Leila Ernst

Leila Ernst (July 28, 1920 – May 26, 1970) was an American actress whose Broadway career spanned from 1939 to 1947. Born in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, she had two younger brothers and received part of her schooling in Europe, an experience she later reflected on with some skepticism. Her family opposed her pursuit of acting, but Ernst enrolled in a drama school and joined the Mercury Theater Group, where she took on a range of practical tasks including nailing scenery and driving a Ford Model T to deliver posters for the company.

Her path to a Broadway debut required considerable persistence. Ernst spent months attempting to secure an audition with director George Abbott. Actor Eddie Bracken, after hearing her sing, agreed to advocate on her behalf, though Abbott's response was that he did not wish to see her. Bracken nonetheless encouraged her to appear anyway. Ernst arrived at a dance audition Abbott was conducting, enlisted a stage carpenter to accompany her on piano, and performed for Abbott uninvited. Abbott cast her on the spot, and she signed a contract for forty dollars a week. Her debut came in the 1939 musical Too Many Girls, directed by Abbott.

Within two months of that production, Paramount Pictures invited Ernst to Hollywood for a screen test connected to the Henry Aldrich film series. The test, which carried no audio, cost twelve hundred dollars and involved a crew of twenty-four. Director Theodore Reed instructed Ernst and Jackie Cooper to improvise as though no crew were present. The screen test led to her being cast in the 1941 film Life with Henry, the second entry in the Henry Aldrich series and directed by Reed. Despite Paramount's stated intention to invest substantially in Ernst's film career and develop her profile in the manner Warner Bros. had done with Ann Sheridan, she appeared in only that one film.

Ernst continued working on Broadway through the 1940s. Her stage credits included the musical Pal Joey, the play Truckline Cafe, the play A Young Man's Fancy, and the musical If the Shoe Fits. She was previously married to Stacy B. Hulse Jr. and was later married to James Veitch, who predeceased her. Ernst died on May 26, 1970, and is buried in Jaffrey, New Hampshire.