Jo Ann Sayers

Jo Ann Sayers (real name: Miriam Lucille Lilygren) was born in Seattle, Washington. Named after Moses' dancer-sister Miriam, she danced as a child, took violin and piano lessons and acted in school plays. She attended the University of Washington with hopes of becoming a lawyer, but was drawn to the drama department instead. An agent "spotted" her and offered her a chance to make a screen test, which in turn led to Sayers' brief but busy run in Hollywood features and shorts. While under contract at MGM, Sayers was among the multitudes to test for the part of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). She later co-starred with Shirley Booth in the Broadway smash "My Sister Eileen," but left the show after a year and a half to marry. She subsequently worked in summer theater, radio and TV. Widowed after the death of her second husband, Sayers resides in Princeton, New Jersey.