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WWII Major's Hollywood Rejection and Army Dress
13 Apr
Summary
- A female army uniform and Hollywood rejection letter are now displayed.
- Joan Crooke was told she lacked acting qualities by director Gabriel Pascal.
- Her formal dress, first of its kind, is displayed with soup stains.
For the first time, a Shropshire museum is exhibiting a female army uniform alongside a poignant rejection letter from Hollywood. The collection features the formal "mess dress" and a letter from Joan Crooke, a Major in the Women's Royal Auxiliary Corps during World War Two.
In 1946, Crooke wrote to director Gabriel Pascal, aspiring to an acting career. Pascal's reply, now on display at the Soldiers of Shropshire Museum, stated she lacked the necessary qualities, citing her self-confessed "ugliness" and inability to act. Despite this, her family donated her belongings, including photos and letters.
The displayed uniform, made in 1962, is the first women's service uniform at the museum. It has been preserved and still shows tomato soup stains from a formal event, highlighting its history. Crooke, a proud "Salopian," retired from the Army in 1972 and settled in Shrewsbury, where she passed away in 1993.
