}
}}

'''Priscilla Jones Lawson''' ({{nee}} '''Shortridge'''; March 8, 1914 &ndash; August 27, 1958), was an American actress best known for her role as [[Princess Aura]] in the original ''[[Flash Gordon (serial)|Flash Gordon]]'' serial (1936).

==Early years==
Born in [[Indianapolis, Indiana]], Lawson was the daughter of Elmer Shortridge, a railroad yard foreman and machinist, and his wife, Elizabeth (née Hess) Shortridge.<ref>{{cite news|title=Father of Actress, Miss Lawson, Dies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10290910/the_oshkosh_northwestern/|work=The Oshkosh Northwestern|agency=Associated Press|date=March 15, 1939|location=Wisconsin, Oshkosh|page=10|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = April 15, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref>

== Career ==
Lawson was a professional model<ref>{{cite news|title=Typical Cinderellas|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10291224/ironwood_daily_globe/|work=Ironwood Daily Globe|date=January 8, 1937|location=Michigan, Ironwood|page=14|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = April 15, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref> by her early twenties and was named Miss Miami Beach in 1935, after which she was employed as an [[Earl Carroll]] chorus girl at the Miami Casino. This gained her a contract with [[Universal Studios]], which used her in a variety of small roles. However, in 1936 she was cast in the serial ''[[Flash Gordon (serial)|Flash Gordon]]'' as the voluptuous daughter of the villain, [[Ming the Merciless]]. Princess Aura's rivalry with [[Dale Arden]] for Flash Gordon's affection was one of the centerpieces of the serial and gained Lawson [[cult figure]] status.

Roy Kinnard wrote in ''Science Fiction Serials'' that "Lawson's notable physical assets were responsible for incurring the wrath of censors" in the filming of ''Flash Gordon''.<ref name=sfs>{{cite book|last1=Kinnard|first1=Roy|title=Science Fiction Serials: A Critical Filmography of the 31 Hard SF Cliffhangers; With an Appendix of the 37 Serials with Slight SF Content|date=1998|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786437450|page=39|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XFoCgAAQBAJ&q=%22Priscilla+Lawson%22+actress&pg=PA39|accessdate=15 April 2017|language=en}}</ref> Co-star [[Jean Rogers]] told him that censors ordered retakes of Chapter 1 of the serial with Lawson "wearing slightly less revealing garb."<ref name=sfs/> Her screen career ended in 1941.<ref>[https://catalog.afi.com/Person/126128-Priscilla-Lawson?sid=e11d2c72-bb92-48b4-8dfd-7f5ccbf3eb6c&sr=11.687032&cp=1&pos=0&isMiscCredit=false "Priscilla Lawson"] at the [[AFI Film Catalog]]</ref>

== Personal life ==
Lawson was married to:
*Gerald A. Lawson (1906-1933), a furniture salesman, on March 8, 1932; he died the following year of croupous pneumonia.
*[[Alan Curtis (American actor)|Alan Curtis]] (1909-1953), American actor, in November 1937. They divorced in 1940.<ref name="pm">{{cite news|title=Not Wanted|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10290671/pottstown_mercury/|work=Pottstown Mercury|agency=Associated Press|date=March 14, 1940|location=Pennsylvania, Pottstown|page=13|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = April 15, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref>

== Later life ==
{{moresources|section|date=November 2023}}
After her second marriage ended, Lawson enlisted in the [[Women's Army Corps]] during [[World War II]]. An unverified rumor claims she lost a leg in an accident while serving in the Army. Another version is that she lost a leg in a 1937 car crash. However, her ''Flash Gordon'' co-star [[Jean Rogers]] denied that Lawson had lost a leg, and it was also rejected in a biographical review in an Indianapolis journal. In later life, she managed a stationery shop in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], and worked for two pottery companies as a finisher.

== Death ==
On August 27, 1958, Lawson died at 44 in [[Monrovia, California]], due to cirrhosis and upper gastrointestinal bleeding caused by a [[Peptic ulcer|duodenal ulcer]]. She was interred at Live Oak Memorial Park in Monrovia.<ref name="rp">{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Scott|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. (2 volume set)|date=2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476625997|page=430|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&q=%22Priscilla+Shortridge%22&pg=PA430|accessdate=15 April 2017|language=en}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{{Portal|Biography|Indiana|Film}}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"
! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Film
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1935|| ''[[His Night Out]]'' || Hatcheck Girl || Uncredited
|-
|1935|| ''[[The Great Impersonation (1935 film)|The Great Impersonation]]'' || Maid || Uncredited
|-
|1936|| ''[[Dangerous Waters (1936 film)|Dangerous Waters]]'' || Valparaiso Bar Girl - Back to Wall || Uncredited
|-
|1936|| ''[[Don't Get Personal (1936 film)|Don't Get Personal]]'' || Bridesmaid || Uncredited
|-
|1936|| ''[[Sutter's Gold]]'' || Native Girl || Uncredited
|-
|1936|| ''[[Flash Gordon (serial)|Flash Gordon]]'' || Princess Aura || Serial
|-
|1936|| ''[[The Phantom Rider (Universal serial)|The Phantom Rider]]'' || Dance-Hall Girl || Serial, Uncredited
|-
|1936|| ''[[Yours for the Asking]]'' || Minor Role || Uncredited
|-
|1936|| ''[[Straight from the Shoulder (1936 film)|Straight from the Shoulder]]'' || Minor Role || Uncredited
|-
|1936|| ''[[Wives Never Know]]'' || Laboratory Assistant || Uncredited
|-
|1936|| ''[[The Big Broadcast of 1937]]'' || Minor Role || Uncredited
|-
|1936|| ''[[Rose Bowl (film)|Rose Bowl]]'' || Florence Taylor ||
|-
|1936|| ''[[The Accusing Finger]]'' || Hat Check Girl || Uncredited
|-
|1936|| ''[[College Holiday]]'' || Student / Phone Operator || Uncredited
|-
|1937|| ''[[Internes Can't Take Money]]'' || Nurse || Uncredited
|-
|1937|| ''[[King of Gamblers]]'' || Grace || Uncredited
|-
|1937|| ''[[Double Wedding (1937 film)|Double Wedding]]'' || Felice ||
|-
|1937|| ''[[The Last Gangster]]'' || Girl in Dive || Uncredited
|-
|1938|| ''[[Arsène Lupin Returns]]'' || Switchboard Operator || Uncredited
|-
|1938|| ''[[The First Hundred Years (film)|The First Hundred Years]]'' || Mary Brown - Lynn's Secretary || Uncredited
|-
|1938|| ''[[The Girl of the Golden West (1938 film)|The Girl of the Golden West]]'' || Nina Martinez ||
|-
|1938|| ''[[Test Pilot (film)|Test Pilot]]'' || Mabel ||
|-
|1938|| ''[[Three Comrades (1938 film)|Three Comrades]]'' || Frau Brunner - Sanatorium Clerk || Uncredited
|-
|1938|| ''[[The Toy Wife]]'' || Dark Woman || Uncredited
|-
|1938|| ''[[Heroes of the Hills]]'' || Madeline Reynolds ||
|-
|1938|| ''[[Three Loves Has Nancy]]'' || Gertie - at the Party || Uncredited
|-
|1939|| ''[[The Women (1939 film)|The Women]]'' || Hairdresser #1 || Uncredited
|-
|1941|| ''[[Billy the Kid (1941 film)|Billy the Kid]]'' || Bessie - Barmaid || Uncredited, (final film role)
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0493305}}
* {{Find a Grave|8426786}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKiBzf5voic Priscilla Lawson in a clip from the ''Flash Gordon'' serial from YouTube]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Priscilla}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1958 deaths]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:Film serial actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Indianapolis]]
[[Category:Deaths from ulcers]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]