Maybelline’s Soldier Boy, Bill Williams, 1945.

Bill was working as an apprentice artist at MGM painting back drops – hoping to work his way into a career at the studio – when he was drafted into the Army in 1944.

A Sad Sack – Bill wasn’t exactly happy leaving West Los Angeles, the beach and MGM – for Fort Riley Kansas in Jan of 1945.

After all that meant saying goodbye to his sweetheart Pauline Mac Donald.

and his Car-Guy buddies, (Bill is second on the right.)

His life at The Villa Valentino with his uncle Tom Lyle, his mother and Pauline.

So he married his childhood sweetheart Pauline Mac Donald and shipped off to the Philippians in March of 1945 not knowing if he’d ever return to California and those he loved so much.

Bill in the Philippians working on a reconnaissance plane. The war ended in August of 1945, but not without leaving it’s mark on him. He came home with a scar on the back of his head from shrapnel which could have easily killed him. The amazing thing is, after living a long life, he died at 82 from a head injury. I guess my father like so many Vets who came back to America to create the Baby Boom were actually on borrowed time until they finished their work on earth. Maybe that’s way they were called “The Greatest Generation.”


If you want to read more about Bill and his adventures overseas during WW11, his life in the Maybelline family and the Hay-Day after the sale of the company, please pick up a copy of The Maybelline Story from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or buy a signed copy from me from this www.maybellinebook.com. Stay tuned for Noel Allen Williams story tomorrow. We’re in the Navy now!