Verda Parkin was born in 1908 in South Shields.
She moved to Croydon in around 1934 or 1935 and opened a hairdressing business there.
Bebe Daniels
It was in London that Verda first met Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon.
Bebe Daniels was a very successful actor in the early twentieth century appearing in 230 films.
Verda became her assistant and presumably hair dresser.
Bette Davis
Verda became the head of the Bette Davis fan club in the UK and met Bette when she came to the UK.
Verda organised an event for Bette in 1951.
South Shields
She returned to South Shields after the war to look after her mother and father in Stanhope Road.
When they died she achieved her lifelong ambition of moving to America. When she went to America she left a box with all these photos with her close friends the Loughton family.
Later life
Verda went to live in the United States in 1961 and worked as a nanny come home help. She worked for a family named Tanzer who lived in a place called Sharon just outside Boston. Mr Tanzer was at that time the boss of the Boston branch of the famed Yellow Cab Company. She retired in 1973 and died in the States.
Sources:
British Newspaper Archives
Douglas Loughton
Photos:
Douglas Loughton