PAYNE, SALLY

(1912–1999)

Sally Payne was an unusual female lead of 1940s B Westerns in that she usually played strong-willed, independent womenin pants roles. Rarely was she involved in romance, though she was usually more involved in the plots than most women in low-budget Westerns. In Jesse James at Bay (1941), Payne teams up with Gale Storm in a bit of comedy involving two reporters from back East digging for dirt on Jesse James (Roy Rogers). Other typical Payne films are Republic’s Young Bill Hickok (1940), Robin Hood of the Pecos (1941), and Nevada City (1941). In later years Payne wrote children’s books.