Darla Jean Hood of Leedy, left Sunday morning (Sep. 8th) for Hollywood where she will begin a seven-year contract with Hal Roach, motion picture producer. She will begin work in a "Our Gang Follies" this week.
Mrs. J. C. Hood will leave Wednesday afternoon (Sep. 11th) from Sayre for Hollywood.
Darla Jean says, "I'm going to Hollywood to play with Shirley Temple." After all, she won't be four years old until November 8, and playing is still very important to Darla Jean, only child of Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Hood of Leedey and grandchild of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Danner of Sayre.
Is Kathryn Duffy Pupil
Miss Kathryn Duffy and her husband, H. L. Braudis, accompanied her to Hollywood. Miss Duffy won a contract as assistant director for Darla Jean's first picture and as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer dance director.
The contract Darla Jean signed in New York with Hal Roach and M-G-M calls for roles in feature pictures after finishing the initial starring part. The plan is to try to build her into a feature picture star of the magnitude of Shirley Temple, Fox's sensation.
Darla Jean made a final appearance in Oklahoma City Friday (Sep. 6th) at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon. She leaves for Hollywood next week. And when she sang her new songs, "I'll Never Say Never Again" and "Lulu's Back in Town," those business men gave her a send-off befitting a child prodigy on her way to Hollywood. Darla Jean threw them a kiss.
Plays in East
"I'm going to make a lot of money, and see a rodeo and buy a cowboy suit," explains the vivacious black-haired little Oklahoma girl who has just captivated New York City. She's been told she's to be a movie star, however. In the middle of a gay ride at Springlake park, Oklahoma City, this past week, she suddenly laughed, "Imagine me, a movie star, riding on a merry-go-round."
Darla Jean appeared in Oklahoma City in the spring in "Follies de Paree" and the Milk and Ice Fund show. She has just returned from making several appearances in the east in Chicago and New York. It was while in New York the movie contract was signed.
Special note: Elsewhere, Darla's departure for Hollywood was reported to be on the 6th. Even this article contradicts itself, repeating the "next week" reportage from another article.