AllMovie

A pioneer of talk radio whose undeniable beauty and glamour also resulted in a successful modeling and film career, Jinx Falkenburg teamed with partner (and husband) Tex McCrary to innovate an entirely new form of radio entertainment. Born Eugenia Lincoln Falkenburg in Barcelona and nicknamed Jinx by her mother, the young beauty got her start in Spanish films before her stateside career took off in the late '30s. Thanks in no small part to a memorable cover shot on a 1937 issue of American Magazine, Falkenburg's career truly took hold with the release of the 1941 musical comedy Two Latins From Manhattan. An easygoing bit of entertainment that helped to ease the public's wartime woes, the film later spawned an equally popular sequel, Two Senoritas From Chicago (1943). In the time between her most popular films, Falkenburg also appeared in such efforts as Sing for Your Supper (1941) and Lucky Legs (1942). Making the acquaintance of McCray when he interviewed her for her role in the Broadway musical Hold on to Your Hats, the duo married in 1945 and teamed for the breakthrough hit Meet Tex and Jinx the following year. An innovative program, it sometimes broadcast from New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in order to speak with celebrities as they stopped at the front desk to pick up their room keys. Moving to the small screen with NBC's At Home (and later the Swift Home Service Club), the pair interviewed celebrities from the comforts of their own home. In addition to being a key figure in convincing Dwight D. Eisenhower to run for the presidency, Falkenburg entertained troops during World War II and was appointed head of the Republican Party's women's division in 1954. Despite the fact that she and McCrary eventually separated, the couple never officially divorced. On August 27, 2003, a mere 29 days after the death of longtime partner McCrary, Jinx Falkenburg died of natural causes in Manhasset, NY. She was 84.