Paula Corday

 Posted on January 1, 0001  |  3 minutes  |  582 words  |  Reinaldo Massengill

Paula Corday, actress, died of complications due to diabetes Nov. 21 in Century City. She was 72.

Born to a Swiss diplomat in Tahiti, Corday spent her youth globe-trotting, eventually living in Shanghai for three years until the Japanese occupation of China.

Discovered by Orson Welles, who brought her screen test to the attention of RKO in the early ’40s, Corday was initially billed as Paule Croset, then Rita Corday and finally Paula Corday.

She began her film career at RKO in the early ’40s as a regular in the “Falcon” detective-mystery series starring Tom Conway.

Moving to Universal in 1945, she co-starred with Karloff and Lugosi in “The Body Snatcher.” She also co-starred with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Maria Montez in “The Exile.”

Dubbed “the Tyrolean Blonde” by Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who was credited with “rediscovering” her after she left RKO, Corday retired in 1954 after co-starring with Jane Russell and Gilbert Roland in “The French Line.”

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She was married for more than a decade to producer-writer Harold Nebenzal.

She is survived by daughter Deborah Corday, son Daniel Nebenzal and brother Gaston Croset.

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