DARNELL, Linda

(1923–1965)

   Born Monetta Eloyse Darnell in Dallas, Texas, Linda Darnell was often described as “the girl with the perfect face.” Trained as a dancer, she also became a studio model where she was discovered by Hollywood. In her first film, Hotel for Women (1937), a non-Western, Darnell played a seductive young model; she was only 15 at the time. Her Westerns include The Mark of Zorro (1940), Buffalo Bill (1944), Two Flags West (1950), and Dakota Incident(1956). Her most famous role is probably that of Chihuahua, the sultry dance hall girland mistress to Doc Holliday(Victor Mature) in My Darling Clementine(1946). While the film’s main plot revolves around Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda) and Doc and their rivalry with the Clantons, the main subplot consists of the female relationships. Holliday is torn between two women—Clementine (Cathy Downs), representing eastern goodness and purity, and Chihuahua, representing frontier feminine savagery and sensuality. Wyatt, meanwhile, wishes Clementine would pay attention to him. Linda Darnell’s two most famous scenes are in this film: one is set in the saloon, where she sings “10,000 Cattle” as if she is mocking Wyatt; the other is when Chihuahua is shot by Billy Clanton (John Ireland). In the latter scene, Doc is forced to bring out his long-neglected medical bag, sober up, and operate. Clementine assists in the operation, but Chihuahua dies on the table, though not before admonishing Doc to straighten up and lead a clean life.

   Linda Darnell had a lifelong phobia of fire. Scenes involving fire were always difficult for her to make. In 1965, while watching a rerun of one of her old movies, her house caught fire, burning over 90 percent of her body. She died the next day. Darnell had recently completed her final film, the Western Black Spurs(1965), with Rory Calhoun.