CAROLINA COTTON
(1926–1997)
CAROLINA COTTON (b. Helen Hagstrom, Cash, Ark., October 20, 1926–June 10, 1997) For a period of about ten years following World War II, Cotton was one of the best-loved cowgirl stars of the B-Westerns that were churned out by lesser Hollywood studios such as Republic Pictures. Her family relocated to San Francisco from a small town in Arkansas when Hagstrom/Carolina was quite young. Encouraged by her parents, she took dancing lessons and began working on local radio. In the early 1940s…