Born in Texas in 1924, gorgeous Martha Hyer majored in drama at Northwestern University. Upon graduation, she made her way to Hollywood and, after a stint at the Pasadena Playhouse, snagged a contract with RKO. After a series of bit parts, Hyer moved into westerns, where she starred alongside Tim Holt and Allan "Rocky" Lane. When Hyer's contract with RKO ended in 1951, she took time off to marry producer/director C. Ray Stahl, whom she met on the set of Oriental Evil (1950). She freelanced afterward for several studios, including Monogram, Paramount, and Warner Bros., and was under contract to Universal-International in the late 1950s. Hyer and Stahl worked on another film together, The Scarlet Spear (1954), released the year they called their marriage quits.