Julie Bishop - Biography

Colorado-born leading lady Julie Bishop, who also acted under her birth name of Jacqueline Wells and the stage name Diane Duval, started off as a silent movie child actress, working with such legends as Clara Bow and Mary Pickford.

The daughter of a wealthy banker and oilman, she was raised in Texas and, eventually Los Angeles, following her parents' divorce. She was signed by Warner Bros in 1940 and played a dutiful sweethearts opposite filmdom's top male stars, notably Errol Flynn in Du sang sur la neige (1943), Humphrey Bogart in Convoi vers la Russie (1943), John Wayne in both Iwo Jima (1949) and Écrit dans le ciel (1954), and Alan Ladd in Les loups dans la vallée (1957), her last picture. But, for the most part, she was never given anything challenging enough to become a top-flight star.

She also appeared on stage in "Hamlet" and "The Merchant of Venice". A licensed private pilot, Julie painted still lifes and staged several exhibitions in her post-career years. She died at age 87, on her birthday.