Forgotten Maybelline Model, Jean Abbey, 1940, first woman to broadcast a presidential inauguration. First woman to have her own radio commentary show

Meredith Howard Harless wrote two syndicated columns: “At Random” under her own name, and “Selective Tuning” under the name Jean Abbey on the Washington, D.C. social scene and women’s fashions.

In 1935, Meredith joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in Hollywood, California working in public relations, advertising, and fashion, working directly with Louis B. Mayer. While at MGM

With the outbreak of World War II, Meredith concentrated on her writing and radio career with the Hecht Broadcasting Company. In 1940, she became the first woman to broadcast a presidential inauguration, and the first woman to have her own radio commentary show. In addition to her broadcasting work, Meredith volunteered with the United States Treasury Department to raise a total of $250 million of war bonds,

More about this amazing, woman click here

MGM Studio Brat meets, The Maybelline Kid.

Evelyn, Tom Lyle, Bill Williams with his girlfriend Pauline Mac Donald at Tom Lyle's Villa Valentino - 1941.  Sparkie the dog is in the float.

Pauline was a "Studio Brat."  She loved to eat and sleep dance and was used to a rigorous training regime at MGM.  Her father Andy Mac Donald, was a special effects pioneer who ran seven departments, including the construction department and supervised hundreds of men who built sets for the studio's musical extravaganzas.   Pauline's friends included Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Deanna Durbin, and even Fox girl, Shirley Temple when little Shirley made pictures at M.G.M. with Bill Bojangles Robinson.

Pauline was invited to all the cast parties and was loved by everyone who knew her.  As a teenager, she spent every free minute at the studio practicing dance routines with her  teachers, Bill Bojangles Robinson and Eleanor Powell, who were both impressed by the young girl's ability to move her feet so fast, master complicated steps and work tirelessly.   Eleanor Powell believed she had a career at  M.G.M., and encouraged some of the biggest producers and directors to keep an eye on her.

Pauline's father  worried about his only daughter becoming a Louis B. Mayer puppet. He knew how the heartache of rejection many starlets faced could take them to the the point of throwing themselves off the Hollywood Sign committing suicide, doing drugs or drinking themselves into ruin.  Her mother wanted her daughter to have the career she'd once dreamed of, but was  concerned Pauline wasn’t prepared for the real world at 15. To balance her daughter's ambitions she enrolled her in Cotillion where she might prepare to be a Debutante as well. 

It was here that Pauline Mac Donald met Bill Williams, his mother Evelyn and his uncle Tom Lyle Williams, founder of the Maybelline Co. 

 Read more about Pauline  in The Maybelline Story.