Sally Payne

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Sally Payne (September 5, 1912 – May 8, 1999) was an American actress known for her work in B Westerns in the 1940s. She started as a model for artists and then appeared in her first film, Hollywood Hobbies (1935), in a small role as a tourist. Payne became a leading actress in low-budget westerns and also acted in comedy shorts for RKO and MGM.

She is best remembered for playing Calamity Jane in Young Bill Hickok (1940) and for Belle Starr in Robin Hood of the Pecos (1941). Her characters were usually tomboyish and self-reliant: they wore men's clothes, rode horses, and helped the male leads. They rarely became romantically involved with male characters.

There was a moment when a studio suggested she have rhinoplasty, and she commented on it to reporters.

Payne left acting in 1942 after marrying Arthur F. Kelly, an airline executive. She had previously been married to William Telaak (divorced in 1941). After leaving films, she ran a bookstore and worked as an artist, creating oil paintings and illustrating children’s books.

She died of a stroke in Los Angeles at age 86.