Linda Stirling

Linda Stirling
Linda Stirling as The Tiger Woman (1944)
Born	Louise Schultz (1921-10-11)October 11, 1921 Long Beach, California, U.S.
Died	July 20, 1997(1997-07-20) (aged 75) Studio City, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, model, showgirl
Years active	1943–1959
Spouse(s)	Sloan Nibley (1946–April 3, 1990)

Linda Stirling (October 11, 1921 – July 20, 1997) was an American showgirl, model, and actress. In her later years, she had a second career as a college English professor for more than two decades. She is most famous for her roles in movie serials.

Born Louise Schultz in Long Beach, California, her first role was as a model in The Powers Girl in 1943 and her first role in a serial was the title character in The Tiger Woman (1944). In 1946, she married Republic screenwriter Sloan Nibley. In 1947, she essentially retired from films to raise a family, although she later appeared in occasional episodes of television shows.

After her career as an actress ended, and her children had grown, Stirling enrolled at UCLA, eventually earning a BFA, an MA, and finally a PhD in English literature at the age of 50. With her degree in hand, Stirling began a new career as a teacher of college English and Drama in the 1960s at Glendale College in Glendale, California between 1967 and 1990.

She was one of the original winners of the Golden Boot Awards in 1983 for her contributions to western cinema.

In her later life, Stirling sought to distance herself in the classroom from her Hollywood past, but still remained active on the film convention circuit until the last years of her life. She also appeared in a 1990 documentary on Republic Pictures, the studio where she did the bulk of her work. Her husband, Sloan Nibley, who wrote many of her films, died the same year. Stirling herself died of cancer in Studio City, Los Angeles, California in 1997.