On New Year's Eve, 1946, she picked up three hitchhiking soldiers while driving from Palm Springs to Los Angeles. (During and after WWII, everyone was more than happy to help returning soldiers.) Near Redlands, California, she struck a dividing island, causing the car to flip over several times. One of the soldiers was killed, and the other two were injured. She suffered a broken pelvis in the accident. The survivors later brought charges against her, claiming she was drunk and driving 90 miles per hour when the accident occurred. In the end, she was exonerated of all guilt in the accident. At the time of the accident, she was working on the film
Heaven Only Knows (1947) and was replaced by
Marjorie Reynolds.
