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Preston Sturges was a Hollywood film director, producer, and screenwriter who co-established California Pictures Corporation with Howard Robard Hughes Jr. Born as Edmund Preston Biden in Chicago, Illinois, Sturges entered Broadway productions in the late 1920s and produced his first play, "The Guinea Pig," in 1928. During the 1930s, Sturges worked on films for studios including Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer (MGM). He won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for The Great McGinty (1940).

Gertrude Toston was born May 09, 1947 in Galveston, Texas, and grew up in Austin, Texas. Her parents moved to Seattle, Washington, to provide more opportunities for their children but ended up separating. Toston’s mother brought the children to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1960 to have the support of her sister while she divorced. Her sister's husband, Reverend Coleman, was the pastor of Second Baptist Church, and the family became very involved in church activities.