Greatness often comes from very tough situations. Anita King came from a dark background, but rose to be one of the more unlikely pioneers in the women’s auto industry. Both of her parents died at a very young age, so Anita spent her childhood as a house servant until beginning her acting career in Chicago early on. She quickly went west to pursue a film career, and that’s where she fell in love with automobiles.
She loved racing and loved speed. She was one of the first women racers on the West Coast. There was a slight break in her driving career after she was thrown through a fence at high speeds, but that didn’t break her spirit. Six years after the historic drive across the US by Alice Ramsey and her three companions, Anita King followed in her footsteps. Paramount paid all of her expenses and Anita set off on the not-yet-finished Lincoln Highway from San Francisco to New York. The event was highly publicized and Anita was nicknamed “The Paramount Girl”.
She sped through the country and picked up plenty of stories along the way. She recorded shooting a coyote outside of Reno, getting lost on the way to San Fran, and stopping at every Paramount theatre on her way. Her forty-nine day journey was completed with a movie, starring herself, called The Race. Anita continued helping young women in the auto industry and acting in films for a long time. She died right before her 79th birthday.
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