,
Gail Patrick, and Verna Hillie were finalists in Paramount's "Panther Woman" competition (1932) Hillie began acting as a teenager in
Detroit,
Michigan, where she got a part in a
radio drama on station
WWJ. Against her wishes, her mother submitted her photo to a national competition for the role of "Lota the Panther Woman" in
Paramount's 1932 film
Island of Lost Souls. When Paramount contacted her for a tryout, she reluctantly agreed, but eventually came to enjoy the process. She lost the competition to
Kathleen Burke, but the studio gave her a contract anyway, starting her with a
bit part in
Madame Butterfly. She also appeared in the
Broadway production of
Night of January 16th in 1935. ==Personal life==