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Local author Dr. Lona Bailey will be speaking about her latest book titled “The Voice of Villainy: The Betty Lou Gerson story” during an Author Talk at the Coffee County Manchester Public Library from 2-4 p.m., Saturday, March 18.

Bailey’s latest work is a biography of actress Betty Lou Gerson, a Chattanooga born actress from the Golden Age of Hollywood best known for voicing Cruella de Vile in the 1961 Disney film 101 Dalmatians.

“It is great because Betty Lou is not only probably one of the most infamous villainous voices maybe in the whole world, but she also has a great Tennessee connection,” Bailey said. “She was born in Chattanooga; she wasn’t raised here but she did spend the first few years of her life as a Tennessean.”

With a career beginning in radio during the 1930s, Gerson was known for her husky voice that lent itself well to playing the role of female villains. Bailey said portraying the villain on radio and in the movies did not seem to bother Gerson, who died in 1999 at age 84.

“I don’t think it really bothered her,” Bailey said. “I think it was profitable for her because the villainy, not a lot of people wanted to do that or could do that and I think she capitalized having this natural husky voice that could be this kind of unsavory character.”

The Voice of Villainy: The Betty Lou Gerson story is the second biography Bailey has written about women from the Golden Age of Hollywood that were significant character actresses of the time, but never received a lot of name recognition or stardom.

Bailey previously wrote “Uncredited: The life and career of actress Virginia Gregg.” Greg had several roles in radio, television and film, including westerns like Gunsmoke, Bonanza and The Virginian.

Bailey said she has enjoyed researching and telling the stories of these women, that while they never rose to superstardom, were truly talented at their craft.

“I guess you could say smaller actresses, some of the “B actresses,” some of their stories are fascinating because they have a little bit more of a personal life I think than perhaps some of the headliners because Hollywood didn’t take up as much of their identity as some of the big stars,” she said.

“I think these women have wonderful stories to tell and I think kind of bringing them out of the shadows has been a really fulfilling process,” Bailey said. “I think people like the stories.”

Bailey said this will be here first time speaking at the Coffee County Manchester Public Library, 1005 Hillsboro Boulevard, and she is looking forward to speaking to her hometown crowd.

“I am trying to do kind of a small regional tour,” she said. “I think the Tennessee connection is really cool too, because who would think Cruella De Vile as being sort of a small town southern girl?”