Priscilla Lawson

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Priscilla Lawson (b. March 8, 1914 in Indianapolis, In., d. August 27, 1958 in Los Angeles, Ca.), was an American actress who was immortalized for her role as 'Princess Aura' in the original Flash Gordon serial (1936). The role brought her cult figure status. She was born Priscilla Shortridge and was a professional model by her early twenties and was crowned Miss Miami Beach in 1935. She then received a contract with Universal Pictures, which led to her role in Flash Gordon as the daughter of Ming the Merciless. Lawson's competition with Jean Rogers for Buster Crabbe's attention in Flash Gordon is one of the centerpieces of the film.

Following Flash Gordon, Priscilla Lawson married actor Alan Curtis and joined the armed forces in World War II. It is undocumented, but some people believe that she lost a leg in an accident while serving in the Women's Army Corps. (Another report claimes that she lost her right leg in a 1937 automobile accident.) Lawson and Curtis eventually divorced, and she later managed a stationery shop in Los Angeles. Her untimely death at the young age of 44 resulted from upper gastrointestinal bleeding caused by a duodenal ulcer. She is interred at Live Oak Memorial Park in Los Angeles County, California.