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]n the summer of 1937 she [Kay FRANCIS] met Baron Raven Erik Barnekow - a force in the aviation business, while staying at the Beverly Hills home of Countess di Frasso. In March of 1938 Kay announced that they would he married in the spring and she would retire from films.
It's easy to see why Kay would have been attracted to Barnekow. He was handsome, sophisticated, charming and wealthy. At the same time, she seemed to overlook his less attractive qualities, such as his jealous nature, a penchant for alcohol and an Old World European attitude toward women. He objected to Kay wearing makeup, as well as her questions about any last-minute trips he occasionally went on. Those secret trips led some of Kay's friends to suspect that he might be a German agent. . . .
Prior to the release of In Name Only, Kay broke her engagement to Barnekow. Their last few months together had been particularly ugly after the Baron instituted a slander suit against the Countess di Frasso, whom he claimed called him a Nazi spy. Di Frasso denied the charges, and the District Attorney dismissed the case. A vigilant Barnekow repeated the charges to the press, which only succeeded in putting an end to Kay's friendship with the countess.
Despite these recent troubles, Kay still wanted to marry Barnekow. Fearing he would be interned as an enemy alien, Kay proposed that they head off to Hawaii, where they could easily retire on her savings. The Baron refused and, against Kay's wishes, returned to Germany for the outset of World War II in September 1939.
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Milestones: Mar. 14, 1938
Engaged. Katherine Gibbs ("Kay") Francis Gaston Meehan MacKenna, 33, cinemactress (White Angel, First Lady, Mary Stevens M.D.); to Raven Erik Barnekow, 41, minor German baron; in Hollywood.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,759338,00.html#ixzz2aZsApya5