for her All-American-Girl athletic good looks. The New Yorker magazine said she "possessed one of the most photogenic faces and frames in the Western world". The New York World-Telegram said her face was seen more often and in more places than any other woman in the country. And a headline story in the January 27, 1941, issue of Life magazine said Falkenburg "is the leading candidate for America's No. 1 Girl for 1941". In 1939 she was in Hawaii posing for photographer Edward Steichen for a series of ads for the Hawaiian Steamship Company's Matson Line when she fell through a balcony at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and landed 30 feet below on a dining room table. While in the hospital recovering from her injuries, she was introduced to singer Al Jolson, who was also convalescing there. Jolson offered her a role in his upcoming Broadway show Hold On to Your Hats, which opened in January 1940. Though her part as a cowgirl was small, she attracted much attention. Fans started gathering nightly at her dressing room door at the Shubert Theater, forming the core of what would become the Jinx Falkenburg Fan Club, the only national fan club not devoted to a movie star. Her biggest breakthrough as a model came in 1940 when she was picked by New York-based Liebmann Brewery, maker of Rheingold Beer, to be the first Miss Rheingold. As the face for its marketing and advertising campaign, her image appeared on billboards throughout New York, Pennsylvania, and New England., and she was featured in promotional ads at every store that sold Rheingold. Her face and the campaign were a great success. Rheingold was suddenly the top brand in New York City. In the early 1940s she did a dozen movies, mainly for Columbia Pictures, sometimes in the starring role. Mostly B movies, neither they nor her acting garnered much critical acclaim. Among them were Two Latins from Manhattan, Sweetheart of the Fleet, Laugh Your Blues Away, She Has What It Takes, Two Senoritas From Chicago, and Nine Girls. The biggest hit was Cover Girl, a musical about the modeling business that starred Rita Hayworth, with songs by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin. Falkenburg played herself in a cameo role. Tex and Jinx: Radio and television Falkenburg met John Reagan "Tex" McCrary when he came to photograph and interview her for a military publication after she