You know, my dear, I insured my voice for fifty thousand dollars.

During the pre-code Hollywood of the early 1930s Miriam Hopkins appeared in The Smiling Lieutenant The Story of Temple Drake and Design for Living all of which were box office successes and critically acclaimed. Jekyll and Mr. Her pre-code films were also considered risqué for their time with The Story of Temple Drake depicting a rape scene and Design for Living featuring a ménage à trois with Fredric March and Gary Cooper.

Hopkins was born in Savannah Georgia and raised in Bainbridge near the Alabama border. She attended Goddard Seminary in Barre Vermont (which later became Goddard College in Plainfield Vermont) and Syracuse University (in New York) but apparently did not graduate.