Horse-faced

Those of you who are acquainted with the Hildegarde Withers series of movies (and if you like old detective flicks, you should be) will recall that she is called "horse-faced" a time or two during the course of the shows. Edna Mae Oliver, the first actress to play the role, was no raving beauty; but the nickname was not because of her. The author of the books from which the character was taken, Stuart Palmer, had a "horse-faced English teacher" from his high school days. However, the role was indeed inspired by Oliver, whom Stuart had seen on stage in the musical Showboat.