Joan Woodbury

Tall, provocative actress Joan Woodbury (aka Nana Martinez) was born Joanne Elmer Woodbury in Los Angeles, California, on December 17, 1915. Of Danish, English and Indian heritage, she was educated for seven years in a convent. Trained in dance, she was already performing in her mid-teens by the time she graduated from Hollywood High School. A solo dancer at one point with the Agua Caliente dance company, she broke into films at age 19, her exotic beauty being her "in" to the picture business. For many years Joan was relegated to atmospheric bit parts as assorted dancing girls, barmaids, secretaries and the like. Once she progressed to co-starring roles, her characters often provided a foreign allure (Hispanic, French, Asian) playing femmes with such desirous names as Lolita, Dolores and Toto. She managed to churn out a feisty score of ladies and girlfriends for about a decade and a half (1934-49). Woodbury was featured in a number of "Charlie Chan" entries of the 1930s, particularly