Here Kitty, Kitty
I came across this short article as I was trying to organize my files and thought you all might enjoy it.
Los Angeles Times, That Certain Party, March 3, 1935–
A couple of weeks ago there came to Paramount studios a press agent, one Bill Cupples, from a certain lion farm. He wanted Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Claudette Colbert and Carole Lombard to pose with the animals for pictures. “Perfectly harmless” he assured everybody. “Those cats wouldn’t even scratch the fleas on them.” (He meant on the lions, of course.) The studio boys said they would let him know, since that’s always better than phoning the police.Last Wednesday a Paramount man called Cupples. He wished to bring Rosalind Culli, a newcomer, out to the lion farm for photographs. Cupples wasn’t there. An attendant told the studio press that Mr.Cupples wasn’t dead and certainly wasn’t going to die, but that he was in the hospital suffering from what the cats did to him.
I don’t know why I found that so amusing. Poor Rosalind Culli! Talk about literally throwing your clients to the lions. Oy vey. Speaking of which, Rosalind played Opal Madvig with George Raft in “The Glass Key” (1935). She ended up dropping the “Culli” and became known as Rosalind Keith before retiring from films in 1944. You can check her out yourself by clicking on the thumbnail below:
I was delighted to read article about Rosalind Culli (Rosalind Keith). She was a distant cousin of mine. I especially appreciate your showing her photograph. The news articles and photos of her which my family had were lost over years. As a girl I remember seeing them. When my parents passed away eight and nine years ago, I searched for the information on Rosalind and could find nothing. When I looked at the photo you have, I was startled. My first cousin, Donna Culli, (sadly, also now gone) looked just like her.
Thank you for the interesting website.
Best regards,
Susan Culli Hart
So cool!! Susan I just sent you an e-mail about Rosalind. xoxo