Paula Stone

Birth

She was the daughter of Fred Stone, a stage actor, dancing comedian, and owner of the Fred Stone theatrical stock company. Her mother, Allene Crater Stone, acted with her father and was a singer. The family had a ranch at Lyme, Connecticut.

Theater

Stone made her debut in May 1925 at the Illinois Theater in Chicago, Illinois, in Stepping Stones. She was 13 years old. Her sister, Dorothy Stone, made her stage debut at 16. Dorothy performed with Fred Stone at the Globe Theater in Manhattan, in Criss-Cross in December 1926. Stone was then 14 and training to be a stage actress within two years. Her first ambition was to be a singer like her mother. Another sister, Carol, was 12. She also aspired to go into theater work.

Stone appeared with Fred and Dorothy in Ripples, a show which debuted in New Haven, Connecticut, in January 1930. The first New York show of the same production came at the New Amsterdam Theater in February. Stone and her father teamed in Smiling Faces, produced by the Shubert Theater owners in 1931. Mack Gordon and Harry Revel wrote the music and lyrics. The musical had its first night in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Stone toured in You Can't Take It With You, Idiots Delight, and other plays. In November 1940 she was cast with Marcy Wescott for the Dennis King musical show. It debuted at the Forrest Theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

When her husband was reported missing during World War II, Stone began doing camp and canteen shows with her father. The two joined again in a play produced by the Theatre Guild in September 1950.

Movies

She signed with RKO Radio for a singing and dancing role in a musical in May 1935. Her second motion picture role features her opposite Dick Foran in Treachery Rides The Range (1936), a Warner Bros. release. The movie sought to illustrate injustices perpetrated by buffalo traders against Cheyenne Indians. Foran and Stone provided the romantic interest. Her first motion picture paired her with William Boyd in Hopalong Cassidy (1935).

She had the role of Mabel, best friend of the leading lady Pearl, in The Girl Said No (1937). The movie was directed by Andrew L. Stone and received an Academy Award nomination. Her final motion picture was Laugh It Off (1939), a musical released by Universal Pictures.

Radio

Stone took singing lessons. She was hired by WNEW in West Palm Beach, Florida, to broadcast the news and gossip of Broadway to servicemen. She wrote the scripts for this program and later secured her own show on the Mutual Radio Network called Leave It to the Girls, a program that would allow a panel of quick-witted women to discuss problems and issues sent in by listeners. Stone served as moderator, and Girls ran for four years on the Mutual network, finishing its run in 1949. In 1950 she hosted Hollywood USA. The show related entertainment news and she interviewed celebrities. In 1952 her broadcast was known as The Paula Stone Program. She was affiliated with the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1954.

Television

In 1954 Stone worked for Broadway Angels, Inc., in New York City. She was the MC of Angel Auditions, a television show which examined prospective Broadway shows. The plays were tried in summer stock and considered for production on Broadway.

Marriage

Stone announced that she intended to marry cafe owner Walter Mason in 1937, but she did not. She wed orchestra leader Duke Daly in July 1939, at her home in Beverly Hills. Daly, 30, resided in Miami, Florida. His real name was Linwood A. Dingley. She was married to Michael Sloane in 1946.

Paula Stone died in Sherman Oaks, California, in 1997.