Actresses -- most physically beautiful -- first name starts with L
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Lacey Nicole Chabert was born in Purvis, Mississippi, to Julie (Johnson) and Tony Chabert, a representative for an oil company. She is of Cajun (French), Italian, English, and Scottish ancestry. Chabert started in drama and music performances in and around her hometown in Mississippi from an early age, and was a finalist on Star Search (1983) in 1991. She gained her break in a cough syrup commercial, before successfully auditioning for the Broadway production of Les Miserables, where she played young Cosette for two years. Since then, she has been on a few television series, notably Party of Five (1994), a number of telemovies like Gypsy (1993), and her big-screen debut, Lost in Space (1998). Known for her natural acting skills and charming personality, her cotton candy voice has seen her record many advertising jingles, plus play parts in animated films and TV shows like Nickelodeon's The Wild Thornberrys (1998). A more than capable violinist, she enjoys various activities, especially shoe shopping, and she is particularly fond of Cajun cooking. As a result of her promising career, her family, including two sisters and a brother, have moved from Mississippi to California.- Actress
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Lana Turner had an acting ability that belied the "Sweater Girl" image MGM thrust upon her, and even many of her directors admitted that they knew she was capable of greatness (check out The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)). Unfortunately, her private life sometimes overshadowed her professional accomplishments.
Lana Turner was born Julia Jean Mildred Francis Turner in Wallace, Idaho. There is some discrepancy as to whether her birth date is February 8, 1920 or 1921. Lana herself said in her autobiography that she was one year younger (1921) than the records showed, but then this was a time where women, especially actresses, tended to "fib" a bit about their age. Most sources agree that 1920 is the correct year of birth. Her parents were Mildred Frances (Cowan) and John Virgil Turner, a miner, both still in their teens when she was born. In 1929, her father was murdered and it was shortly thereafter her mother moved her and the family to California where jobs were "plentiful". Once she matured into a beautiful young woman, she went after something that would last forever: stardom. She wasn't found at a drug store counter, like some would have you believe, but that legend persists. She pounded the pavement as other would-be actors and actresses have done, are doing and will continue to do in search of movie roles.
In 1937, Lana entered the movie world, at 17, with small parts in They Won't Forget (1937), The Great Garrick (1937) and A Star Is Born (1937). These films didn't bring her a lot of notoriety, but it was a start. In 1938 she had another small part in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) starring Mickey Rooney. It was this film that made young men's hearts all over America flutter at the sight of this alluring and provocative young woman--known as the "Sweater Girl"--and one look at that film could make you understand why: she was one of the most spectacularly beautiful newcomers to grace the screen in years. By the 1940s Lana was firmly entrenched in the film business. She had good roles in such films as Johnny Eager (1941), Somewhere I'll Find You (1942) and Week-End at the Waldorf (1945). If her career was progressing smoothly, however, her private life was turning into a train wreck, keeping her in the news in a way no one would have wanted.
Without a doubt her private life was a threat to her public career. She was married eight times, twice to Stephen Crane. She also married Ronald Dante, Robert Eaton, Fred May, Lex Barker, Henry Topping and bandleader Artie Shaw. She also battled alcoholism. In yet another scandal, her daughter by Crane, Cheryl Crane, fatally stabbed Lana's boyfriend, gangster Johnny Stompanato, in 1958. It was a case that would have rivaled the O.J. Simpson murder case. Cheryl was acquitted of the murder charge, with the jury finding that she had been protecting her mother from Stompanato, who was savagely beating her, and ruled it justifiable homicide. These and other incidents interfered with Lana's career, but she persevered. The release of Imitation of Life (1959), a remake of a 1934 film (Imitation of Life (1934)), was Lana's comeback vehicle. Her performance as Lora Meredith was flawless as an actress struggling to make it in show business with a young daughter, her housekeeper and the housekeeper's rebellious daughter. The film was a box-office success and proved beyond a doubt that Lana had not lost her edge.
By the 1960s, however, fewer roles were coming her way with the rise of new and younger stars. She still managed to turn in memorable performances in such films as Portrait in Black (1960) and Bachelor in Paradise (1961). By the next decade the roles were coming in at a trickle. Her last appearance in a big-screen production was in Witches' Brew (1980). Her final film work came in the acclaimed TV series Falcon Crest (1981) in which she played Jacqueline Perrault from 1982-1983. After all those years as a sex symbol, nothing had changed--Lana was still as beautiful as ever.
She died on June 25, 1995, in Culver City, California, after a long bout with cancer. She was 74 years old.- Actress
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Laura Breckenridge was born on 22 August 1983 in Flourtown, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress, known for Amusement (2008), Related (2005) and Loving Annabelle (2006). She has been married to Benjamin Savage since 26 May 2013.- Actress
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Gorgeous, well-endowed singer/actress Laura Devon arrived in Tinseltown during the early 1960s, but gave notice less than a decade later and retired permanently after her fourth marriage. She made only five films. Laura was categorized as one of those beautiful bouffant blondes of film and TV who were usually cast as diverting set decoration -- the equally blonde lovelies Sharon Tate, Yvette Mimieux and Dorothy Provine, come first to mind.
She was born Mary Lou Briley in Chicago, Illinois, on May 23, 1931, the daughter of Merrill Devon, an auto engineer of Swedish, Scottish and Irish descent, and a mother of Dutch heritage. Her family later moved to Grosse Point, Michigan, where she attended University High School. Her interest in singing came at a fairly young age and, by her early teens, was performing. Graduating from the University of Michigan where she majored in journalism and political science, she began acting on stage in such musicals as "The Boyfriend" at the Vanguard Playhouse in Detroit.
In 1961, Laura was spotted singing at a Detroit night club by a 20th Century-Fox talent agent and given a screen test. Universal also took an interest in her photogenic beauty and signed her instead. Laura's first year under contract involved intensive study in acting, singing and dance before she even started making the rounds on TV. Eventually, she appeared in such popular programs as Route 66 (1960) and The Twilight Zone (1959), her big break coming when she and another budding actress, June Harding, were hired as ensemble cast members on The Richard Boone Show (1963), an anthology TV series also featuring veterans Boone, Warren Stevens, Jeanette Nolan, Harry Morgan, Robert Blake, Guy Stockwell, Bethel Leslie and Ford Rainey.
Falling easily into the Hollywood scene, Laura had dated handsome actor Brian Kelly back in Detroit (his native city). Their romance ended when he went to Hollywood but rekindled again when she, too, made it to Hollywood in 1961. They married a year later, and the good-looking couple became a part of the "in crowd" while moving up the acting ladder. A couple of months after their June wedding, they appeared together in Lillian Hellman's steamy drama "Toys in the Attic" at the Laguna Beach Summer Theater.
Laura made her film debut as a second female lead in the Tony Curtis/Debbie Reynolds gender-bending romp Goodbye Charlie (1964). Laura figured prominently in all the sexual hijinks happening in the taunting George Axelrod script, but the film was considered a misfire. Laura then got hot and heavy in Red Line 7000 (1965), one of Howard Hawks later and lesser efforts. Again, Laura (and the other ladies, for that matter) provided diverting distraction from the stock car racing sequences.
Still moving up the ranks, she was prominently displayed on Bonanza (1959), The Rogues (1964), Rawhide (1959), I Spy (1965), The Big Valley (1965) and enjoyed a recurring role on Dr. Kildare (1961). Her last three films were the horror opus Chamber of Horrors (1966), which had Patrick O'Neal stirring up some demented antics as a serial strangler. Again, not hired for her character's brilliance, Laura does manage the classic one liner, "What am I thinking? He is the easiest man in the world to identify. He only has one hand!" The next film involved her with handsome George Maharis and another strangling in the so-so melodrama A Covenant with Death (1967). Her final film was probably the best received. With Craig Stevens taking his popular Peter Gunn gumshoe character from TV to feature length film, the atmospheric detective story Gunn (1967) had, at the very least, a built-in audience. The singing aspect of Laura also managed to show itself here. She recorded two of Henry Mancini's songs from the movie, "I Like the Look" and "Dreamsville".
By this time, Laura's first marriage had dissolved. Husband Brian had become a TV star via his Porter Ricks character on the dolphin show Flipper (1964). Within a year of their divorce, Laura married renowned French film composer Maurice Jarre, hailed for his Oscar-winning scores in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965) and A Passage to India (1984). Laura immediately retired and never looked back. She and Jarre divorced in 1984. Little was heard from Laura until notice of her 2007 death at her Beverly Hills residence at age 76. She is survived by her screenwriting son Kevin Jarre.- Laura Harring is a Mexican actress best known for her role as the mysterious amnesiac Rita in David Lynch's enigmatic film Mulholland Drive, which was recently voted the best film of the 21st century in multiple polls. Film critic Roger Ebert compared Harring to screen legend Rita Hayworth, while the International Herald Tribune's film reviewer likened Laura to Ava Gardner. But Laura Harring is her own person, a classical performer with a passion for acting, dance, travel, food and life.
Laura Harring became a world traveler shortly after finishing her studies at the prestigious Aiglon College, one of Switzerland's exclusive private boarding schools. After graduating with an academic diploma, Laura spent time in the foothills of the Himalayas, working as a social worker to help transport heavy rocks, plant gardens, build schools, and perform other manual tasks that helped the villagers create a better quality of life. After her social work, Laura devoted a year to backpacking through Asia and Europe, often falling asleep beside the ocean in a sleeping bag, an experience that changed her life forever. Laura spent time living in other countries and meeting new people, and it changed her life profoundly.
Years later, Harring starred opposite extraordinary actors such as Oscar winner Javier Bardem in the adaptation of Nobel Peace Prize winner Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera, Oscar winner Denzel Washington in John Q, and Oscar winner William Hurt in The King. Laura also starred opposite John Travolta in Marvel's The Punisher. For the small screen, Laura starred opposite Forest Whitaker in the critically acclaimed television show The Shield, a show that changed the conventional formula of the cop genre and won multiple awards. Later she starred as Ed Westwick's mom in the super-hit TV show Gossip Girl. But Laura was no stranger to the small screen, having started her career as a series regular on Aaron Spelling's Sunset Beach on NBC.
In her earlier years, Laura studied at the London Academy of Performing Arts. She credits her grandfather, an extraordinary athlete who was due to compete in the Olympics in 1948, for her equestrian and fencing skills. Her philosophy in life is unique. She believes we are all one human family meant to enjoy the trip of life. - Actress
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Laura Harrington was born on 29 April 1958 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Maximum Overdrive (1986), The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) and Paulie (1998).- Actress
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Born to public school teachers in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Laura Harris began acting professionally in CBC radio dramas at an early age. With a taste for quirky, character-driven material, Harris is known for playing 1930's starlet "Daisy Adair" in Showtime's cult hit Dead Like Me (2003) with Mandy Patinkin and Callum Blue. Film work includes Robert Rodriguez's The Faculty (1998), Christopher Guest 's A Mighty Wind (2003) and Chris Smith's comedic thriller Severance (2006) with Toby Stephens and Tim McInnerny. Recently voicing the role of "Kitty Pryde" in Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men (2009), other television work includes Showtime's The Outer Limits (1995), CTV's Defying Gravity (2009) with Ron Livingston and a SAG nominated turn in FOX's runaway hit 24 (2001) starring Kiefer Sutherland. In her personal time, Laura is active in the food justice community, recently receiving a full scholarship for the University of California, Berkeley to study social-ecological systems design. She splits her time between Los Angeles and the Bay Area.- Actress
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Lauren Compton is an American actress, Stand-Up Comedian, viral content creator and host of the "First Date with Lauren Compton" podcast at YMH Studios. Lauren is a Cannes Film Festival Winner and known for her leading roles in ClownTown, Hell Girl and Help- a 10 million dollar 360 VR short film directed by Justin Lin. She is also recognized for her roles on Showtime's "I'm Dying up Here" and "Funny or Die."- Actress
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Born in Bristol, Pennsylvania, the daughter of two college professors, Lauren Michael Holly grew up in the upstate New York town of Geneva. Her childhood was split between experiences that contrasted. She was privy to the shelter of growing up in a rural town and also exposed due to the erudite sophistication of her parents' academic careers. She spent time traveling in Europe and lived for a year in London, where she studied languages and flute at the famed Sarah Siddons School. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College in Westchester County, New York, Holly credits her love of acting to her great-grandmother who bred a family tradition of "treading the boards" on the musical theatre stages of Liverpool and London.
Holly's breakthrough motion picture performance came in the New Line Cinema's box-office smash, Dumb and Dumber (1994), with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. Lauren captured the hearts of audiences, as "Mary Swanson", the woman who drove Jim Carrey to follow her across the country to pledge his love. Next, she received glowing reviews for her performance in the Edward Burns drama, No Looking Back (1998), as a woman whose life in a small seaside community is turned upside down by the reappearance of her ex-boyfriend. Other film credits include Oliver Stone's "Any Given Sunday", Sydney Pollack's "Sabrina", the action-drama "Turbulence", the Miramax ensemble "Beautiful Girls", "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story", "A Smile Like Yours", "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane", "Down Periscope", "Entropy" and "The Last Producer". On television, Holly recently starred in two films for Hallmark. She also boasts three seasons as Director Jenny Shepard in NCIS, opposite Mark Harmon. Holly was seen in the TNT movie "King of Texas", an adaptation of Shakespeare's "King Lear", playing opposite Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden and renowned actor Patrick Stewart, and in the NBC miniseries "Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot". She also starred on David E. Kelley's drama, "Chicago Hope", marking her second project with Kelley, following their successful collaboration on the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning series, "Picket Fences".
Holly has worked on numerous Independent films, including the political thriller "Fatwa", in which she not only acted but also served as a producer, the Peter Schwaba penned and directed comedy "Godfather of Green Bay", "The Chumscrubber", "Pleasure Drivers", a Lifetime movie "Caught in the Act" (which she also produced), and "Chasing 3000". Most recently, she starred in "You're So Cupid". Additional projects contributing to the broad and diverse body of motion picture work Lauren has compiled include the drama "Colored Eggs" with Academy Award winner Faye Dunaway, the comedy "Raising Flagg" playing opposite Academy Award winner Alan Arkin, the Darrell Roodt directed HBO thriller, "Pavement" (co-starring Robert Patrick), and "What Women Want" (starring Academy Award winners Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt). She had a prime role in Disney's Academy Award-winning animated motion picture "Spirited Away" as the voice of Chihiro's Mother. Thrice divorced, as of 2014, Holly makes her home in Toronto, Canada, with her sons: Alexander, George, and Henry.- Born on March 9, 1953 in Boston, Massachusetts, Koslow's mother was a docent, and was raised with a strong love for colonial life along with her sister, Linda and her brother, Donald. Koslow was educated at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, graduating with a degree in theatre and costume design. Koslow signed on with a summer stock theater group in Virginia as a costume designer. She was also asked to audition for the role of Vera in the play "Ten Little Indians." Koslow soon put her costume designing talent aside to become a full-time actress, appearing in such regional productions as "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Dial M for Murder". She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a television career and landed various guest roles before scoring the role of the scheming Lindsay Wells on the hit CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless (1973) which she played from 1984-1986. She was then asked by the serial's creators William J. Bell and wife Lee Phillip Bell to become an original cast member on the duo's new sister soap The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) which debuted in the spring of 1987. She portrayed Eric Forrester's (played by John McCook) design assistant Margo Lynley from the serial's inception until 1992 when she left to begin a family. Through the early 1990s Koslow busied herself with guest starring roles in several prime time television series including Silk Stalkings (1991) and The Nanny (1993). However, she was lured back to daytime television in 1996 in order to replace actress Deborah Adair who left the NBC soap Days of Our Lives (1965) to, ironically, spend more time with her family. In the role of vindictive call girl turned corporate executive Kate Roberts, Koslow flourished on Days of Our Lives quickly becoming a woman fans 'love to hate'. The character is known for her wickedness and deception, specifically her ongoing war with fellow Salem resident Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) and her rocky marriage with mogul Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston). In contrast to her reel life, in real life Koslow has been married to make-up artist Nicky Schillace since 1987. The couple resides on a ranch in Northridge, California in the San Fernando Valley with their 2 children and various animals.
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Lauren Mary Kim is the faceless action hero who brings adrenaline to films, television and video games. As a child she trained in acrobatics and dance and originally moved to Los Angeles to become a dancer where she landed her first job as a Laker girl. Soon after, she trained in acting, martial arts and stunt work. She is best known for her work on The Mandalorian, Clone Wars Season 7, Furious 7, The Last of Us 2, Mortal Kombat 11 and doubled as Elektra on Netflix's hit series Daredevil and Defenders. She specializes in several fighting techniques including Taekwondo, Wushu, Silat, Filipino Martial Arts, Jeet Kune Do and Capoeira.- Actress
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Laurence Leboeuf is an award-winning actress from Montreal, Quebec, Canada who is currently shining on US screens in the NBC drama "Transplant" now on its second season. The series follows an ER doctor who fled his native Syria to come to Canada and overcome numerous obstacles to resume a career in the high stakes world of emergency medicine. Laurence portrays the series regular 'Magalie Leblanc,' a ferociously analytical second-year resident who pushes herself relentlessly.
The bilingual beauty (French and English) has been acting professionally since the age of 10 years old and rose to stardom with multiple award nominations and wins. She has continuously booked leading roles in both television and film of french Canadian and English Canadian productions. Award wins for Laurence include the Gemeaux Awards (French Canadian Emmys) for Best Actress in the series "Les Lavigueur," based on a true story of a family torn apart by multi-million dollar lottery win, Best Supporting Actress for her role in the television series "Musée Eden" as a young girl transplated to 1910s Montreal to watch over her uncle's wax museum in the Red Light District, and Best Actress for her role in the television series "Marche à I'ombre" which also won her the best Leading Actress award at the French Festival Séries Mania. In this groundbreaking series, Laurence portrayed 'Rachel Marchand,' a social worker at a halfway house with sexually violent tendencies who strikes up an illicit affair with a client. She also won Best Actress for "Human Trafficking" at the ACTRA Awards (English Canadian SAG Awards) for her portrayal of 'Nadia' a young Russian girl who gets kidnapped after being tricked into thinking she won a modeling competition, with Mira Sorvino and Donald Sutherland. For her film work, she won at the Prix Iris Awards (previously known as Jutra Awards) for Best Supporting Actress in "My Daughter, My Angel." Her indie action comedy film "Turbo Kid" was widely received at the Sundance Film Festival.
Laurence was born to actor-parents and grew up surrounded by the creative arts. Her dad owned a stage theater for 18 years which allowed Laurence to explore the behind the scenes of the craft. She is driven by the passion of Acting and the need to be creative, with the hopes of producing and writing alongside acting. She enjoys reading and staying active with running, snowboarding, and swimming to name a few, and loves to travel.- Tall, leggy and extremely well-built statuesque blonde actress Laurene Landon has enlivened a bunch of hugely enjoyable movies with her spunky energy, physical dexterity, bubbly, upbeat personality and considerable sex appeal. She often portrays tough, two-fisted, no-nonsense action heroines with a winning blend of fiery aplomb and cheerful good humor.
Born as Laurene Landon Coughlin in Toronto, Canada, Landon's family moved to the United States when she was four. The 5'9" Landon starred as "Molly", one of two female wrestlers, who are managed by 'Peter Falk', in Robert Aldrich's uproariously raucous comedy, ...All the Marbles (1981). The fiercely athletic and aggressive Landon also performed a lion's share of her own stunts in the film. Landon was very funny as a daffy stewardess in Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) and was excellent as Mike Hammer's loyal secretary "Velda" in I, the Jury (1982). Laurene was especially strong and impressive in two delightful action/adventure features for director Matt Cimber: she's the titular rugged warrior woman in Hundra (1983) and a gutsy half-Native American spitfire in Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold (1984). Landon was once again, on the money, effective and engaging as courageous policewoman "Teresa Mallory" in the terrific Maniac Cop (1988) and its superior 1990 sequel, Maniac Cop 2 (1990). After a regrettably lengthy absence from acting, Laurene made a return to screen with a sizable co-starring part in the Masters of Horror (2005) episode, Pick Me Up (2006).
Outside of acting, Laurene Landon writes scripts in her spare time and is an award-winning gold medal lyricist, who authored rap music for an L.A. Metro Transit Authority video. - Laurette Luez was born on 19 August 1928 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. She was an actress, known for D.O.A. (1949), Prehistoric Women (1950) and Kim (1950). She was married to Robert Creel, Gregg G. Tallas and Philip Sudano. She died on 12 September 1999 in Milton, Florida, USA.
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Lea Katherine Thompson was born May 31, 1961 in Rochester, Minnesota. She is the youngest of five children. Her parents are Barbara and Cliff Thompson. Since all her siblings were much older than her, Lea says it seemed like she had more than two parents. The family lived in the Starlight motel, all the kids sharing a room. Things began to look up for the family when Lea's father got a job in Minneapolis, where the family moved.
Lea's parents divorced when she was six, and her mother decided to maintain the family. This wasn't the easiest job, considering her mother was alcohol-addicted at the time. When she found the strength to quit drinking, she took a job playing the piano and singing in a bar to support Lea and her siblings. When Lea was seven, her mother remarried. Ever since Lea was little, she loved to dance -- ballet to be exact. She would practice three to four hours every day. Her first role was as a mouse in "The Nutcracker". After Lea turned fourteen, she had performed in more than 45 ballets on stages, such as The Minnesota Dance Theatre, The Pennsylvania Ballet Company, and The Ballet Repertory. She won scholarships to The American Ballet Theatre and The San Francisco Ballet. At age nineteen, she auditioned for Mikhail Baryshnikov, who later told her that she was "a beautiful dancer... but too stocky." Lea knew her dreams had been crushed. At that point, she decided to turn to acting. She began working as a waitress, also making 22 Burger King commercials and a few Twix commercials. She was perfect for these parts simply because she was the average girl-down-the-street, from the Midwest. Everyone who knows her can't believe she was and still is so completely different...trying to be independent and fight against the system. In 1982, Lea made some type of a computer game or interactive movie known as "Murder, Anyone."
Her first role was in the movie, Jaws 3-D (1983), as a water ski bunny, although she couldn't swim or ski, which she still can't! There, she met Dennis Quaid, who became her fiancée and acting coach. Her next role was in All the Right Moves (1983), where she acted opposite Tom Cruise. Director Michael Chapman was so disappointed with her performance, that he almost fired her. Between 1983 and 1984, Lea appeared in other "teen" movies, such as Red Dawn (1984), The Wild Life (1984), and Going Undercover (aka Going Undercover (1985)), and believes it was lucky that, in these movies, they were able to use anyone who could walk and talk! Lea's biggest known accomplishment, and her big break, came from the first Back to the Future (1985). It was the biggest hit of 1985, and Lea was suddenly the most wanted actress. She could have her pick of any role she wanted to take on. She chose Howard the Duck (1986). Although it was a George Lucas production, the critics turned the movie, and Lea, down. Afterwards, director Howard Deutch offered Lea a part in his movie, Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), but she refused. After he urged her to do it, she reconsidered. She won the Young Artist Award for best young actress. During filming, Howard and Lea fell in love, and she called it off with Dennis. She then went on to film The Wizard of Loneliness (1988), which was her first movie as a woman, rather than a youngster. Lea went on to film Back to the Future Part II (1989) and an episode of Tales from the Crypt (1989). She then married Howard Deutch. She continued filming Back to the Future Part III (1990), Montana (1990), and Article 99 (1992). Lea then took a break to stay home with her first born, Madelyn Deutch.
She jumped back into acting in Dennis the Menace (1993), where she says she just played herself. Then it was on to The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), Stolen Babies (1993), The Little Rascals (1994), and The Substitute Wife (1994). In 1994, she had her second child, Zoey Deutch. Lea then went into filming The Unspoken Truth (1995). It was then that she was first given the script of a new NBC sitcom, Caroline in the City (1995). It was probably the best decision Lea ever made. She won a People's choice Award for best actress in a new sitcom. Unfortunately, with all of NBC's problems, Caroline in the City (1995) kept being moved to a worse and worse time slot, giving it horrible ratings. The show ended after only four seasons. Bad ideas from the creators (Julia, etc.) didn't help, either.
Lea quickly went onto The Right to Remain Silent (1996), The Unknown Cyclist (1998), and A Will of Their Own (1998). She also guest-starred in the Friends (1994) episode, The One with the Baby on the Bus (1995), as "Caroline Duffy," and on The Larry Sanders Show (1992). Lea also did some stage work, including starring as "Sally Bowles" in "Cabaret." The show toured and also appeared on Broadway. She then did "The Vagina Monologues" in L.A. She had a stint in a dramatic role as a Chief Deputy Assistant District Attorney, "Camille Paris," on For the People (2002).
Thompson has starred in more than 30 films, 25 television movies, 4 television series, more than 20 ballets, and starred on Broadway in "Cabaret." Lea can currently be seen on ABC Family's Peabody Award winning hit show "Switched at Birth," where she acts and directs. Lea's movie credits include: "All the Right Moves," "Red Dawn," "Some Kind of Wonderful," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Howard The Duck," (star and vocals) Clint Eastwood's "J. Edgar," the 2014 Sundance favorite Ping Pong Summer (2014), Fliegen (2005) starring Nicolas Cage, and The Year of Spectacular Men (2017), a film written by her daughter Madelyn Deutch. Thompson partnered with international Mirrorball Trophy holder Artem Chigvintsev on the 19th season of Dancing with the Stars (2005), placing sixth.
Lea lives in Los Angeles with her husband of over thirty years, film/television director Howard Deutch, and their two talented daughters, Madelyn and Zoey Deutch, along with many dogs, fish, horses, chickens, a cat, tortoise, and parrot. She supports and often performs for breast cancer, mental health, and Alzheimer's charities. Lea is currently writing her first book of essays.- Lee Meredith was born on 22 October 1947 in River Edge, New Jersey, USA. She is an actress, known for The Producers (1967), Great Performances (1971) and The Sunshine Boys (1975). She has been married to Bert Stratford since 1969. They have two children.
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Prime-Time Emmy-nominated actress Lee Purcell produces, directs and performs in Two Fat Dogs Entertainment's (co-owned by Lee and her producing partner) anthology series of classic radio plays starring today's Hollywood Radio Players in these innovative virtual shows, Radio You Can See.
Lee is the recipient of two Prime-Time Emmy nominations, the first being for LONG ROAD HOME starring opposite Mark Harmon, the second for SECRET SINS OF THE FATHERS starring opposite Beau Bridges.
She was also seen in the film CAROL OF THE BELLS with RJ Mitte, JL RANCH with Jon Voight, KIDS VS. MONSTERS with Malcolm McDowell and LOVE AT FIRST GLANCE with Amy Smart.
In her extensive career, this acclaimed actress has earned numerous film, television and stage credits, including her role as "Louise St. Laurent" on the international TV series favorite DUE SOUTH and as the sultry step-mom in the iconic film VALLEY GIRL with Nicholas Cage. Lee was also seen as "Eleanor Sullivan" in the NBC-TV Prime-Time series PERSONS UNKNOWN with Chadwick Boseman, created by Oscar winner Christopher McQuarrie. Fans around the world also frequently reach out to Lee for her role as "Peggy" in the cult favorite film BIG WEDNESDAY.
As a young actress, Lee's film career began when she was personally selected and mentored by legendary movie star Steve McQueen to star in McQueen's Solar Productions' film ADAM AT 6 A.M. opposite Michael Douglas. She will always be grateful to McQueen for his casting and mentoring her and cherishes the time spent with him.
At only three years old, Lee was chosen by the iconic Neiman Marcus flagship store in Dallas to be a child model and began modeling professionally. She later modeled in Los Angeles for the Nina Blanchard Agency and in London for Lumley's Agency.
As a dancer, Lee was performing in a traveling troupe by the age of 13, and later danced in such films as ALMOST SUMMER and television shows such as McGYVER.
As a producer, Lee also co-owned a niche market video production company, which won the Silver Medal in the New York Film and TV Festival. After the sale of the video company, Lee focused on the production and financing of independent features, and the creation of film, TV and theatre projects.
Lee has been active in directing and producing live theatre. She was co-producer, co-director and performer of a critically acclaimed troupe of well-known actors and musicians who performed Western Heritage literature and music from the 1800's. Many noted guest artists, including the late Sam Shepard, performed with the Green River Players.
Having the unique background of being an American who trained and lived in London, Lee has returned to Europe many times to direct, perform and teach. She has enjoyed directing and performing there in such plays as LOVE LETTERS, BLITHE SPIRIT, RICHARD III, MACBETH and others.
Lee is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (OSCARS) and has served on various committees there. She is also a voting member of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (EMMYS) and currently serves on its Performers Peer Group Executive Committee.
She is also a dedicated activist for SAG-AFTRA members, serving and chairing many committees at the union and has been elected to several leadership positions.
Lee has been involved with many charitable organizations throughout her career, and some of her charity work includes the Motion Picture and Television Fund, Heart of a Horse, Veterans Entertainment Team, Big Brothers, Special Olympics, and Paralyzed Veterans of America.
She was born on the Cherrypoint Marine Base in North Carolina to Major Frank Williams and Olivia McKnight Williams.- Actress
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Lee Remick was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, to Gertrude Margaret (Waldo), an actress, and Francis Edwin Remick, a department store owner. She had Irish and English ancestry. Remick was educated at Barnard College, studied dance and worked on stage and TV, before making her film debut as a sexy Southern majorette in Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd (1957). Her next role was also southern: Eula Varner in The Long, Hot Summer (1958). She emerged as a real star in the role of an apparent rape victim in Anatomy of a Murder (1959). And she won an Academy Award nomination for her role as the alcoholic wife of Jack Lemmon in Days of Wine and Roses (1962). After more work in TV and movies, she moved to England in 1970, making more movies there. In 1988 she formed a production company with partners James Garner and Peter K. Duchow.- Actress
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
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Born to parents of Spanish, Filipino, and Norwegian ancestry, Miss Tweeden grew up in Virginia as a self-proclaimed "tomboy". After graduating from Osbourn Park Senior High in 1991, she pursued a career in modeling. Upon moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado, she worked briefly as a Hooters waitress before winning her modeling job, gaining first place in the Venus International Model Search in 1992. From there, she traveled the United States doing promotional appearances and hosted the 1993 Venus Model Search competition, which she returned to host in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997. During this time, she relocated to Los Angeles, modeling for Fredericks of Hollywood, Hooters (appearing in their 1993 & 1994 calendars), Playboy magazine (as a cover girl), and Playboy's Book of Lingerie, in the November/December 1994 issue. She also appeared in the video Edenquest: Pamela Anderson (1995). In 1996, she landed a spot on the ESPN2 show Fitness Beach (1996), as well as a layout in the August 1996 issue of Playboy magazine. In 1997, she was chosen as the model for the lead character in a No Mercy comic book, titled "Coven 13". She continued modeling for various magazines, including Playboy, and put out her first calendar in 1998, featuring the photographs of Mario Barberio.
Returning to the small screen, she became a regular on the half-hour Fox Sports Net/Speed Channel motor-cross show High Octane (2002) and also hosted Fox Sports Net's Bluetorch TV (2000), an extreme sports show. In addition, Leeann was a correspondent for an installment of E!'s Wild On... (1997) series. She can currently be seen on The Best Damn Sports Show Period (2001) also on Fox Sports Net, and her pictorials can be found all over the Internet.- Actress
- Producer
Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski was born June 10, 1983 in New York City, New York. She is the daughter of Elizabeth Sobieski (née Salomon), a writer, and Jean Sobieski, a painter who has also acted. She has a younger brother, Robert. Her father, born in France, is of Polish and Swiss descent, while her mother is of three quarters Ashkenazi Jewish and one quarter Dutch, ancestry.
Sobieski caught the attention of a casting agent who noticed her while he was scouting the cafeteria of a New York City private school. Leelee's first major audition was for a role in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994). She ended up losing the role to Kirsten Dunst, but that didn't stop her. At age 11 she co-starred in the TV movie Reunion (1994) with Marlo Thomas and a year later starred in A Horse for Danny (1995). In 1998 Leelee starring opposite Elijah Wood in Deep Impact (1998). The film, which was one of the summer's biggest hits, garnered Leelee great reviews and brought her to the attention of many casting directors. Next up was Joan of Arc (1999), which she shot in the Czech Republic and for which she received an Emmy nomination. While working on Joan of Arc (1999), she was also shooting a film with Tom Cruise, Eyes Wide Shut (1999). The film, shot under strict secrecy by the notoriously reclusive Stanley Kubrick, had Leelee cast as a teenage nymphet who tempts Cruise's character. While shooting the film she developed a friendship with Stanley Kubrick and was heartbroken when he died soon after its completion.
Leelee went on to star with other big names: Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed (1999); Diane Lane in The Glass House (2001) and Josh Hartnett & Chris Klein in Here on Earth (2000).
Leelee married fashion designer Adam Kimmel in 2010. The couple has two children.- Leigh Lombardi was born on 11 August 1955. She is an actress, known for Murphy's Law (1986), Knight Rider (1982) and Blue Thunder (1984).
- The Tennessee-born Snowden (real name: Martha Lee Estes) was a movie actress and model who first made a splash on the Jack Benny TV show, sashaying across the stage at the San Diego Naval base. Twenty thousand sailors gave the curvy sweater-clad starlet a standing ovation that made headlines in "Variety", and every talent scout in Hollywood was on Snowden's trail the very next morning. Three days later, she was hired to make her film debut in director Robert Aldrich's obtuse crime classic Kiss Me Deadly (1955) (Aldrich expanded her role and gave her featured billing). In January 1955, she signed a seven-year contract with Universal Studios, beginning by playing up her Dixie drawl in their glossy soap opera All That Heaven Allows (1955). Other movies include Francis in the Navy (1955), The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) and the Bridey Murphy-inspired I've Lived Before (1956). In September 1956, Snowden married Dick Contino, a big-name singer/accordion player, and a few years later she retired from acting. Mother to five children from two marriages, she died of cancer at age 51.
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Leighton Marissa Meester was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to Constance Lynn (Haas) and Douglas Jay Meester. Although born in Texas, Meester spent her early years in Marco Island, Florida with her grandparents. There, she became involved with the local playhouse and made her stage debut in a production of "The Wizard of Oz".
She moved to New York with her mother at the age of 11 and was soon working as a model and appearing in TV commercials. A few years later, at age 14, she and her mother moved again, this time to Los Angeles, where she began to pick up TV work, making her debut in Disciple (1999).
A steady stream of TV work followed, and in 2007 she landed the role of Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl (2007), which made her famous. This led to more TV and movie roles. In 2009, she launched a recording career with the single, "Somebody to Love".- Entrancing Leigh Taylor-Young was born on January 25, 1945, in Washington, D,C,. to a diplomat father and raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the older sister of future actress Dey Young and writer/director Lance Young. She studied classical ballet and, following high school, attended Northwestern University where she initially majored in economics. She switched gears after developing an interest in theater, however, and studied under drama teacher Alvina Krause, and would apprentice as the youngest member of the Eaglesmere Summer Repertory Theatre.
Leigh eventually moved to New York with designs on a professional career and studied under acting guru Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Her major break came when she was cast in the already firmly established prime-time TV soap Peyton Place (1964). She played the mysterious Rachael Welles, whose character was brought in to provide clues to the disappearance of Allison MacKenzie (played by Mia Farrow who shocked ardent viewers by abruptly leaving the series). A mysterious girl herself, Leigh proved to be a fetching figure with her slightly off-kiltered beauty and unsympathetic countenance.
Like Farrow, Leigh developed a bit of bad publicity when she too walked off the weekly series after only one season. She also fell into the arms of the very popular -- and very married -- series star Ryan O'Neal. The couple would marry in 1967 following his divorce from actress Joanna Moore. By then, Leigh was already pregnant with their child Patrick O'Neal, who would later become an actor before turning to sportscasting.
Leigh started off in films auspiciously as a "flower child" of the psychedelic (late) 1960s. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Newcomer," when she played opposite Peter Sellers, in the eccentric comedy, I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968), but then appeared opposite her husband in The Big Bounce (1969), a kinky misfire. She went on to appear in a cameo in her husband's British-made movie, The Games (1970), but her career sputtered again with a series of misguided features, including the star-heavy epic, The Adventurers (1970); another kinky British film, The Buttercup Chain (1970), which dealt with kissing cousins who don't quite stop at kissing; the beautifully photographed but rather hollow action-adventure The Horsemen (1971) co-starring Omar Sharif; and the mild romp, The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971) which is best remembered for starting Robert De Niro off and running in films. Arguably, Leigh's best remembered role during that period came alongside Charlton Heston in the controversial film Soylent Green (1973), although she was a bit overshadowed by the grisly topic material and showier performances of co-stars Heston and Edward G. Robinson.
Following her separation from O'Neal in 1971 (they didn't actually divorce until '74), the actress made herself somewhat scarce while raising her young son. In 1978, she married agent/director Guy McElwaine, but that marriage would also end in divorce. In the 1980s, she made a comeback of sorts as a mature -- but still spicy -- presence. Taking a back seat to Albert Finney in the film thriller Looker (1981) and to Glenn Close and Jeff Bridges in the whodunnit Jagged Edge (1985), she found her best results back on TV.
Leigh would nab a supporting Emmy award in 1994 for her portrayal of vixen Rachel Harris on the acclaimed series drama Picket Fences (1992). In addition, she performed in several plays, in the US, England and Scotland, including "The Beckett Plays", "Knives" and "Sleeping Dogs". More recently, she appeared in her writer/director brother Lance Young's film Bliss (1997). Leigh also would play a regular role on the daytime soap, Passions (1999) as wealthy Katherine Crane.
A few movie roles have come her way into the millennium, including the film comedy Slackers (2002); a cameo role (as Mrs. Leigh Taylor Young) in (then) husband Craig Sheffer's film Ritual (2002); the comedy crimer Klepto (2003); the comedy A-List (2006); as a psychiatrist in the sci-fi adventure Spiritual Warriors (2007) and, more recently, the drama The Wayshower (2011).
Finding a fulfilling life off-camera, Leigh became an ordained minister in the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, and her voice can be heard in the Search of Serenity series of audio meditations from The Course in Miracles trainings. She is also a grandmother of two granddaughters from son Patrick's relationship with the older Rebecca De Mornay. - Actress
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Leila Hyams was one of the top leading ladies of the early talkie pre-code years. She was a likable, pleasing actress with a charming presence. She had much spark, personality and charisma, and a touch of down-to-earthiness and naturalness that won over movie fans; they could relate to her. A versatile, excellent actress she was, able to conform to any role and maintain that special heartfelt sincerity she always displayed in her role. Freaks (1932) was her best-known movie, in which she played Venus and gave a compassionate performance. Her image on screen was beautiful but not conceited, not high and mighty, tough but sweet and she had sex appeal but always came across as a lady who managed to keep her innocence. Those were the qualities that carried her to fame and set her apart from the other leading ladies of early Hollywood.- Actress
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Lena Calhoun Horne was born June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York. In her biography she stated that, on the day she was born, her father was in the midst of a card game trying to get money to pay the hospital costs. Her parents divorced while she was still a toddler. Her mother left later in order to find work as an actress and Lena was left in the care of her grandparents. When she was seven, her mother returned and the two traveled around the state which meant that Lena was enrolled in numerous schools. For a time she also attended schools in Florida, Georgia and Ohio. Later she returned to Brooklyn.
Lena quit school when she was 14 and got her first stage job at 16 dancing and later singing at the famed Cotton Club in Harlem, a renowned theater in which black performers played before white audiences immortalized in The Cotton Club (1984)). She was in good hands at the club, especially when people such as Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington took her under their wings and helped her over the rough spots. Before long, her talent resulted in her playing before packed houses.
If Lena had never made a movie, her music career would have been enough to have ensured her legendary status in the entertainment industry, but films were icing on the cake. After she made an appearance on Broadway, Hollywood came calling. At 21 years of age, Lena made her first film, The Duke Is Tops (1938). It would be four more years before she appeared in another, Panama Hattie (1942), playing a singer in a nightclub. By now Lena had signed with MGM but, unfortunately for her, the pictures were shot so that her scenes could be cut out when they were shown in the South since most theaters in the South refused to show films that portrayed blacks in anything other than subservient roles to whites. Most movie studios did not want to take a chance on losing that particular source of revenue. Lena did not want to appear in those kinds of stereotyped roles and who could blame her?
In 1943, MGM loaned Lena to 20th Century-Fox to play the role of Selina Rogers in the all-black musical Stormy Weather (1943), which did extremely well at the box office. Her rendition of the title song became a major hit on the musical charts. In 1943, she appeared in Cabin in the Sky (1943), regarded by many as one of the finest performances of her career. She played Georgia Brown opposite Ethel Waters and Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson in the all black production. Rumors were rampant that she and Waters just did not get along well, although there was never any mention of the source of the alleged friction. However, that was not the only feud on that picture. Other cast members sniped at one another and it was a wonder the film was made at all. Regardless of the hostilities, the movie was released to very good reviews from the ever tough critics. It went a long way in showing the depth of the talent that existed among black performers in Hollywood, especially Lena.
Lena's musical career flourished, but her movie career stagnated. Minor roles in films such as Boogie-Woogie Dream (1944), Words and Music (1948) and Mantan Messes Up (1946) did little to advance her film career, due mainly to the ingrained racist attitudes of the time. Even at the height of Lena's musical career, she was often denied rooms at the very hotels in which she performed because they would not let blacks stay there. After Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956), Lena left films to concentrate on music and the stage. She returned in 1969 as Claire Quintana in Death of a Gunfighter (1969). Nine years later, she returned to the screen again in the all black musical The Wiz (1978) where she played Glinda the Good Witch. Although that was her last big-screen appearance, she stayed busy in television appearing in A Century of Women (1994) and That's Entertainment! III (1994).
Had it not been for the prevailing racial attitudes during the time when Lena was just starting her career, it's fair to say that it would have been much bigger and come much sooner. Even taking those factors into account, Lena Horne is still one of the most respected, talented and beautiful performers of all time.- Actress
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Lena Meyer-Landrut was born on 23 May 1991 in Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is an actress and composer, known for What a Man (2011), Lena: If I Wasn't Your Daughter (2017) and Lena: Thank You (2018). She has been married to Mark Forster since 2020. They have one child.- Swedish-born Lena Olin already had a successful career as an actress before she came to Hollywood. She acted at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm and was directed by Ingmar Bergman. She was born in Stockholm, to actors Britta Holmberg and Stig Olin, who appeared in six of Bergman's films. Lena also belongs to the Bergman "family". As a young actress, she played in the great classics of William Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg. She made her international debut as a movie actress in After the Rehearsal (1984) (aka "After the Rehearsal"), directed by Bergman. In western Europe, she became well-known in the political movie The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) as "Sabina", in a story about the Prague spring (1968). After coming to the US, she played mostly distinguished, exotic temptresses, intelligent women and crude vamps. Bergman had developed Lena's artistic gift to play different human emotions and express them in a subtle way. Sydney Pollack, director of Out of Africa (1985), rewrote the screenplay for Havana (1990) especially for her. This explains why this film recalls associations with the classic Casablanca (1942), starring Ingrid Bergman, also from Sweden. Olin received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Enemies, A Love Story (1989). She went on to have a choice role in Chocolat (2000), which received a Best Picture Oscar nomination, and received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. She made a move to the smaller screen and played the role for one season as the deliciously evil "Irina Derevko", the mother to Jennifer Garner's "Sydney Bristow" in the series Alias (2001). Olin received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
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Lenora Crichlow was born on 4 January 1985 in Westminster, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Fast Girls (2012), Sugar Rush (2005) and Being Human (2008).- Actress
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Lenore Aubert was born in present-day Slovenia, at the time still connected to the Austro-Hungarian Empire (her French name was pure Hollywood hokum, designed to make her background more exotic - though she did live for some time in Paris). Eleanore Maria Leisner was the daughter of an Austrian general and spent her formative years in Vienna where she studied acting and appeared in a few movies as an extra. Her marriage to a Jewish boy obliged her to leave Austria after the 'Anschluss' and the couple emigrated to the United States via France. In New York, Lenore found work as a model and was eventually offered a lucrative stage role as Lorraine Sheldon in "The Man Who Came to Dinner" at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. Determined to get the part, Lenore crossed the U.S. by bus.
Once settled in California, Lenore was 'discovered' twice. The first time, she was spotted by an agent for Samuel Goldwyn and signed to appear as the alluring Nazi spy trying to tempt Bob Hope in They Got Me Covered (1943). Though Dorothy Lamour wryly commented on Lenore's sexy walk, there was not enough screen time for the newcomer to seriously challenge the established star in the popularity stakes. After that, Lenore went into Action in Arabia (1944) opposite George Sanders. This picture did not make much of a splash either, but attracted the attention of Republic studio boss Herbert J. Yates, who was still desperately searching to find a replacement for his failed star Vera Ralston. Lenore was consequently cast in the period thriller The Catman of Paris (1946) which was launched with a (for Republic) bigger-then-average publicity campaign and went on to be exhibited at the better cinemas. Unfortunately, in the course of the 65 minutes, sets and cinematography were the real stars. Though the cast tried hard, they failed to overcome the deficiencies of lacklustre direction,a silly script and the even sillier makeup for the not very scary top- hatted 'werecat' monster. Needless to say, that 'Catman' did nothing for the careers of any involved.
During the next few years, Lenore appeared in a number of B-movies, such as The Return of the Whistler (1948) and Barbary Pirate (1949). Her own favourite among her screen roles was that of Viennese singer/actress Fritzi Scheff (1879-1954) in I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947). Several times she had screen-tested, unsuccessfully, for A-grade productions. These included Saratoga Trunk (1945) and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), but on both occasions she lost out to Ingrid Bergman. Lenore's greatest success in film was probably retrospectively, due to the popularity and later cult status enjoyed by two films starring her with Abbott and Costello, made back-to-back: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) (generally regarded as the duo's best) and Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (1949). A story goes, that, during production of the former, Lenore (attired all in mink) walked actor Glenn Strange -- in full make-up as the Frankenstein monster -- on a leash up and down the studio lot in full view of visiting tourists arriving on the tour tram (nothing beats good publicity !).
In the 1950's, Lenore joined her husband who was in the garment business in New York. The business succeeded, the marriage did not. With the exception of a couple of minor European films, Lenore's acting career was effectively over. She devoted much of her remaining life to charitable causes, doing work for the United Nations and the Museum of Natural History in New York.- Actress
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Lesley-Anne Down was born on March 17, 1954 and raised in London, England. With the help of her father, she began modeling at age 10, acting in commercials, and winning several beauty contests. By the time she was 15, Down had completed four films and was voted "Britain's Most Beautiful Teenager". Lesley-Anne first gained international popularity as Georgina Worsley in the British series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971), which became a hit on PBS in the United States. She has starred in films, including The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), A Little Night Music (1977), The Betsy (1978), The Great Train Robbery (1978), Hanover Street (1979), Rough Cut (1980) and Sphinx (1981). She starred in the television movies The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982), Arch of Triumph (1984), Indiscreet (1988), and in the miniseries The Last Days of Pompeii (1984) and North & South: Book 1, North & South (1985).
Lesley-Anne appeared for six episodes as Stephanie Rogers in the prime-time television series Dallas (1978), on the CBS Network. Her previous daytime experience included roles as Olivia Richards in Sunset Beach (1997) and Lady Sheraton in Days of Our Lives (1965). She also made guest appearances on the television series The Nanny (1993) and Diagnosis Murder (1993). On stage, she has appeared in "Hamlet" and a musical version of "Great Expectations". As for her career, Lesley-Anne has earned Golden Globe Award nominations, German Bravo Awards, the British Best Actress Award, the Rose D'or Best Soap Opera Actress Award and the covers of numerous publications throughout the world, including Life Magazine. She was awarded the 2006 TV Soap Golden Boomerang Award for the most Popular Supporting Female for her role as Jackie Marone Knight on The Bold and the Beautiful (1987).
Lesley-Anne Down met her husband, cinematographer Don E. FauntLeRoy, while filming North & South: Book 1, North & South (1985). They live in Malibu, California with their son, George-Edward FauntLeRoy. She also has a son, Jackson Friedkin, from her earlier marriage to director William Friedkin and two stepchildren, Season FauntLeRoy and Juliana FauntLeRoy, from Don's previous marriage. When she's not on the set, Down prefers to spend her free time with her children and animals. She has an extensive collection of Victorian children's books, which she has collected since age 15.- Actress
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Leslie-Anne is a Los Angeles native and a graduate of UC Berkeley. She is a graduate of The Groundlings Sunday Company and the CBS Diversity Showcase program. Leslie-Anne is known for her turn as ""Rayna Cruz" in the long-running hit series The Vampire Diaries. She is the co-creator of the award-winning original comedy series The LifeSavers and the writer/producer of the short film Rosie.- Actress
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Entrancing, gorgeous Lesley Ann Warren started gearing towards a life in show business right off the bat as a young ballerina who trained at the School of American Ballet at the age of 14. Little did she know that Hollywood stardom would arrive on her doorstep in the form of a "Cinderella" story.
The New York-born actress (August 16, 1946) is the daughter of a night club singer, Margot Warren (née Verblow), and real estate agent, William Warren. Her mother had earlier given up her own entertainment career for marriage and family. Growing up, Lesley attended the Professional Children's School at the age of 6 and High School of Music & Art as a young teenager. At age 17, she studied under Lee Strasberg at his Actors Studio, the youngest student to ever be accepted at the time.
Looking for on-camera work, the teenager appeared unbilled as Shelley Winters's young daughter in the melodrama The Chapman Report (1962) and was given a bit in the daytime TV show "The Doctors." The slender, young hopeful gathered early musical stage experience in such shows as "Bye Bye Birdie" (as swooning teen Kim McAfee), then made an auspicious Broadway debut in "110 in the Shade", the 1963 musical version of "The Rainmaker," and won Broadway's "Most Promising Newcomer" Award. She subsequently received the Theatre World Award for her lead work as a "cat burglar" opposite Elliott Gould in the very short-lived (8 performances) musical "Drat! The Cat!" in 1965.
The attention Lesley received from this brief stage venture, however, led to her capturing the beguiling title role in the Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II TV musical production of Cinderella (1965) with Stuart Damon as her Prince and a glittering, all-star cast in support. The Walt Disney people immediate signed the exquisite "Cinderella" to a fresh-faced ingénue contract. Co-starring in the moderately-received musical showcases The Happiest Millionaire (1967) and The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), Lesley became convinced that she needed to quickly nip the saccharine stereotype in the bud if she was to grow and sustain as an adult actress.
Rebelling against her studio-imposed image, Lesley left Disney determined to pursue roles with more depth, drama and character. Changing her name temporarily to "Lesley Warren" to reinforce her more mature goal, she was hired in 1970 to replace Barbara Bain in the long-running espionage series Mission: Impossible (1966) when Bain left over contractual issues. Audiences were quite cool in their reception to the "new and improved" Lesley and didn't buy her as a femme-fatale replacement for the cool and aloof Ms. Bain.
After only one season, Lesley realized her mission to grow was impossible (in spite of an encouraging Golden Globe nomination) and left the show, seeking greener pastures in the TV mini-movie market. She displayed a wide range of vulnerable neurotics as well as sexier ladies that began to alter her pristine image. Such 1970s material included the plane crash adventure Seven in Darkness (1969) as one of several blind survivors; the love drama Love Hate Love (1971) co-starring Ryan O'Neal; a failed pilot in the title role of Cat Ballou (1971); a mild western as one of The Daughters of Joshua Cabe (1972); the exotic "silent star" biopic The Legend of Valentino (1975); the rags-to-riches story Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue (1977), for which she won a Golden Globe award; the epic WWII story Pearl (1978); and the social melodramas Betrayal (1978) and Portrait of a Stripper (1979). Lesley also impressed with her starring roles in the Civil War miniseries Beulah Land (1980) and as a Polish-Jewish immigrant in Evergreen (1985). On stage, she ambitiously attempted to recreate Scarlett O'Hara opposite Pernell Roberts's Rhett Butler in a 1973 Broadway-bound musical version of "Gone with the Wind: The Musical." The show quickly died on the West Coast before ever reaching New York.
In the early 1980s, Lesley's movie career resurrected itself with a priceless performance as kingpin James Garner's whiny-voiced, peroxide-blonde spitfire Norma Cassidy in the slapstick musical Victor/Victoria (1982). Earning both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, this delightful, scene-stealing turn was followed by a couple of other quality offbeat films that were directed by Alan Rudolph -- Choose Me (1984) and Songwriter (1984). Warren went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination supporting Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson in the former, and a People's Choice Award for the latter. She continued to attempt to spread her wings as a worldly "cougar" type opposite young blond and boyish Christopher Atkins in the critically-panned drama A Night in Heaven (1983). She also played Miss Scarlet in the movie version of the board game Clue (1985).
Award-worthy TV roles for Lesley with a Golden Globe performance as a successful madam in the miniseries Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue (1977). She also received Emmy and Golden Globe noms as the conflicted wife of a naval officer turned Russian double agent (Powers Boothe) in Family of Spies (1990), as well as for her Cable Ace nom for her work as a barmaid who aspires to be a country-western singer in Baja Oklahoma (1988). In 1997, she returned to Broadway with the musical revue "Dream" co-starring Margaret Whiting, which focused on classic "Golden Age" standards.
Entering her sixth decade of acting, Lesley remains highly active well into the millennium with often high-maintenance roles in such films as the Losing Grace (2001), Secretary (2002), My Tiny Universe (2004), When Do We Eat? (2005), The Shore (2006), Stiffs (2010), I Am Michael (2015), The Sphere and the Labyrinth (2015) and 3 Days with Dad (2019). Among her later TV credits are "Touched by an Angel," "The Practice," "Less Than Perfect," "American Princess," and a recurring role as an overly dependent mom named Jinx in the mystery crime series In Plain Sight (2008). Her dim, riotous Norma Cassady role had TV often pitching her as a scatter-brained comedienne, as in her recurring TV guest parts on Will & Grace (1998) and Desperate Housewives (2004).
Lesley has a son, actor/producer Christopher Peters, from her 1967-'73 marriage to makeup artist/hair stylist-cum-film producer Jon Peters. Since 2000, she has been married to advertising exec and sometime actor Ron Taft, a former vice-president at Columbia.- Actress
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Leslie Louise Bibb was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, on November 17, 1973, and raised in Nelson County, Virginia. Later she and her mother, along with her three older sisters, moved to Richmond, where Leslie attended an all-girls Catholic high school, St. Gertrude.
In 1990 The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986) and the Elite Agency held a nationwide modeling search; Leslie's mother took photos of her then 16-year-old daughter and sent them in. Although Leslie wasn't impressed with the photos, the judges--John Casablancas, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Iman--were, and they picked her as the winner.
After finishing her junior year, Leslie flew to New York City and signed a contract with Elite. She modeled over the summer, and went on a trip to Japan. She returned home for her senior year and graduated in 1992, then decided to forgo a full-time modeling career to attend the University of Virginia. After a single semester, however, she dropped out and moved to New York City. She attended the William Esper acting studio for three years and took nine months off in which she did more modeling in Europe. Her photographs have appeared in such magazine as Maxim and FHM.
Leslie had her first film role in the comedy Private Parts (1997), which was followed by her first television series (where she replaced the departed Susan Walters as the female lead) in the second season of The Big Easy (1996) on USA. Unfortunately, the show was canceled just months later.
In 1999 she appeared as the lead character on the WB Network television series Popular (1999). The show was a success among teenagers, and led Leslie to more recognizable film roles, such as The Skulls (2000) and See Spot Run (2001). Most recently she has appeared as intern Erin Harkins in ER (1994).- Actress
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French ballet dancer Leslie Caron was discovered by the legendary MGM star Gene Kelly during his search for a co-star in one of the finest musicals ever filmed, the Oscar-winning An American in Paris (1951), which was inspired by and based on the music of George Gershwin. Leslie's gamine looks and pixie-like appeal would be ideal for Cinderella-type rags-to-riches stories, and Hollywood made fine use of it. Combined with her fluid dancing skills, she became one of the top foreign musical artists of the 1950s, while her triple-threat talents as a singer, dancer and actress sustained her long after musical film's "Golden Age" had passed.
Leslie Claire Margaret Caron was born in France on July 1, 1931. Her father, Claude Caron, was a French chemist, and her American-born mother, Margaret Petit, had been a ballet dancer back in the States during the 1920s. Leslie herself began taking dance lessons at age 11. She was on holidays at her grandparents' estate near Grasse when the Allies landed on the 15th of August 1944. After the German rendition, she and her family went to Paris to live. There she attended the Convent of the Assumption and started ballet training. While studying at the National Conservatory of Dance, she appeared at age 14 in "The Pearl Diver," a show for children where she danced and played a little boy. At age 16, she was hired by the renowned Roland Petit to join the Ballet des Champs-Elysees, where she was immediately given solo parts.
Leslie's talent and reputation as a dancer had already been recognized when on opening night of Petit's 1948 ballet "La Rencontre," which was based on the theme of Orpheus and featured the widely-acclaimed dancer 'Jean Babilee', she was seen by then-married Hollywood couple Gene Kelly and Betsy Blair. Leslie did not meet the famed pair at the end of the show that night as the 17-year-old went home dutifully right after her performance, but one year later Kelly remembered Leslie's performance when he returned to Paris in search for a partner for his upcoming movie musical An American in Paris (1951). The rest is history.
Kelly and newcomer Caron's touching performances and elegant and exuberant footwork (especially in the "Our Love Is Here to Stay" and "Embraceable You" numbers, as well as the dazzling 17-minute ballet to the title song) had critics and audiences simply enthralled. The film, directed by Vincente Minnelli, won a total of six Oscar awards, including "Best Picture," plus a Golden Globe for "Best Picture in a Musical or Comedy". Leslie was put under a seven-year MGM contract where her luminous skills would also be featured in non-musical showcases.
While Leslie's dramatic mettle was tested as a New Orleans nightclub entertainer opposite Ralph Meeker's boxer in Glory Alley (1952) and as a French governess in The Story of Three Loves (1953), it was as the child-like urchin who falls for a cruel carnival puppeteer (Mel Ferrer) in Lili (1953) that finally lifted Leslie to Academy Award attention. The film, which went on to inspire the Tony-winning Broadway musical "Carnival," earned Leslie not only an Oscar nomination, but the British Film Award for "Best Actress" as well. At her waif-like best once again in the musical Daddy Long Legs (1955), Leslie was paired this time with the "other" MGM male dancing legend Fred Astaire. The story, which unfolded in an appealing Henry Higgins/Eliza Dolittle style, was partly choreographed by Roland Petit, who founded the Ballet des Champs-Elysees, Leslie's former dance company.
While the actress gave poignant life to the ugly-duckling-turned-swan tale, The Glass Slipper (1955), choreographed by Petit and co-starring Britisher Michael Wilding as Prince Charming, Leslie also played a ballerina in love with WWII soldier John Kerr in Gaby (1956), a lukewarm remake of the superior Waterloo Bridge (1940). It took another plush musical classic, Gigi (1958), to remind audiences once again of Leslie's unique, international appeal. Audrey Hepburn, who had played the title part on Broadway, was keen on doing the film, but producer Arthur Freed wrote the part expressly for Leslie. It was also Freed who called up Fred Astaire to suggest her as his leading lady in Gigi (1958). Leslie tried the role out on the London stage prior to doing the film version. The musical wound up receiving nine Academy Awards, including "Best Picture," and Leslie herself was nominated for a Golden Globe as "Best Musical/Comedy Actress".
A few more forgettable film roles came and went until she returned triumphantly in a non-musical adaptation of a highly successful 1954 Broadway musical. The film version of Fanny (1961) was more adult in nature for Leslie and was blessed with gorgeous cinematography, a touching script and the continental flavor of veterans, Maurice Chevalier, Charles Boyer, and Horst Buchholz. At the movie's centerpiece is a child-like Leslie (at age 30!) who is mesmerizing as a young girl with child who is deserted by her sailor/boyfriend. Even more adult in scope was the shattering British drama The L-Shaped Room (1962) wherein the actress plays a pregnant French refugee who is abandoned yet again. She earned her a second British Academy Award and a second Oscar nomination for this superb performance.
On stage in London with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Leslie earned applause in another Audrey Hepburn Broadway vehicle, "Ondine," in 1961. While the mid-1960s and 1970s saw her film career take a Hollywood detour into breezy comedy with a number of lightweight fare opposite the likes of Rock Hudson, Cary Grant and Warren Beatty, she managed to shine with a complex working class mother role in the remarkable Italian film Il padre di famiglia (1967) starring Nino Manfredi and Ugo Tognazzi, and was spotted in the popular crossover film Valentino (1977) starring iconic Russian ballet star Rudolf Nureyev.
In the 1980s, Leslie appeared in stage productions of "Can-Can", "On Your Toes" and "One for the Tango". She also was invited and accepted to appear on American TV. At the age of 75, the actress won her first Emmy Award with her very moving portrayal of an elderly woman and closeted rape victim in a 2006 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999). More recent filming have included Damage (1992) by Louis Malle, Chocolat (2000) by Lasse Hallström, and the Merchant Ivory romantic comedy/drama The Divorce (2003).
Leslie's private life has been more turbulent than expected. She is divorced from the late meat packing heir and musician Geordie Hormel; from avant-garde Royal Shakespeare director Peter Hall, by whom she has two children, Christopher and Jennifer (both of whom have careers in the entertainment field); and from her Chandler (1971) movie producer Michael Laughlin.
One of the few MGM post-musical stars to enjoy a long, lasting and formidable dramatic career, Leslie Caron is still continuing today though on a much more limited basis. In 2008, the actress published her memoirs, "Thank Heaven," later translated to French as "Une Francaise à Hollywood". In 2010, she triumphed on the Chatelet Theater stage in Paris with her portrayal of Madame Armfeldt in Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music. More recently the still mesmerizing octogenarian had a recurring role as a countess in the British TV series The Durrells (2016). Over the years, she has received a number of "Life Achievement" awards for her contributions to both film and dance.- Actress
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Lili Damita was a French-American actress, best remembered today for whom she married than for the movies in which she appeared. When the sound revolution arrived in Hollywood, all of the studio's scrambled to find actors who could speak lines and record well. It was at this time Lili burst onto the scene. While her accent would always be quite noticeable, the novelty of sound overcame the quality of lines uttered. In the MGM movie The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929), she played against Ernest Torrence as his love interest. In 1931, she was cast with Gary Cooper in the early western Fighting Caravans (1931). After that, her career was almost over as she continued to make only a few other movies over the next few years. In 1935, she married a hell raiser by the name of Errol Flynn. This rocky tempestuous union lasted until 1942.- Lili Muráti was born on 22 July 1914 in Nagyvárad, Austria-Hungary (now Oradea, Romania). She was an actress, known for Doctor Zhivago (1965), Miss President (1935) and A tökéletes család (1942). She was married to János Vaszary and Dóra, Sándor. She died on 16 April 2003 in Madrid, Spain.
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She started as a model, and in 1955 became an actress. She acted under her birth name, Marjorie Hellen, until 1959. Afterwards she was known as Leslie Parrish. She appeared in more than 100 TV shows. She is known as one of the first women producers. She's always had a passion for music. She was involved in social causes such as the Vietnam war. She met the airplane pilot/writer Richard D. Bach during the making of Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973), and they married in 1981. They divorced in 1999.- Actress
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Born in Shenyang, grew up in Jinan, the daughter of an economics professor. Loved music from childhood, and dreamed of a singing career. After failing to gain entrance to China's top music school in 1985, applied for and was admitted to the Central Drama Academy in Beijing, from which she graduated in 1989. While still a student, was cast as the female lead in Red Sorghum (1988)(aka "Red Sorghum"), the initial directing effort by Yimou Zhang. China's best-known actress in the West, she was named Best Actress at the 49th Venice International Film Festival for her role in The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) (aka "The Story of Qiu Ju"). Made a series of successful films with Yimou Zhang, a collaboration that apparently ended with the breakup of their personal relationship in 1995 and Gong's subsequent marriage to a tobacco company executive.- Writer
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- Lili Simmons is an American actress who was born in San Diego, California, USA as Lili Marie Simmons. At the age of fifteen she was discovered by a talent manager. She would begin her career as a Ford Model and continue her work for Bebe Stores, Roxy, J.C. Penny, and Saturn. In 2010 she began her acting career and starred in recurring roles in several television series including Hollywood Is Like High School with Money (2010), Banshee (2013), and Hawaii Five-0 (2015). Her film work includes a starring role in the movie Bone Tomahawk (2015).
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An attractive, wavy-haired brunette Londoner, Lilian Bond graduated from Brompton Oratory School and began her show business career in pantomimes and revues as a teenager. She travelled to America in 1926 to appear on Broadway in the 'Ziegfeld Follies' and for Earl Carroll's 'Vanities', as well as playing Rosamanda in 'Fioretta' with Fanny Brice. One of her subsequent roles was in 'Stepping Out' (1929) with Lionel Atwill, a part she later reprised on screen. Her film roles generally saw her as the 'other woman', except for a notable performance as Gladys DuCane, one of the temporary lodgers at The Old Dark House (1932) and, of course, Lily Langtry in The Westerner (1940). A beauty in her time, once photographed in the nude by Alfred Cheney Johnston and later romantically linked to Howard Hughes, she retired from films at the age of 50.- Actress
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Lily Jane Collins was born in Guildford, Surrey, England. Her father is English musician Phil Collins, while her mother, Jill Tavelman, who is from Los Angeles, California, was president of the Beverly Hills Women's Club for three terms. Lily moved with her mother to LA at the age of five, after her parents split up. She is of Russian Jewish (from her maternal grandfather), English, and German descent.
Her first screen role was at the age of two in the BBC series Growing Pains, in 1992. Collins performed at the Youth Academy for Dramatic Arts as a child, but her main interest was journalism. She graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School, and attended the USC, where she majored in broadcast journalism. She began writing a column ("NY Confidential") for the British magazine Elle Girl in her teens as well as contributing to Seventeen, Teen Vogue, and the Los Angeles Times magazines.
After some early television appearances as a presenter/reporter (for instance, covering the 2008 US Presidential campaign as a host on the Nickelodeon show, Kids Pick the President (2000)), she made a couple of appearances on 90210 (2008) in 2009. She co-starred as the daughter of Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock's characters in the massive box office hit The Blind Side (2009). More dramatic roles followed, and she came to worldwide attention when she played the starring role in Mirror Mirror (2012), following it up by headlining The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) and Love, Rosie (2014).- Composer
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"...Lili Haydn's score,...crescendoes when it should and occasionally rings triumphant." - Variety
"Bliss-inducing original music by composer Lili Haydn ...My response was the reviewer's equivalent of a spiritual visitation." - L.A. Times
~Rolling Stone called her music "fiery and virtuosic..."
~George Clinton called her "the Jimi Hendrix of the violin."
GRAMMY winner Lili Haydn's six critically acclaimed major label recordings as a solo artist have been NPR favorites, and her legendary collaborations include everyone from Herbie Hancock, Sting, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, the LA Philharmonic, and George Clinton's P-Funk All Stars to name a few. Lili's film composing career started as part of Hans Zimmer's team, a fellowship with the Sundance Institute, and has blossomed into 18 feature films/documentaries to her credit (including ANITA, The House That Jack Built, Sundance Selects' DriverX). Lili contributed additional composition on Amazon's hit series Transparent, won Best Music at the Milan International Film Festival, and is enjoying the recent releases of Oscar winner Freida Mock's documentary RUTH: Justice Ginsburg in Her Own Words, Oscar nominee Michele Ohayon's Netflix documentary Strip Down Rise Up, and the hit Netflix series Ginny & Georgia. As the daughter of iconic feminist comedienne Lotus Weinstock, and a graduate of Brown University in political science, Lili is a life long activist, and believes music and stories have the power to heal and uplift...important now more than ever.- Actress
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A charming, elegant, and exceedingly popular international film star with a gentle, understated beauty, actress Lilli Palmer was born as Lilli Marie Peiser on May 24, 1914, in Posen, Prussia. She was the daughter of Rose Lissman, an Austrian Jewish actress, and Alfred Peiser, a German Jewish surgeon. In addition to her native German, she grew up becoming fluent in French and English as well. Of her two sisters, older sister Irene Prador became an actress and singer in her own right. Lilli studied drama in Berlin and made her theatrical debut there in 1932 at age 18. Within a short time, however, the family was forced to flee their native homeland with the rise of Hitler and settled in Paris. Eventually Lilli moved to England to rebuild the career she had started on stage and film.
She made her British movie debut co-starring in the "B" mystery drama Crime Unlimited (1935), playing the distaff member of a syndicate of jewel thieves who becomes a romantic pawn for a policeman (Esmond Knight) who has infiltrated the crime ring as a plant. Throughout the rest of the decade she upped the value of her name in both "A" and "B" material, notably Alfred Hitchcock's Secret Agent (1936), Silent Barriers (1937) and The Man with 100 Faces (1938) where she provided the usual element of feminine mystery.
Lilli's career took a major upswing during the early to mid 1940s. Several of her pictures centered around the omnipresent war, particularly Thunder Rock (1942), her film career-maker), which starred Michael Redgrave as an anti-fascist journalist who retreats to Canada, and Notorious Gentleman (1945), with Rex Harrison as a idle bounder who sees the error of his ways and becomes a war sacrifice. This was Lilli's first movie with husband Harrison; they married in 1943 and she bore him a son, Carey Harrison, the following year. Carey grew up to became a writer and director.
The family moved to America in 1945 to further their careers. Rex and Lilli became a prominent acting couple, appearing together on the early 50s Broadway stage with "Bell, Book and Candle" (1950), "Venus Observed" (1952) and "The Love of Four Colonels" (1953), the last mentioned directed by Harrison. In movies, they co-starred in the murky crimer The Long Dark Hall (1951) and the vastly superior The Four Poster (1952), which later gave rise to the musical adaptation "I Do! I Do!". Lilli was award the Venice Film Festival Award for this performance and represented herself well with other handsome male acting partners, notably Gary Cooper in her debut American film Cloak and Dagger (1946) and John Garfield in the classic boxing film Body and Soul (1947), leaving audiences enthralled with one of its newer foreign imports. At one point, she was given her own own (short-lived) TV show to host, The Lilli Palmer Show (1951).
Somewhat typecast by this time as heartless cads and opportunists on film, "Sexy Rexy", as husband Harrison was known in the tabloids, developed quite a reputation off-camera as well. A particularly disastrous romance with actress Carole Landis led to that actress's tragic suicide in 1948. Lilli took the high road and came off the better for it in the public's eye. She eventually called it quits, however, with both Harrison and Hollywood and returned to Europe in 1954. In 1956 Lilli filmed Between Time and Eternity (1956) [Between Time and Eternity] and fell in love with handsome Argentine co-star Carlos Thompson, who had developed matinée idol status in Germany. They married in September of 1957, several months after her divorce from Harrison became final. This marriage endured.
Lilli matured gracefully in films, the epitome of poise and class, but she lost any potential for top stardom after leaving Hollywood. She made international productions for the rest of her career, primarily German and French, but they did not live up to her early successes and were not seen all that much outside of Europe. She managed to work, however, opposite a "Who's Who" of European male stars of the time, including Curd Jürgens, James Mason, Louis Jourdan, Jean Gabin, Jean Marais, Jean Sorel, Gérard Philipe and Klaus Kinski. Of those few movies she made in Hollywood, she played the prickly wife of Clark Gable, who has a May-December affair with young Carroll Baker in But Not for Me (1959); was a sparkling and witty standout in the ensemble cast of The Pleasure of His Company (1961); and proved quite moving in the William Holden spy thriller The Counterfeit Traitor (1962). On TV here, she was touchingly effective as Mrs. Frank in a production of The Diary of Anne Frank (1967) with Max von Sydow, and enjoyed one of her last roles in the acclaimed miniseries Peter the Great (1986).
The final decade and a half played out rather routinely with supporting roles in such films as diverse as Oedipus the King (1968), De Sade (1969), and The Boys from Brazil (1978). She demonstrated her writing talents with her popular bestselling biography "Change Lobsters and Dance" in 1975, and later published a novel "The Red Raven" in 1978. Dying of cancer in 1986 at age 71 in Los Angeles, Lilli's surviving second husband Thompson, who had abandoned acting in the late 60s and turned to turned TV writing/producing, committed suicide four years later back in his native Argentina.- Actress
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Lysette Anthony was born on 26 September 1963 in Fulham, London, England, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), Krull (1983) and Husbands and Wives (1992). She was previously married to David Price and Luc Leestemaker.- Actress
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Linda Edna Cardellini was born in Redwood City, California, to Lorraine (Hernan) and Wayne David Cardellini, a businessman. She is of Italian (from her paternal grandfather), Irish (from her mother), German, English, and Scottish descent. Linda grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, California, the youngest of four children. She became interested in acting at age ten, when she performed a singing role in a school Christmas play. She continued to do school productions and community theater.
Linda attended Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California. After graduating, she had to decide whether to go to New York to pursue theater or Los Angeles to pursue film and television. She chose LA. Linda was cast in her first role, on the series Bone Chillers (1996). Her breakthrough part came when she was cast in Freaks and Geeks (1999). She played academic decathlete Lindsay Weir on the celebrated series, which won an Emmy Award in the Category of "Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series".
Cardellini captured the hearts of young girls, boys and teenagers, worldwide, for her portrayal of Velma in Warner Bros.'s Scooby-Doo (2002). She also co-starred in 'Brian Robbins'' Good Burger (1997), Legally Blonde (2001), with Reese Witherspoon, and Tom McLoughlin's The Unsaid (2001) with Andy Garcia, as well as in the Adam Sandler-produced comedy, Grandma's Boy (2006).
In 2005, Cardellini starred in the ensemble film, American Gun (2005), for IFC Films, alongside Donald Sutherland, Forest Whitaker and Marcia Gay Harden. "American Gun" was the debut feature of director/co-writer Aric Avelino, which has earned a Best Picture nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards in 2007. In the same year, Cardellini delivered a heartfelt performance as a jilted lover in Ang Lee's highly-acclaimed drama, Brokeback Mountain (2005), which garnered major accolades from critics, including an Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe win for Best Picture and Outstanding Ensemble in a Motion Picture Drama by the Screen Actor's Guild.
It was upon working with Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana on this film, that they later cast her in CBS's Hallmark Hall of Fame mini-series Comanche Moon (2008), a testament to their trust in Cardellini's talent and presence on screen. Cardellini starred alongside Val Kilmer and Steve Zahn in the six-hour, epic mini-series in 2008, written by McMurtry (based on McMurtry's novel of the same name), directed by Simon Wincer and executive-produced by Ossana. This western, which was the prequel to "Lonesome Dove," (the television series created in 1989 by McMurtry) aired on three consecutive evenings for two hours each night.
In 2008, Cardellini portrayed the lead role of 'Julie Ingram' in the feature film "The Lazarus Project" starring alongside 'Paul Walker'. Directed by John Glenn, this thriller tells the story of a former criminal who is drawn into an illicit endeavor and subsequently finds himself living an inexplicable new life working at a psychiatric facility.
In 2011, Cardellini co-starred in Jonathan Hensleigh's independent feature film "Kill the Irishman," alongside Christopher Walken, Ray Stevenson and Val Kilmer. The film was based on the true story of Danny Greene, a tough Irish thug working for mobsters in Cleveland during the 1970s. In February 2012, Cardellini starred as 'Kelli' in the independent film "Return," opposite Michael Shannon and John Slattery which earned Cardellini an Independent Spirit Award nomination for "Best Female Lead." "Return" was featured in the Director's Fortnight section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and was an official entry at The Deauville, London and Palm Springs International Film Festivals. "Return" follows 'Kelli' as she returns home from war and learns how to adjust to a slower, normal life.
In 2013, Cardellini was almost unrecognizable, but turned heads, for her provocative portrayal of 'Sylvia Rosen,' 'Don Draper's' married mistress, in a guest arc in the sixth season of the critically acclaimed AMC series, "Mad Men." She received her first Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Guest Actress in A Drama Series" for her portrayal.
Working in both film and television, Linda is well-known for her portrayal of 'Nurse Samantha Taggart' on NBC's highly-rated, critically acclaimed series, "ER". She will next be seen as 'Meg Rayburn' in Netflix's new untitled family drama series created by Glenn Kessler, Daniel Zelman and Todd Kessler. Cardellini also has a co-starring role in the indie comedy Welcome to Me (2014), opposite an all-star cast that includes Kristen Wiig, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, James Marsden and Wes Bentley. The film is directed by Shira Piven. "Welcome to Me" was produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
On the small screen, Cardellini was a guest star, playing 'Dr. Megan Tillman', in CBS' Person of Interest (2011). The crime drama show was created by Jonathan Nolan and stars Jim Caviezel, Taraji P. Henson and Michael Emerson. Cardellini also lends her voice to a diverse group of animated series including Nickelodeon's "Sanjay & Craig" wherein she plays 'Megan,' IFC's "Out There" wherein she voices 'Starla,' and Disney's "Gravity Falls," in which she is 'Wendy.' Cardellini's past voiceover work includes the role of 'Bliss,' the family daughter in the ABC animated television program, The Goode Family (2009).
Linda has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre from Loyola Marymount University, and completed a summer study program at the National Theatre in London. She resides in Los Angeles.- Argentinian leading lady Marta Victoria Moya Peggo Burges was one of three siblings, born in Buenos Aires to a French father and Italian mother. When she was five years of age, her father, a publisher, fled with his family to Montevideo, Uruguay, where they went on to live for several years in somewhat reduced circumstances. According to one of two conflicting stories, her father had gotten into "into conflict with a criminal gang". According to another, he may have fallen foul of the ruling political elite. Whatever the case, both parents died prematurely in what was possibly a suicide pact (in their car of carbon monoxide poisoning) by the time Linda was 13.
Educated at the Conservatoria Franklin in Uruguay, she studied voice and piano. A brief marriage to the Argentinian actor Tito Gómez ended in an annulment after just five days and Linda briefly toyed with the idea of entering a convent (as had several of her aunts). Fate, of course, intervened. While vacationing in Mexico with her older brother, she was 'discovered' by the film producer and director Miguel Alemán Velasco, who also happened to be the son of the country's ruling president. Signed under contract, she adopted the moniker Linda Cristal and made several Spanish language films which soon established her as one of Mexico's rising stars. Conscious of her potential and hoping to break into Hollywood, she decided to learn English as her fourth language (already fluent in Spanish, French and Italian) and subsequently made her American film debut with a small role in the Dana Andrews western Comanche (1956). A dispute over the non-payment of her wages and a car accident in 1956 then led to a brief hiatus in her career.
Fast forward three years and a bit of publicity (she was named "Motion Picture Sweater Queen" in 1958) and Linda was lured back to Hollywood by Universal to again hit the saddle in a couple of back-to-back minor westerns, The Last of the Fast Guns (1958) and The Fiend Who Walked the West (1958). In between attempts to break free from typecasting as decorative Latinas (The Pharaohs' Woman (1960), Panic in the City (1968)) -- a metamorphosis which never happened -- she at least got herself noticed by some high profile people in the business (ie. John Wayne) and was able to thus secure roles in better productions like The Alamo (1960) and Two Rode Together (1961). While her motion picture career was at an impasse, she learned of producer David Dortort casting for the part of Victoria Montoya in the upcoming TV series The High Chaparral (1967). Invited to an audition, she found the set script as too saccharine and bland. Audaciously improvising, she re-imagined her character as more tempestuous, resourceful and proud, later saying in an interview that she knew the producers "were looking for a heroine with fire and spunk". Having secured the coveted role, she made it her own for four seasons (1967-71), ultimately winning two Primetime Emmy nominations and netting her the Golden Globe Award in 1970 as Best Actress in a TV Drama.
After High Chaparral ceased production in 1971, Linda made guest appearances in a handful of TV shows and played a Mexican migrant worker and union leader in Charles Bronson's robust action film Mr. Majestyk (1974). She later worked for some time as a realtor, presided over her own import/export business and invested wisely to become financially very well-off. She made a final comeback to acting as the mistress of a mob boss in the daytime soap General Hospital (1963), eventually calling it quits in 1988. Linda spent her remaining years between residences in Beverly Hills, Palm Springs and Buenos Aires and passed away at her Beverly Hills home on June 27 2020 at the age of 89. - Actress
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Linda Darnell, one of five children of a postal clerk, grew up fast. At 11, she was modeling clothes, giving her age as 16. At 13, she was appearing on the stage with little theater groups. Her mother encouraged her to audition when Hollywood talent scouts came to Dallas. She went to California and when the studio found out how young she really was, she was sent home and told to come back when she was 15. Her fourth film, Star Dust (1940), was based on this real life experience. It was Star Dust (1940) that Darnell was watching the night of April 9, 1965, at the home of her former secretary, located in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The house caught on fire in the early hours of the next morning and Darnell died that afternoon in Cook County Hospital. The character she played in one of her best known roles, Forever Amber (1947) survived the London fire, the plague and the perils of being the mistress of the English king, Charles II.- Actress
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A native of Berlin, Maryland, Linda Harrison was Miss Berlin at 16, then a model in New York's Garment Center. Homesickness brought her back to Maryland, where she entered and won the state beauty pageant. During the finals in the Miss International contest (held in Long Beach, California), she was "spotted" by talent scout Mike Medavoy and presented at 20th Century-Fox. Throughout her acting years at Fox, and amidst movie roles in Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) and others, she dated studio boss Richard D. Zanuck and married him in 1968. They were divorced in 1978, but she's appeared in three of his movies since then.- Pretty, spunky, and talented blonde Linda Haynes was born on November 4, 1947 in Florida. Haynes made her film debut as Dr. Anne Barton in the silly Japanse sci-fi monster flick Latitude Zero (1969). Linda was excellent as brassy prostitute Meg in Jack Hill's terrifically trashy blaxploitation cult favorite Coffy (1973) and was likewise fine as small-time L.A. mobster Jason Miller's girlfriend Sarah in the downbeat crime drama The Nickel Ride (1974). Haynes gave her best, most gritty, and impressive performance to date as tough and world-weary barmaid and war hero groupie Linda Forchet, who befriends traumatized Vietnam veteran William Devane in the outstanding revenge thriller winner Rolling Thunder (1977). Linda had her sole starring role as country singer Rachel Foster in the sleazy women-in-prison exploitation outing Human Experiments (1979). Alas, following her appearances in both the prison drama Brubaker (1980) and the acclaimed made-for-TV feature Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980), Haynes called it a day as an actress and went on to work as a legal assistant in a law firm in Florida.
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The daughter of veteran writer and TV producer Paul Henning and Ruth Henning, Linda originally studied to be a dancer before going into acting. After appearing in an uncredited role as one of the dancers in Bye Bye Birdie (1963), she landed the role of Betty Jo on Petticoat Junction (1963), on which she remained for its entire seven-year run -- and for which she is perhaps most famous. Following its cancellation, Linda made numerous appearances on episodic TV and game shows and performed in stage plays and musicals all across the U.S. Since the 1980's Ms. Henning has been a member of the California Artists Radio Theatre (CART) repertory troupe. Her most recent credits include Sliders (1995), in which she has appeared in the recurring role of Mrs. Mallory.- Actress
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Linda Purl was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, and raised in Japan, becoming the only foreigner to train at the Toho Geino Academy. At the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, she played the role of "Louis" in "The King and I" (in Japanese), "Bet" in "Oliver" and the role of "Helen Keller" in "The Miracle Worker".
She then went to England to study under Marguerite Beale, before returning to the United States to study at the Lee Strasberg Institute and, later, with Robert Lewis. Her stage credits include: The Broadway musical, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"; "Getting and Spending", which ran on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre.- Actress
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As one of the most popular up-and-coming Latina actresses in the business, Lindsey Morgan has built an extensive resume between her on-screen work in television and film. She is well known for her work on The CW's popular Sci-Fi Drama, "The 100", starring as Raven Reyes (and appearing in all seven seasons).
Half-Irish, half-Mexican in descent, Lindsey was born in Georgia and raised in Texas. She discovered her love of theatre at a young age. After starring in numerous high school productions such as Little Shop of Horrors and Footloose, Lindsey knew that acting was her passion.
After high school, Lindsey was accepted to The University of Texas (Austin) where she pursued a degree in Fine Arts with a specialization in Theater Arts in order to continue learning the craft of acting. Within her first year of college, Morgan began continuously booking commercials and print ads. It wasn't long before casting agents took notice of her natural talent and she was soon cast for small guest roles in some of television's critically acclaimed series, "My Generation" and "Friday Night Lights."
Lindsey made the decision to move to Los Angeles to continue her work as a full-time film and TV actress after seeing her career building to fruition at a swift pace. The risk was soon rewarded when she landed a role in the indie film "Detention" alongside Josh Hutcherson and Dane Cook. The film premiered at SXSW and was later released to select theaters by Sony Pictures to rave reviews. She later booked the lead in MTV's original movie "DISconnected,", which was part of their "A Thin Line" campaign. "A Thin Line" was developed in order to empower young people to identify, respond to, and stop the spread of digital abuse in their lives. The film premiered to much acclaim for its message to youth. Linsey went on to co-star in the upcoming horror-comedy film "Chastity Bites" alongside Allison Scagliotti and Francia Raisa.
Lindsey's television work has included appearances on "How I Met Your Mother," "Happy Endings," "Supah Ninjas," and "A Think Line." She is still widely recognized for her work as a series regular in the ABC soap "General Hospital", which garnered her a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series.
Morgan's television work has included appearances on "How I Met Your Mother," "Happy Endings,": Supah Ninjas," and "A Think Line." She is still widely recognized for her work as a series regular in the ABC soap opera "General Hospital," which garnered her a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series.
In addition to her most television roles, Lindsey starred as a leading role in the Pixl television movie "Casa Vita." She recently wrapped production in the Edward Burns coming-of-age film, "Summer Days, Summer Nights."- Actress
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Lindy Booth was born on April 2, 1979, in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. She played "Riley Grant" on the Disney Channel series, The Famous Jett Jackson (1998) (and "Agent Hawk" in the show-within-a-show, "Silverstone"). Other credits include guest-starring as different characters in two different episodes of the A&E Network series, A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001), and a recurring role in season two of the USA Network series, The 4400 (2004).- Born and raised in Stuart, Florida, Godfrey started acting in high school and was quickly signed up by a talent agency. In 2005, she moved to Los Angeles to try her luck auditioning. One of her first parts was a recurring role on the TV show Surface (2005). Godfrey's career came to a sudden halt when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2006. While cancer treatment was eventually successful, the therapy lasted seven months. Afterwards Godfrey returned to L.A. and scored guest roles on such shows like Cold Case (2003) and CSI: Miami (2002). Her big break didn't come until 2012 though when she scored the prestigious role of Caroline Spencer on the daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful (1987). Tragedy struck again as the actress was injured in an automobile accident on February 2, 2015, after being struck by a moving car while walking on the sidewalk in Los Angeles. The real-life events were later incorporated into the series as her character experienced the same accident (off-screen). From 2013 to 2015 Godrey was in a relationship with and engaged to fellow actor Robert Adamson who plays Noah Newman on sister-show The Young and the Restless (1973). They share a daughter, born in 2014.
- Lisa Eilbacher was born in Saudi Arabia, the daughter of an oil company executive. She spent her most formative years in Paris. After moving to Beverly Hills, California with her family, she soon appeared on television on episodes of Wagon Train (1957), Laredo (1965), My Three Sons (1960), and Gunsmoke (1955). Among her credits as a teenager is The War Between Men and Women (1972), a motion picture starring Jack Lemmon and Barbara Harris. She has since been featured prominently in many TV and film productions.
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Lisa LoCicero was born on 18 April 1970 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA. She is an actress, known for General Hospital (1963), Rush Hour 2 (2001) and The Family Man (2000). She has been married to Michael Patrick Jann since 22 April 2007. They have two children.- Lisa Marie Caruk was born on June 7, 1980 in Canada, she has a older sister and Caruk had her first daughter born in November 2009. Lisa got her first theatrical movie role as Linda Rose in Ronnie & Julie (1997) at 16 years old. After that, Lisa then got her role as Christa Marsh at 18 years old in Final Destination (2000); she was 18 years old but turning 19 that summer in 1999. She has also starred in Smallville (2001) as Mary the Cheerleader at 23-24 years old in 2003-2004. Since then; she has her Candy & Party Decorations Shop with her older sister Jennifer Montague in Canada. She has also appeared in numerous other productions since Final Destination and Smallville.
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Lisa Ray was finishing high school in Canada with aspirations of majoring in Journalism at University when a celebrated fashion magazine approached her to model for them, and she ended up on the cover. This catapulted her into a state of instant celebrity. Her high-profile career got her noticed by Indian filmmakers, but she refused many offers until the offbeat _Kasoor (2000)_, which received a considerable amount of attention. Indian-Canadian director Deepa Mehta then cast her as the lead in the lighthearted romantic comedy Bollywood/Hollywood (2002), which went on to be a huge success in Canada. She subsequently moved to London to study acting and concentrate on a serious career in the performing arts. After graduating from drama school she was reunited with Deepa Mehta in the critically lauded Water (2005). She has since carved out a challenging variety of characterizations- everything from a farm girl to a femme fatale- which is a testament to her adaptability and desire for challenge.- Actress
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Lisa Whelchel was born in Littlefield, Texas, USA on Wednesday, May 29, 1963. She is the daughter of James "Jimmy" and Virginia "Genny" Whelchel. Her parents divorced in 1981 and her mother married Roy Coleman in 1983. She has a younger brother, James (Cody) Whelchel, and a younger half-brother, Casey Coleman. Raised in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, she is an American actress, singer-songwriter, author, and speaker. She discovered acting at age 8 and performed in musical theater for the next four years. At 10 she became a born-again Christian and devoted her life to her Christian faith. When she was 12 she wrote to the Disney Studios asking for an audition as a Mouseketeer on The New Mickey Mouse Club (1977). She moved to California the next year and appeared in syndication from 1977-1978. In 1979, she began her starring role as wealthy, preppy, private-school girl "Blair Warner" on The Facts of Life (1979). The show lasted nine years and she filmed the last regular episode, Big Apple Blues (1988) televised on Saturday, March 19th, 1988. 6 and 7 weeks later came two larger-cast specials, The Beginning of the End (1988), televised on Saturday, April 30, 1988, and the series finale, The Beginning of the Beginning (1988) televised on Saturday, May 7, 1988. On Saturday, July 9, 1988, she married Steven Cauble, who was an associate pastor at Whelchel's church, "The Church On the Way" in Van Nuys, California. On Saturday, January 17, 1990, she gave birth to son Tucker Stephenson Cauble (aka Tucker Cauble). Her second child and first daughter, Haven Katherine Hill Cauble, was born on Thursday, September 26, 1991, followed by third child and second daughter, Clancy Elizabeth Cauble (aka Clancy Cauble), who was born on Thursday, November 12, 1992. She released a Christian pop album, "All Because of You," in 1984. The next year she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance. She has written many books including "Creative Correction", "So You're Thinking About Homeschooling", "The Facts of Life (and Other Lessons My Father Taught Me)", "Friendships for Grown-Ups", "Taking Care of the Me in Mommy", and "Speaking Mom-Ese". In 2001, she reprized her role of "Blair Warner" for the made-for-television movie, The Facts of Life Reunion (2001), on the ABC Network. On Sunday, March 7, 2004, she and Charlotte Rae performed "The Facts of Life" theme song at the 2nd Annual TV Land Awards. On Thursday, April 10, 2011, Whelchel and the cast of The Facts of Life (1979), including Charlotte Rae, Nancy McKeon, Mindy Cohn, Kim Fields, Geri Jewell & Cloris Leachman were honored with the Pop Culture Award at the 9th Annual TV Land Awards at the Javits Center in New York City. She officially divorced her husband, Steven Cauble, on Thursday, March 1, 2012, after 23 years of marriage. She appeared on the 25th season of Survivor (2000), located in the Philippine Islands, as part of the Tandang tribe. The first episode aired on Wednesday, September 19th, 2012. She appeared on the CBS talk show, The Talk (2010), to promote her appearance on "Survivor" on Wednesday, September 19, 2012. Whelchel appeared on "The Jeff Probst Show" (2012) on Monday, October 29, 2012, on the episode, "Teen Star Lisa Whelchel: Surviving 'Survivor' and Divorce". She also appeared on a second episode titled "Survivor Finalists" along with fellow 'Survivor: Philippines' contestants, Abi-Maria Gomes, Michael Skupin, Denise Stapley and Malcolm Freberg for being in the final five. On Wednesday, December 16, 2012, during the 25th Season Reunion Show on CBS, "America's Sweetheart" won the fan-voted Sprint Player of the Season by 0.7% over Malcolm which is the closest margin of victory in Survivor history. The prize money that Lisa Whelchel won was $100,000 U.S. Lisa began to co-host on The Jeff Probst Show (2012) with filming, that started televising in January of 2013.- Actress
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Lisa Rieffel was born on 12 January 1975 in Denville, New Jersey, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Women of the House (1995), Girltrash: All Night Long (2014) and Drowning Mona (2000). She has been married to Johnny Dunn since 30 September 2007. They have one child.- A lithe, brunette actress and photographer's model, Lita Chevret began promisingly enough at the very beginning of talking pictures. Her parents, already established in show business, helped along by paying for her dancing tuition. By the age of twenty, she worked as a professional dancer and show girl. Her proficiency as a hoofer (and her looks) secured a contract in Hollywood and a part in the Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 (1929). The following year, she was selected by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers as a WAMPAS Baby Star, a selection of thirteen young hopefuls destined for better things. On this occasion, however, the list ended up not being published, partly because of confusion arising from the transition of silent pictures to sound, partly because of fallout from the Wall Street crash and partly, because of objections raised by independent producers. Poor Lita, consequently, missed out on what would have been valuable publicity.
Still, she managed to sign a three-year contract with RKO, starting off with another uncredited part in the south-of-the-border musical Rio Rita (1929), featuring the comedy duo of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. For the next few years, Lita seemed practically glued to the same company, appearing with Wheeler & Woolsey in The Cuckoos (1930) (as another dusky senorita); Everything's Rosie (1931), an attempt never to be repeated, to providing a solo vehicle for Woolsey; and Girl Crazy (1932), an expensive romp with music by the Gershwins, which also failed to recoup its cost at the box office. No improvement was the naive and shoddily-made crime drama The Pay-Off (1930). With a succession of her films now deemed palpable commercial failures, Lita found herself again relegated to the doldrums, sliding down the bottom of the cast lists. There was a glimmer of hope for her career with a sixth-billed role as Birdie Klauber in a maudlin Fannie Hurst three-handkerchief tearjerker, Symphony of Six Million (1932). Then followed another inconsequential comedy, Goldie Gets Along (1933), and a series of loan-outs to other studios. She co-starred (for once) in five two-reel comedies for Mack Sennett and in Sandflow (1937), an obscure Buck Jones western. She also had a cameo as a chorus girl in Fox's Charlie Chan's Courage (1934), and then came a succession of similar no-name parts as showgirls, secretaries and even an Indian squaw.
Lita Chevret briefly attracted newspaper headlines as one of George Raft's romantic conquests, but this was no more lasting than her remaining time in Hollywood. After a swan song in The Philadelphia Story (1940) (as a manicurist), she called it quits and retired to her home in Palm Springs. There, she lived out the rest of her days in relative obscurity, except for a wartime overseas tour with the USO. - Actress
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Liz Vassey began acting at the age of nine, performing in over fifty musicals and plays. She moved to New York at the age of sixteen to join the cast of All My Children. For her work on that show, she was nominated for her first Daytime Emmy. Since then, Liz has appeared as a regular or recurring character on twelve television shows including ER, Maximum Bob, Necessary Roughness, Brotherly Love, Push Nevada, Two and a Half Men, FOX's live action version of The Tick, and, most recently, Season Two of The Tick reboot on Amazon. But she is probably best known for her five year run on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as DNA technician "Wendy Simms." Liz has also guest starred on many TV shows, starred in many pilots, and appeared in several films. In addition to acting, Liz is an accomplished writer. She co-wrote an episode of CSI during her last season, and has since sold six television pilots and a TV movie, developing for such networks and studios as NBC, Freeform, Universal, Netflix, and CW. An avid runner, Liz recently made her directorial debut with the newly released documentary feature, The Human Race, which focuses on runners over the age of fifty. Liz lives in Hollywood with her husband, David Emmerichs, and their combined brood of way too many pets.- Born and raised in the south of France and Paris, Loan Chabanol studied painting and drawing at a young age before embarking on a successful international modeling career. At age 15 she won the Elite Model Look contest and soon graced the covers of Elle, Marie Claire and several other major fashion publications. In 2010 she shifted her focus to acting and began work at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York. Her studies quickly paid off and in 2013 she was cast by Director/Actor John Turturro in Fading Gigolo, performing in a notable scene alongside Woody Allen. This caught the attention of Director, Paul Haggis who next cast Loan in a co-starring role playing alongside James Franco and Mila Kunis, in his film Third Person. During this time she also continued her painting and exhibited her work in four different shows around NY. In 2015 Loan was cast in a lead role in The Transporter Refuelled, alongside actor Ed Skrein. In 2022 Loan was cast as a female lead in the first installment of the anthology series, Tales of the Walking Dead, the latest incarnation of the successful AMC series. Loan lives in Los Angeles, and speaks fluent French and English.
- Her soft Irish beauty highlighted many films in the late 1920s and 1930s, but film actress Lois Moran's major claim to fame was as F. Scott Fitzgerald's inspiration for the character of "Rosemary" in his classic novel Tender Is the Night. Lois trained in dance while young and moved to Paris with her mother at the age of 10 to study seriously. She danced and sang for several years at the Paris National Opera and appeared in two silents. Hollywood came calling in 1925 and she quickly made an auspicious debut with the monumental tearjerker Stella Dallas (1925). Film offers came flying her way but none equaled her first movie. She appeared in a few early musical talkies such as Words and Music (1929), A Song of Kentucky (1929), and Mammy (1930) with Al Jolson, then took on Broadway in 1931 with lead singing roles in "Of Thee Is Sing" and its sequel "Let Them Eat Cake." Lois married Clarence M. Young, Assistant Secretary of Commerce, in 1935 and retired. She came back briefly as Preston Foster's co-star on the TV series Waterfront (1954) which ran for three seasons. In later years she settled in Sedona, Arizona with her husband (he died in 1972) where she ran a weekly local column for a time. She died of cancer in 1990 at age 81, never having missed the career she left over five decades before.
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Lola Jean Albright was born on July 20, 1924 in Akron, Ohio, the daughter of John Paul Albright and Marion Harvey, both of whom were gospel singers. She worked as a model before moving to Hollywood in the mid-1940s, studied piano for 20 years and worked as a receptionist at radio station WAKR in Akron. Considered one of the most stylish, sultriest and beautiful actresses in Hollywood, with one of the throatiest, smokiest and most distinctive voices in the business, she starred with Kirk Douglas in the film noir Champion (1949). From 1958 to 1961, she played sultry nightclub singer Edie Hart on the popular television series Peter Gunn (1958).
She also made guest appearances on the television series Gunsmoke (1955), Bonanza (1959), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). She played Constance McKenzie on the night-time soap opera Peyton Place (1964) after Dorothy Malone became sick and could no longer play the role. She received critical acclaim for her performances in A Cold Wind in August (1961), Joy House (1964) and How I Spent My Summer Vacation (1967). Retired from acting, Lola Albright died at age 92 on March 23, 2017 in Toluca Lake, California.- Actress
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Lonette McKee's career began in the music industry in hometown Detroit, Michigan as a child prodigy, where she began playing keyboards composing music and lyrics, singing and performing professionally at a young age. At fourteen she recorded her first record, "Stop Don't Worry 'Bout It" which became an instant regional Pop/R&B hit.
Lonette made her feature film debut playing 'Sista' in Sparkle. Following were starring roles in films Which Way is Up and Brewster's Millions opposite legendary, Richard Pryor, The Cotton Club and Gardens of Stone for renowned director, Francis Ford Coppola. Sundance Film Festival winner, Lift, earned Lonette a Black Reel Nomination. Other films include Cuba, Men of Honor, 'Round Midnight for outstanding French filmmaker, Bertrand Tavenier. Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, He Got Game and She Hate Me for renowned filmmaker and mentor, Spike Lee. Recently, Lonette appeared in films, A Day in Black and White, Honey, ATL, Paper Mache Chase, Fast Food Fast Women, Honey 2, This Narrow Place and LUV, opposite hip hop mega-star, Common. Television films include, Women of Brewster Place, with Oprah Winfrey, for which Lonette received an NAACP nomination; Having Our Say, Queen, To Dance with Olivia, For Love of Olivia, Blind Faith and Dangerous Passions. She also received an NAACP Nomination for her recurring appearances on As The World Turns and has enjoyed a recurring lead role in hit series' Third Watch and The Game. Solo television guest appearances include The Tonight Show, Today Show, Good Morning America and David Letterman. Lonette was recognized in "People Magazine's Fifty Most Beautiful Issue." Winning the coveted Tony Nomination for her portrayal of the tragic mulatto, 'Julie', in the Houston Grand Opera's production of Showboat, she earned the distinction of becoming the first African American actress to play the coveted role in the U.S. and later reprised the role for great theatrical director Hal Prince on Broadway. Critical praise and a Drama Desk Nomination was earned for her heartbreaking portrayal of Billie Holiday in the one-woman hit drama with music, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill.
Lonette has written and produced solo CD's entitled, Lonette, Words and Music, Natural Love, Acoustic Tracks, Lonette McKee and Superstar. She has toured throughout the world in solo concert performances including the prestigious JVC Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall.
Studying film directing at The New School in NYC she also apprenticed film directing under the tutelage of mentor Spike Lee. Lonette continues to write and produce music and screenplays along with television concepts for Lonette McKee Entertainment Inc. To include Dream Street, an original screenplay for theatrical release which was chosen as Finalist in Sundance Film Lab and will mark her directorial debut.
A recent concert at Aaron Davis Hall played to a sold-out audience.
Lonette is a Blog Contributor for the Huffington Post and teaches the Actor's Workshop at The City College of New York Continuing and Professional Studies. She recently enjoyed rave reviews in New York for her work Off Broadway in Sowa's Red Gravy and A Raisin in the Sun at the prestigious Clarence Brown Theatre, both directed by Woodie King Jr. She was recently nominated for a 2013 AUDELCO Award in Best Actress category.
Lonette is an animal lover and outspoken advocate for human and animal rights.- Actress
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Lori Loughlin was born on 28 July 1964 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Summerland (2004), When Calls the Heart (2014) and Full House (1987). She has been married to Mossimo Giannulli since 27 November 1997. They have two children. She was previously married to Michael Burns.- Actress
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Striking brunette Lori Saunders managed to capitalize on her sunny, daisy-fresh appeal during CBS-TV's famous 1960s "rural age," an era in which the network churned out a connected trio of bucolic hit shows -- The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Petticoat Junction (1963) and Green Acres (1965). As the studious, slightly ditzy middle daughter, "Bobbie Jo Bradley," on the second show, her character would occasionally "visit" the other two shows. Once Petticoat Junction (1963) was canceled in 1970, Lori crossed over to The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) set, with a recurring part as Mr. Drysdale's secretary, Elizabeth "Betty" Gordon, in its very last season (1970-1971).
Born Linda Marie Hines on October 4, 1941, in Kansas City, Missouri, Lori studied for a time under acting coach Jeff Corey. Her professional career began at age 19, in 1960, with multiple episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952). She then dropped her real name in favor of the stage moniker, "Linda Saunders," and became a popular presence, pitching well over 100 commercial products on TV. She also earned a few "pretty girl" film parts, in such minor fare as The Girls on the Beach (1965), Mara of the Wilderness (1965), and the horror opus, Blood Bath (1966).
Finding occasional work on such established series as Burke's Law (1963), Lori finally hit pay dirt in 1965 when she was brought in to replace actress Pat Woodell on Petticoat Junction (1963) as one of the gorgeous Bradley daughters, when Woodell decided to leave to pursue a singing career. Lori changed her marquee name for the final time, in order to avoid confusion with the other "Linda" on the show -- Linda Henning. During the "Petticoat" run, Lori, Linda and Meredith MacRae had a brief career as a singing trio in which they billed themselves as "The Girls from Petticoat Junction." The trio occasionally sang on the show (as the "Hooterville Honeys"), and one available CD contains original songs ("If You Could Only Be Me," "Thirty Days Hath September") as well as established hits from other artists ("Up, Up and Away"). The girls booked a string of nightclubs and fairs, and also made a singing appearance on Johnny Carson's late night show.
Following her TV peak, Lori continued to find acting work elsewhere, on such shows as Daniel Boone (1964) and The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1969), as well as an occasional TV pilot. She played sweet "Betsy McGuire" for 26 episodes on yet another countrified show, Dusty's Trail (1973), that co-starred Gilligan's Island (1964) star Bob Denver and F Troop (1965) star Forrest Tucker. By coincidence, the other female co-star on that series was none other than blonde Jeannine Riley, who played daughter "Billie Jo Bradley" on Petticoat Junction (1963), but deboarded the Cannonball just as Lori was boarding it in 1965.
An attempt to shake up her wholesome image with leading roles in minor film fare did not pan out. Head On (1971), A Day at the White House (1972), Frasier, the Sensuous Lion (1973) and the slasher film, So Sad About Gloria (1973), in which Lori played a former mental patient tormented by visions of ax murders, did little to advance her career. Lori eventually retired from acting, following her appearance in the low-budget sci-fi film, Captive (1980), co-starring Cameron Mitchell and David Ladd.
Married since 1961 to Bernard Sandler, who is retired as owner and agent of his Commercial Talent Agency, and living in Southern California, the couple have two children, Ronald Sandler and Stacy Sandler. Lori's long-time creative focus has been on photography, sculpture and painting. She is also a vegan and an avid outdoors person. She is into spiritual meditation and is involved in many charities as an advocate for child and animal rights.- Actor
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Lori is a Golden Globe winning actress for her role as cast member in Robert Altman's " Shortcuts". She won 'ShoWest Newcomer of the Year' for her role as Ariel Moore in the film "Footloose", and was nominated for best supporting actress for an Indie Spirit Award for "Trouble in Mind." Lori 's documentaries have won 5 Emmys, a Peabody, been short-listed for an Oscar, and have won well over twenty film festivals, including Toronto Hot Docs.
After the huge success of Herb Ross' "Footloose", Singer went on to act in such films as Robert Altman's "Short Cuts," John Schlesinger's "The Falcon and the Snowman," "Warlock," "The Man with One Red Shoe," with Tom Hanks, Alan Rudolph's "Trouble in Mind," and "Equinox," to name a few. In 2015, Lori enjoyed a cameo in Michael Almereyda's "Experimenter" about the Stanley Milgram experiment. Lori substantially contributed to, and went on to Executive Produce " Mea Maxima Culpa; Silence in the House of God", directed by the highly acclaimed Alex Gibney, which won four Prime Time Emmys, a Peabody, and the London Documentary Film Festival. Lori went on to play the title vocal role as Linda Bishop in " God Knows Where I Am" which won Toronto Hot Docs, an Emmy and 20 film festivals. Lori Singer recently starred in "Rachel Hendrix" which is to be released in 2024 and won the Woodstock Film Festival in Fall of 2023. She also acted in a film written and directed by Mary Bronstein to be released in Spring 2025.- Actress
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Lorna Patterson was born on 1 July 1956 in Whittier, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Airplane! (1980), Goodtime Girls (1980) and Beane's of Boston (1979). She has been married to Michael Lembeck since 13 April 1990. They have two children. She was previously married to Robert Ginty.- Actress
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Lorraine Pascale's first BBC cookery show, Baking Made Easy (2011), has attracted some spectacular headlines as well as some great reviews, since its launch in January 2011. Audiences have peaked at nearly 3 million during the six-week series. Her first cookery book, of the same name, has reached number one in the best seller lists, and sales are soaring.
The TV show centres on Lorraine's passion for baking, and features both sweet and savoury classics. Using her expertise as a trained chef, Lorraine gives both informed and practical advice. Her easy and approachable style, and her delicious and original ideas have proved a hit with both the public and the media. Her book, a labour of love, features 100 favourite recipes, and is packed full of ideas for every occasion, suitable for breakfast, dinner and even special occasions.
A highly successful fashion model in the '90s - Lorraine fronted campaigns for brands including Versace, Donna Karan, Katharine Hamnett and The Gap. The first British Black model on the cover of American Elle, she also worked regularly with Kate Moss, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and influential fashion editor Edward Enninful for i-D magazine.
But, at the start of 2000, Lorraine turned her back on her successful modelling career, deciding to pursue her long-term passion for cookery. She enrolled on Leith's Diploma of Food and Wine course, and learnt about every aspect of food. She also worked stages in kitchens including "The Square", "Petrus", "The Mandarin Oriental", "The Wolseley", "Hakkasan" and the "Hummingbird Bakery". She started her degree in International Culinary Arts In Pastry, which she is completing in 2011. In 2009, she opened her first retail operation, the Covent Garden-based "Ella's Bakehouse", a specialist and popular cupcake shop.
Lorraine supports children's charity, Barnados, and she plans to work with TACT, a charity that helps children in the care system. Adopted, herself, at the age of 18 months, Lorraine is passionate about using her skills to help children from all walks of life. Lorraine currently resides in London with her partner and her daughter, Ella Balinska.- Actress
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Actress, writer and producer Lauren Swickard has written and sold multiple original screenplays throughout her short but impressive professional career. Most recently, she created, wrote, produced and starred in A California Christmas, one of a small handful of feature films to start and complete production in the midst of the pandemic. The film is in post-production and is slotted for broad release in December, 2020 as a Netflix Original.
Lauren's most recent endeavor is lead writer and producer for Casa Grande - an episodic series she created that is scheduled for distribution in January, 2021. The narrative explores the dramatic truths of our country's allure to immigrants and illustrates what mankind will endure in pursuit of the American dream.
A Cincinnati native, Lauren excelled in the arts at a young age. Her artistic talent stems from her early years in musical theatre, pre-professional ballet, and studies at The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. Lauren also attended the prestigious School of American Ballet and she has performed on the professional stage with the Cincinnati Ballet Company.
Lauren pulls from more than seven years and 40+ credits of screen acting experience, performing roles on feature films, award winning short films, and television series in drama and comedy. She began her professional acting career in high school with a small role on the TV Movie, "Shelter," working with JJ Abrams. Now represented by Powerline Entertainment, she can be seen in Netflix's "Dear White People," "Roped" and countless projects currently airing on the Lifetime Movie Network, the Syfy channel, and Amazon Prime.- Actress
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Mary Louise Brooks, also known by her childhood name of Brooksie, was born in the Midwestern town of Cherryvale, Kansas, on November 14, 1906. She began dancing at an early age with the Denishawn Dancers (which was how she left Kansas and went to New York) and then with George White's Scandals before joining the Ziegfeld Follies, but became one of the most fascinating and alluring personalities ever to grace the silver screen. She was always compared to her Lulu role in Pandora's Box (1929), which was filmed in 1928. Her performances in A Girl in Every Port (1928) and Beggars of Life (1928), both filmed in 1928, proved to all concerned that Louise had real talent. She became known, mostly, for her bobbed hair style. Thousands of women were attracted to that style and adopted it as their own. As you will note by her photographs, she was no doubt the trend setter of the 1920s with her Buster Brown-Page Boy type hair cut, much like today's women imitate stars. Because of her dark haired look and being the beautiful woman that she was, plus being a modern female, she was not especially popular among Hollywood's clientele. She just did not go along with the norms of the film society. Louise really came into her own when she left Hollywood for Europe. There she appeared in a few German productions which were very well made and continued to prove she was an actress with an enduring talent. Until she ended her career in film in 1938, she had made only 25 movies. After that, she spent most of her time reading and painting. She also became an accomplished writer, authoring a number of books, including her autobiography. On August 8, 1985, Louise died of a heart attack in Rochester, New York. She was 78 years old.- Louise Monot was born on 30 December 1981 in Paris, France. She is an actress, known for OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009), Little White Lies (2010) and Un amour à taire (2005).
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Louise Linton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and attended St. George's School for Girls and then Fettes College, a boarding school in the heart of the Capital.
As a young girl, she began professional training as an actress at The Edinburgh Drama Academy. She later trained with a private coach from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts from which she acquired her certificate with Honors.
After boarding school, she spent some of her gap-year serving as a volunteer in Northern Zambia before embarking on college in the United States. She acquired a B.A. in Journalism from Pepperdine University followed by her Juris Doctorate in Law from UWLA. During this time, she began acting in film and television.
Her first role was a guest star in 'CSI: NY'. Small roles in various indie features followed. Robert Redford cast her in a small role in the United Artists film, 'Lions for Lambs', starring Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep. She then did a supporting role in the Roy Lee horror, 'The Echo'. After that she joined the cast of indie comedy 'Screwball' playing comedic news reporter, Shannon Storm. Following this, she filmed the U.S. detective smash 'Cold Case' playing a 1940's Women Air Force Service Pilot.
Louise then played a supporting role in Lionsgate's, 'Crew 2 Crew' which was filmed on location in Italy. That fall, she was honored at the Scottish Style Awards as the country's 'Most Stylish Woman'. Immediately after her return to Los Angeles Louise got her first lead role in the sci-fi, 'Scavengers' opposite Sean Patrick Flanery, directed by Travis Zariwny. Louise then filmed the comedy, 'She Wants Me' opposite Charlie Sheen, Josh Gad, and Hillary Duff. She then went to Louisiana to film a small role of a drug addicted single mother in the gritty crime drama, 'The Power of Few' with Christopher Walken and Christian Slater.
In spring 2011, Louise filmed the Lifetime movie, 'William & Kate' about the Royal couple. After this she spent a month in New York where she starred in the provocative Off Broadway show, 'Manipulation' at the Cherry Lane Theater.
Louise then traveled to Alabama to shoot the NASA-based, Hallmark Hall of Fame's Award Winning Feature, 'A Smile As Big As The Moon' starring John Corbett.
Louise graduated from law school in 2012, winning the Reuters Witkin Award for Academic Excellence in Trial Advocacy. After law school, she formed Stormchaser Films, an independent motion picture production company focused on script and IP acquisition, development and finance. The company's first feature film will be released in 2016 with a further three films in pre-production for 2017 release and several more titles in development. The films range in genre from independent thriller, drama and comedy to YA studio franchises.
In winter 2012, Travis Zariwny suggested their second film collaboration as actress and director on his psychological thriller, 'Intruder'. Louise joined the project as both actress and producer. She partnered with film executive Tina Sutakanat and 'Intruder' went into production on location in Portland three months later. Louise stars opposite John Robinson and Moby. IFC Midnight released the film in theaters and VOD on June 24th, 2016.
Shifting from thriller to comedy, Louise then played the title role in the romcom, 'Serial Dater's Anonymous' (2017) opposite Sam Page which was shot on location in Milwaukee.
After that, she filmed a small role in Warren Beatty's much-anticipated film, Rules Don't Apply (2016), as Betty, a young starlet under contract to Hughes' film studio.
Louise then traveled once again to Portland, Oregon to film the iconic role of Deputy Winston in Eli Roth and Armory Films' remake of the classic cult horror, Cabin Fever: Reboot (2016). This was her third collaboration with director, Travis Zariwny.
Louise then filmed the role of Veronica in the gritty crime thriller, 'Odious' about a Los Angeles cop and his unlikely associate who explore the dangerous under-belly of LA as they investigate the disappearance of a child.
Louise then filmed a small role in 'The Midnight Man' (2017) in Winnipeg which she also Executive Produced. This was her fourth collaboration with director, Travis Zariwny.
Louise is a passionate advocate for people and animals. She is on the Board of Mattel's Children's Hospital UCLA. She has served on the Board of Trustees for her British boarding school, Fettes College since 2011. She was an Ambassador for Erskine Wounded Warriors Scotland from 2010-2012 and currently serves as an Ambassador for the Scottish Butterfly Trust for Cystic Fibrosis.
Louise serves as Ambassador for Mutt Match Animal Rescue Los Angeles, and is a global Ambassador for PAL 'Protecting African Lions' based in South Africa. She is active in her support of Kenya based anti-poaching and animal rehabilitation organizations, Ol' Jogi and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, both of which exist to protect and preserve Africa's endangered species. She is on the 2016 host committee for Conservation International's annual event celebrating the global impact of the organization's work to protect our environment.
She is the inaugural Brand Ambassador for British leather goods company, Dunmore with the launch of their handbag line, "The Linton Collection".
Louise can be seen on the covers of, 'I-On' Magazine, 'The Herald' Magazine, 'Seven Days' Magazine, 'Core' Magazine,'Your Life' Magazine, and 'Scottish Woman' Magazine.- Actress
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Louise Robey was born on 14 March 1960 in Montréal, Québec, Canada. She is an actress, known for Friday the 13th: The Series (1987), Raw Deal (1986) and The Money Pit (1986). She was previously married to Stan Shaffer and Charles Vere.- Actress
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Luciana Paluzzi's an Italian actress, best known for playing SPECTRE assassin ,Fiona Volpe, in the fourth James Bond film, Thunderball.
In the film, Thunderball she had auditioned for the part of the lead Bond girl, Dominetta "Domino" Petacchi, but producers cast Claudine Auger, changing the Domino character from an Italian to a Frenchwoman and renaming her Dominique Derval.
Paluzzi's first film was an uncredited walk-on part in Three Coins in the Fountain (1954).- Lucy Gutteridge was born on 28 November 1955 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Top Secret! (1984), Little Gloria... Happy at Last (1982) and The Secret Garden (1987).
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Arthur Freed discovered Lucille when she was working in a nightclub doing a specialty dance act, and decided to cast her as Rose Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis, and began building up her career which never really took off despite being put in 3 big musical productions at MGM. When she married, she decided to retire.- Actress
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Lucinda was part of the troupe when Solid Gold's third season began, and a short biography on her was included in press materials for the show. However, her stint was very brief -- so brief that most Solid Gold fans may not realize she actually danced on the show. Born and raised in Hutchinson, Kansas, Lucinda began dancing at the age of four and went on to major in dance at Kansas State University for two years. As a college student, Lucinda competed in the Miss Kansas pageant, where she won the talent division and finished third runner-up.
Lucinda then moved to Los Angeles and won a dance scholarship with the Dupree Dance Academy. After 10 months of study at Dupree, she auditioned for the movie Grease 2 (1982) and won a role as one of film's lead dancers. Lucinda also appeared in the movie Ninja III: The Domination (1984), where she played a woman possessed by the evil spirit of a ninja assassin. The movie role she is most famous for, however, is that of Kelly (aka Special K) in the 1984 cult film Breakin' (1984) which also featured Solid Gold dancers Cooley Jackson and Leslie Cook.
Lucinda currently lives in California with her husband, Craig Pilligian (who is co-executive producer of the TV show "Survivor") and their two children, according to a July 2000 Hutchinson News article.- Actress
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Luise Rainer, the first thespian to win back-to-back Oscars, was born on January 12, 1910 in Dusseldorf, Germany, into a prosperous Jewish family. Her parents were Emilie (Königsberger) and Heinrich Rainer, a businessman. She took to the stage, and plied her craft on the boards in Germany. As a young actress, she was discovered by the legendary theater director Max Reinhardt and became part of his company in Vienna, Austria. "I was supposed to be very gifted, and he heard about me. He wanted me to be part of his theater," Rainer recounted in a 1997 interview. She joined Reinhardt's theatrical company in Vienna and spent years developing as an actress under his tutelage. As part of Reinhardt's company, Rainer became a popular stage actress in Berlin and Vienna in the early 1930s. Rainer was a natural talent for Reinhardt's type of staging, which required an impressionistic acting style.
Rainer, who made her screen debut as a teenager and appeared in three other German-language films in the early 1930s, terminated her European career when the Austrian Adolf Hitler consolidated his power in Germany. With his vicious anti-Semitism bringing about the Draconian Nuremberg Laws severely curtailing the rights of Germany's Jews, and efforts to expand that regime into the Sudetenland and Austria, Hitler and his Nazi government was proving a looming threat to European Jewry. Rainer had been spotted by a talent scout, who offered her a seven-year contract with the American studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The 25-year-old Rainer took the deal and emigrated to the United States.
She made her American debut in the movie Escapade (1935), replacing Myrna Loy, who was originally slated for the part. It was her luck to have William Powell as her co-star in her first Hollywood film, as he mentored her, teaching her how to act in front of the camera. Powell, whom Rainer remembers as "a dear man" and "a very fine person," lobbied MGM. boss Louis B. Mayer, reportedly telling him, "You've got to star this girl, or I'll look like an idiot."
During the making of "Escapade", Rainer met, and fell in love with, the left-wing playwright Clifford Odets, then at the height of his fame. They were married in 1937. It was not a happy union. MGM cast Rainer in support of Powell in the title role of the The Great Ziegfeld (1936), its spectacular bio-epic featuring musical numbers that recreated his "Follies" shows on Broadway. As Anna Held, Ziegfeld's common-law wife, Rainer excelled in the musical numbers, but it is for her telephone scene that she is most remembered. "The Great Ziegfeld" was a big hit and went on to win the Academy Award as Best Picture of 1936. Rainer received her first of two successive Best Actress Oscars for playing Held. The award was highly controversial at the time as she was a relative unknown and it was only her first nomination, but also because her role was so short and relatively minor that it better qualified for a supporting nomination. (While 1936 was the first year that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences honored supporting players, her studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, listed her as a lead player, then got out its block vote for her.) Compounding the controversy was the fact that Rainer beat out such better known and more respected actresses as Carole Lombard (her sole Oscar nomination) in My Man Godfrey (1936), previous Best Actress winner Norma Shearer (her fifth nomination) in Romeo and Juliet (1936), and Irene Dunne (her second of five unsuccessful nominations) in Theodora Goes Wild (1936). Some of the bitchery was directed toward Louis B. Mayer, whom non-MGM Academy members resented for his ability to manipulate Academy votes. Other critics of her first Oscar win claimed it was the result of voters being unduly impressed with the great budget ($2 million) of "The Great Ziegfeld" rather than great acting. Most observers agree that Rainer won her Oscar as the result of her moving and poignant performance in just one single scene in the picture, the famous telephone scene in which the broken-hearted Held congratulates Ziegfeld over the telephone on his upcoming marriage to Billie Burke while trying to retain her composure and her dignity. During the scene, the camera is entirely focused on Rainer, and she delivers a tour-de-force performance. Seventy years later, it remains one of the most famous scenes in movie history. With another actress playing Held, the scene could have been mawkish, but Rainer brought the pathos of the scene out and onto film. She based her interpretation of the scene on Jean Cocteau's play "La Voix Humaine". "Cocteau's play is just a telephone conversation about a woman who has lost her beloved to another woman", Rainer remembered. "That is the comparison. As it fit into the Ziegfeld story, that's how I wrote it. It's a daily happening, not just in Cocteau." In an interview held 60 years after the film's release, Rainer was dismissive of the performance. "I was never proud of anything", she said. "I just did it like everything else. To do a film - let me explain to you - it's like having a baby. You labor, you labor, you labor, and then you have it. And then it grows up and it grows away from you. But to be proud of giving birth to a baby? Proud? No, every cow can do that."
Rainer would allay any back-biting from Hollywood's bovines over her first Oscar with her performance as O-Lan in MGM producer Irving Thalberg's spectacular adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's "The Good Earth", the former Boy Wonder's final picture before his untimely death. The role won Rainer her second Best Actress Award. The success of The Good Earth (1937) was rooted in its realism, and its realism was enhanced by Rainer's acting opposite the legendary Paul Muni as her husband. When Thalberg cast Muni in the role of Wang Lung, he had to abandon any thought of casting the Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong as O-Lan as the Hays Office would not allow the hint of miscegenation, even between an actual Chinese woman and a Caucuasian actor in yellow-face drag. So, Thalberg gave Rainer the part, and she made O-Lan her own. She refused to wear a heavy makeup, and her elfin look helped her to assay a Chinese woman with results far superior to those of Myrna Loy in her Oriental vamp phase or Katharine Hepburn in Dragon Seed (1944). In the late 1990s, Rainer praised her director, Sidney Franklin, as "wonderful", and explained that she used an acting technique similar to "The Method" being pioneered by her husband's Group Theatre comrades back in New York. "I worked from inside out", she said. "It's not for me, putting on a face, or putting on makeup, or making masquerade. It has to come from inside out. I knew what I wanted to do and he let me do it." The win made Rainer the first two-time Oscar winner in an acting category and the first to win consecutive acting awards (Spencer Tracy, her distaff honoree for Captains Courageous (1937) would follow her as a consecutive acting Oscar winner the next year, and Walter Brennan, Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for Come and Get It (1936) the year Rainer won her first, would tie them both in 1937 with his win for Kentucky (1938) and trump them with his third win for The Westerner (1940), a record subsequently tied by Ingrid Bergman, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Daniel Day-Lewis, and surpassed by Katharine Hepburn.)
Rainer's career soon went into free-fall and collapsed, as she became the first notable victim of the "Oscar curse", the phenomenon that has seem many a performer's career take a nose-dive after winning an Academy Award. "For my second and third pictures I won Academy Awards. Nothing worse could have happened to me", Rainer said. A non-conformist, Rainer rejected Hollywood's values of Hollywood. In the late 1990s, she said, "I came from Europe where I was with a wonderful theater group, and I worked. The only thing on my mind was to do good work. I didn't know what an Academy Award was." MGM boss Mayer, the founding force behind the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, had to force her to attend the Awards banquet to receive her Oscar. She rebelled against the studio due to the movies that MGM forced her into after "The Good Earth".
In one case, director Dorothy Arzner had been assigned by MGM producer Joseph M. Mankiewicz (whose wife, Rose Stradner had been Rainer's understudy in the Vienna State Theater) in 1937 to direct Rainer in "The Girl from Trieste", an unproduced Ferenc Molnár play about a prostitute trying to go reform herself who discovers the hypocrisies of the respectable class which she aspires to. After Thalberg's death in 1936, Mayer's lighter aesthetic began to rule the roost at MGM. Mayer genuinely believed in the goodness of women and motherhood and put women on a pedestal; he once told screenwriter Frances Marion that he never wanted to see anything produced by MGM that would embarrass his wife and two daughters.
Without the more sophisticated Thalberg at the studio to run interference, Molnar's play was rewritten so that it was no longer about a prostitute, but a slightly bitter Cinderella story with a happy ending. Retitled by Mankiewicz as The Bride Wore Red (1937), Rainer withdrew and was replaced by Joan Crawford. In a 1976 interview in "The New York Times", Arzner claimed that Rainer "had been suspended for marrying a Communist" (Clifford Odets). This is unlikely as MGM, like all Hollywood studios, had known or suspected communists on its payroll, most of whose affiliations were known by MGM vice president E.J. Mannix. (Mannix, one of whose functions was responsibility for security at the studio, once said it would have been impossible to fire them all, as "the communists" were the studio's best writers.) The studio never took action against alleged communists until an industry-wide agreement to do so was sealed at the Waldorf Conference of 1947, which was held in reaction to the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) launching a Hollywood witch hunt.
It was more likely that Rainer, fussy over her projects and wanting to use her Academy Award prominence to ensure herself better roles, withdrew on her own due to her lack of enthusiasm for the reformulated product. In the late 1990s, Rainer recalled the satisfaction of being a European stage actress. "One day we were on a big tour", she told an interviewer in the late 1990s. "We did a play by Pirandello, and Reinhardt was in the theater. I shall never forget, it was the greatest compliment I ever got, better than any Academy Award. He came to me, looked at me and said - we were never called by first names - 'Rainer, how did you do this?' It was so wonderful. 'How did you create this?' I was so startled and happy. That was my Academy Award." Rainer still is dismissive of the Academy Awards. "I can't watch the Oscars," she said. "Everybody thanking their mother, their father, their grandparents, their nurse - it's a crazy, horrible." She blames the studio and Mayer for the rapid decline in her career. "What they did with me upset me very much", she said in a 1997 interview. "I was dreaming naturally like anyone to do something very good, but after I got the two Academy Awards the studio thought, it doesn't matter what she gets. They threw all kinds of stuff on me, and I thought, no, I didn't want to be an actress."
Mayer pulled his famous emotional routines when Rainer, whom he wanted to turn into a glamorous star, would demand meatier roles. "He would cry phony tears", she recalled. Mayer had opposed her being cast as O-Lan in "The Good Earth", but Thalberg, who had a connection with MGM capo di tutti capi Nicholas Schenck, the president of MGM corporate parent Loew's, Inc., appealed to Schenck, who overrode Mayer's veto. (Mayer, who was involved in a power struggle with Thalberg before the latter's death, had opposed his filming Pearl Buck's novel. Mayer's reasoning was that American audiences wouldn't patronize movies about American farmers, so what made anyone think they'd flock to see a film about Chinese farmers, especially one with such a big budget, estimated at $2.8 million. (Upon release, the film barely broke even.) Thalberg died during the filming of "The Good Earth" (the only film of his released by MGM whose title credits bore his name, in the form of a posthumous tribute).
Rainer felt lost without her protector. She recalled that Mayer "didn't know what to do with me, and that made me so unhappy. I was on the stage with great artists, and everything was so wonderful. I was in a repertory theater, and every night I played something else." Rainer asked to play Nora in a film of Ibsen's "A Doll's House" or portray Madame Curie, but instead, Mayer - now in complete control of the studio - had her cast in The Toy Wife (1938), a movie she actually wound up liking, as she was charmed by her co-star, the urbane, intellectually and politically enlightened Melvyn Douglas. She recalls Douglas, ultimately a double-Oscar winner like herself, as her favorite leading man. "He was intelligent, and he was interested also in other things than acting."
Her problems with the culture of Hollywood, or the lack thereof, were worsening. The lack of intellectual conversation or concern with ideas by the denizens of the movie colony she was forced to work with was depressing. Hollywood was an unsophisticated place where materialism, such as the stars' preoccupation with clothes, was paramount. As she tells it, "Soon after I was there in Hollywood, for some reason I was at a luncheon with Robert Taylor sitting next to me, and I asked him, 'Now, what are your ideas or what do you want to do', and his answer was that he wanted to have 10 good suits to wear, elegant suits of all kinds, that was his idea. I practically fell under the table."
MGM teamed her with fellow Oscar-winner Tracy in Big City (1937), a movie about conflict between rival taxi drivers. The memory of the movie disgusted her. "Supposedly it wasn't a bad film, but I thought it was a bad film!" She was also cast in The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937), reteaming her with "Ziegfeld" co-star Powell, a movie she didn't like, as she couldn't understand its story. A detective tale, the script thoroughly confused Rainer, who was expected to soldier on like a good employee. Instead, she resisted.
After appearing in The Great Waltz (1938) and Dramatic School (1938), her career was virtually over by 1938. She never made another film for MGM. "I just had to get away", she said about Hollywood. "I couldn't bear this total concentration and interviews on oneself, oneself, oneself. I wanted to learn, and to live, to go all over the world, to learn by seeing things and experiencing things, and Hollywood seemed very narrow." When World War II broke out in Europe, Rainer was joined by her family, as her German-born father was also an American citizen, allowing them all to escape Hitler and the Holocaust. Even before the outbreak of war, Rainer had been very worried about the state of affairs of the world, and she could not abide the escapist trifles that MGM wanted to cast her in. When she protested, Mayer told Rainer that if she defied him, he would blackball her in Hollywood.
Disturbed by Hollywood's apathy over fascism in Europe and Asia and by labor unrest and poverty in the U.S., she decided to walk out on her contract. She and Odets returned to New York. They were divorced in 1940. "Hollywood was a very strange place", she remembered. "To me, it was like a huge hotel with a huge door, one of those rotunda doors. On one side people went in, heads high, and very soon they came out on the other side, heads hanging." Her frustration with Hollywood was so complete, she abandoned movie acting in the early 1940s, after making the World War II drama Hostages (1943) for Paramount.
She made her Broadway debut in the play "A Kiss for Cinderella", which was staged by Lee Strasberg, which opened at the Music Box Theatre on March 10, 1942 and closed April 18th after 48 performances. Rainer then worked for the war effort during World War II, appearing at war bond rallies. She went on a tour of North Africa and Italy for the Army Special Service, socializing with soldiers to build their morale, and supplying them with books. The experience changed her life, allowing her to get over the shyness she'd had all her life. It also broadened her experience, forcing her to deal with the obvious fact that there were more important things than movie acting, which had proven unfulfilling to her.
Fortunately, Rainer found happiness in a long-lived marriage with the publisher Robert Knittel, a wealthy man whom she married in 1945. The couple had a daughter and made their home mostly in Switzerland and England as Rainer essentially left acting behind, although she did do some television in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. Her retirement from the movies lasted for 53 years, until her brief comeback in The Gambler (1997), a movie based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's eponymous story. In the film, Rainer played the role of the matriarch of an aristocratic Russian family in the 1860s who is in hock due to the family members' obsession with gambling.
Toward the end of her life, Rainer lived in a luxurious flat in Eaton Square in London's Belgravia district, in a building where Vivien Leigh once lived. Blessed with a good memory, she claimed she could not remember the 1937 Academy Awards ceremony, when she won her first Oscar. She says the glamour of the event was out of sync with her life at the time, which was one of great sadness. "I married Clifford Odets. The marriage was for both of us a failure. He wanted me to be his little wife and a great actress at the same time. Somehow I could not live up to all of that."
She had intriguing offers during her long retirement. Federico Fellini had wanted Rainer for a role in La Dolce Vita (1960), but though she admired the director, she didn't like the script and turned it down. Rainer occasionally plied her craft as an actress on the stage. She made one more stab at Broadway, appearing in a 1950 production of Ibsen's "The Lady from the Sea", which was staged by Sam Wanamaker and Terese Hayden and co-starred Steven Hill, one of the founding members of Lee Strasberg's Actor's Studio. The play was a flop, running just 16 performances. "I was living in America and was on the stage there - sporadically. I always lived more than I worked. Which doesn't mean that I do not love my profession, and every moment I was in it gave me great satisfaction and happiness."
Rainer had no regrets over not becoming the star she might have been. She outlived all of the legendary stars of her era, which likely is the best revenge for the loss of her career after bidding adieu to a company town she could not abide.- Actress
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Lyudmila Gurchenko was a popular actress in the Soviet Union during the 1950s - 1980s, she was best known for Carnival Night (1956), Five Evenings (1979) and Siberiade (1979).
She was born Lyudmila Markovna Gurchenko on 12 November 1935, in Kharkov, Ukrainian Soviet Republic of the USSR. She studied acting at the VGIK (Soviet State Institute for CInema), graduating from the class of Sergey Gerasimov in 1956. That same year she shot to fame in the Soviet Union, aftr delivering a stellar performance as singer Lenochka Krylova in Carnival Night (1956), by director Eldar Ryazanov.
Gurchenko's film partners were such Russian stars, as Oleg Borisov, Sergei Shakurov, Aleksandr Abdulov, Oleg Basilashvili, Mikhail Boyarskiy, Igor Ilyinsky, Yuriy Nikulin, Armen Jigarhanian, Oleg Tabakov, Stanislav Lubshin, Andrey Mironov and Aleksandr Mikhaylov among others.
Lyudmila Gurchenko was married five times and had one daughter with her first husband, Boris Andronikashvili. She died of a pulmonary failure on 30 March 2011, at age 75, and was laid to rest in Moscow, Russia.- Luisa d'Oliveira was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is an actress, known for The 100 (2014), Channel Zero (2016) and The Good Wife (2009).
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Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, Lupita Tovar appeared first in silent Fox films before making the move to Universal and co-starring in the Spanish-language version of 1930's "The Cat Creeps" (La voluntad del muerto (1930)). For the same producer, Czech-born Paul Kohner, she appeared as Eva Seward (the Spanish-language counterpart of Helen Chandler's Mina) in Universal's Spanish Dracula (1931). In 1932, she married Kohner, who later became one of the top agents in Hollywood. (Their actress-daughter, Susan Kohner, was Oscar-nominated for her performance in Universal's 1959 Imitation of Life (1959); their son, Pancho Kohner, is a producer). Tovar gave up films in the 1940s and has been widowed since 1988.- Actress
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Lyda's father was German clown Roberti, her mother a Polish trick rider. As a child performer, she toured Europe and Asia with the Circus in which she was born, leaving it (and her reportedly abusive father) in Shanghai, China. In this truly international city, Lyda became a child cafe entertainer and learned the fractured English that became her trademark. Around 1927, she emigrated to California, finding work in vaudeville, where she was "discovered" in 1930 by Broadway producer Lou Holtz and became an overnight star in his 1931 show 'You Said It'. Lyda's unforgettable stage and screen character was a sexy blonde whose charming accent and uninhibited man-chasing were played for hilarious laughs. From 1932-35 she made 8 comedy and musical films mainly at Paramount, with Fields, Cantor, and other great comedians; her unique singing style was also popular on the radio and records. Her health declining from premature heart disease, she briefly replaced the late Thelma Todd in Hal Roach comedy shorts with Patsy Kelly and appeared in 3 features for MGM and Columbia, then retired from film work a few months before her fatal heart attack at age 31.- American leading woman, a popular action star of serials in the 1940s. She studied music, dance, and drama as a child and received a scholarship to a Hollywood acting school. But she arrived in Hollywood to discover the school had closed, and she took a job as a showgirl at the Earl Carroll Theatre in Hollywood. She modeled in fashion advertisements and one ad led to a screen test. She was cast as a model in The Powers Girl (1943), but more importantly, she was again spotted in an advertisement, this time by executives of Republic Studios, who were looking for a beautiful but athletic woman to star in their upcoming serial, The Tiger Woman (1944). Despite having no experience in the kind of stunts and athletics that would be required, Stirling was able to convince not only the executives but ace stuntman Yakima Canutt of her capability. She won the role and a contract from Republic, and played hard-riding and -fighting heroines in numerous serials, Westerns, and low-budget adventure films over the next three or four years. She married a screenwriter for Republic, Sloan Nibley in 1946 and shortly thereafter retired from movies. She made a few guest appearances on television in the 1950s, but spent most of her later years doing college work (as both student and teacher) and attending to her family life. She was widowed in 1990 and died of cancer in 1997.
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Lydie Denier was raised in Martinique and attended school at the Lycee Shoelcher in Fort de France, Martinique. She became a model at 14 years old. Her big break through as an actress was when she played the role of Jane in the TV series Tarzán (1991) from 1991 till 1993. Her TV debut was on General Hospital (1963) back in 1989 playing the role of Yasmine Bernoudi. Lydie is also an accomplished artist. She paints acrylic on canvas and her work has been sold both in Europe and America. She is also a writer and a producer. Her film company is Pathway Pictures in Los Angeles.- Actress
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An American television actress, Lynda Day George first drew attention when she appeared in the popular TV series Mission: Impossible (1966) as Lisa Casey, a role for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. She also did numerous guest-star roles in such series as The Love Boat (1977) and Wonder Woman (1975).
While appearing in the feature The Gentle Rain (1966), she met Christopher George, the handsome lead actor of the popular war series The Rat Patrol (1966); they fell in love about three years later, when they were reunited in the John Wayne western Chisum (1970), and they were married after its release. During the 1970s, Lynda appeared in numerous films with her husband. In 1983, she and Chris co-starred in the horror film Mortuary (1982). Sadly, after its completion, Christopher George died of a heart attack, at age 54.
Lynda was devastated and felt that she couldn't act without him. She appeared in another film shortly after his death, called Young Warriors (1983), but after appearing as a guest star in a few TV series, Lynda gave up acting.- Viola Lynn Collins was born in Houston, Texas, to Patricia Lynn (Campbell) and Phillip Dean Collins. She attended the Juilliard School for Drama and had a great deal of Shakespearean training before being cast as "Portia" in "The Merchant of Venice". She also played "Ophelia" in a production of "Hamlet" in New York, and was "Juliet" in Peter Hall's "Romeo and Juliet" at the Ahmanson theatre in Los Angeles.
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Lynn Loring made an unlikely, but impressive, transition from child actress to actress to president of a major TV studio. At age 6, she appeared in CBS's anthology series Studio One (1948); at 7, she began doing TV commercials (and was dubbed "The Junior Set's Betty Furness"); and from 6 to 16, she played Patty on Search for Tomorrow (1951). As a young adult, she made guest appearances on Playhouse 90 (1956), Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951), The Defenders (1961), and The Big Valley (1965), among other shows.
Loring focused on domestic life until 1979, when she worked as the casting director for a TV movie, The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang (1979) ("Raid on Coffeyville"). She shifted into producing and, for several years, had an initially fruitful partnership with Aaron Spelling. In the late 1980s, she assumed the presidency of MGM/UA Television Productions. Loring, then only in her 40s, was one of the first women to hold such a high-ranking role in Hollywood.- Actress
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Lynne Frederick was a talented British actress of the 1970s. She had a unique combination of good looks and charm which captivated audiences for a decade. Although best known as the fourth and final wife of British comedian Peter Sellers, Lynne has developed a cult following in recent years. Before Kate Winslet and Emma Watson, there was Lynne Frederick.
Lynne Wagner Harding Frederick was born in Hillingdon, Uxbridge, UK, to parents Iris and Andrew. Her father left when she was young, and was raised by her grandmother and mother, who worked for Thames Television. Lynne attended Notting Hill and Ealing High School and originally intended to become a physics and mathematics teacher. Lynne was discovered by film director Cornel Wilde at Thames Television while posing for some camera test shots. Lynne's youthful and dramatic beauty immediately struck Wilde. After interviewing hundreds of girls, he decided Lynne would be perfect for his film. Lynne received a phone call while at school preparing for her exams. Her mother said Wilde wanted her for his film and had two hours to decide if she wanted to take the role and leave school to pursue an acting career. After much thought, Lynne decided to try acting and accepted the role.
Despite no previous experience, Lynne got her very first acting job at her first audition. Her debut was in the 1970 British-American apocalyptic science fiction film No Blade of Grass (1970). Her next and more prestigious role came as Tsar Nicholas's second eldest daughter, Tatiana, in the 1971 Oscar-winning British film Nicholas and Alexandra (1971). In her next role, Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), she played the ill-fated fifth wife of Henry VIII, Catherine Howard. Her adaptation of Howard made Tudor cinema history as Lynne was the first actress to portray Howard from a historically accurate and sympathetic point of view.
Lynne continued to work in films, with a supporting role in the now-cult film Vampire Circus (1972). Her most well-known screen role came in the 1972 family film The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972). For this role, she won the very first London Evening Standard British Film Award for Best New Coming Actress. In 1974, she appeared in the science fiction thriller Phase IV (1974), for which she was required to learn an American accent. Although not successful during its initial release, Phase IV gained a cult following in the years that followed due to its airing on late-night television.
Lynne co-starred with Italian actor Fabio Testi in two back-to-back films as his love interest. The first was the very graphic Italian spaghetti western The Four of the Apocalypse... (1975), followed by Red Coat (1975). Lynne then appeared in two romantic Spanish films, El vicio y la virtud (1975) and Largo retorno (1975). Her acting credits weren't limited to film; she appeared in various shows and movies made for TV over the decade. Lynne returned to the horror film with a role in the 1976 slasher, Schizo (1976). Her most important film role came in the Oscar-nominated historical drama, Voyage of the Damned (1976).
A year later, Lynne married fellow actor Peter Sellers. She would make her final film appearance alongside him in The Prisoner of Zenda (1979). Sadly, their relationship became turbulent. Rumours of drug and health issues plagued them. Further controversy followed after Sellers' tragic death on 24 July 1980 (one day before Lynne's 26th birthday) when Lynne was named the beneficiary of nearly his entire estate while his children, whom Sellers had been estranged from for many years, received hardly anything. Despite pleas from Sellers' friends, Lynne didn't give Sellers' children any further settlements due to her rocky relationship with them. The British public and film industry began to turn against Lynne after Sellers' death, and her career started to plummet. Despite the blacklisting which followed, Lynne was very protective of Sellers' name and reputation. She even won £1.475 million in a lawsuit against the makers of the Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), a film of Sellers released posthumously, claiming the film tarnished her husband's memory.
Lonely, depressed, and desperate for companionship, the young widow married the charismatic British media personality David Frost six months after Sellers' death. Lynne's supposed eagerness to remarry shortly after her first husband's death virtually robbed her of any last shred of public sympathy.
Although Lynne and David appeared to be a happily married couple to the public, their marriage was destructive and turbulent behind closed doors. While married to Frost, she suffered at least one miscarriage, which put a strain on their already rocky marriage. Ultimately, their marriage ended in divorce after 17 months.
Following her divorce from Frost, Frederick fled from Britain to America where she met surgeon and heart specialist Barry Unger, whom she married on Christmas, 1982. The following year, Frederick bore her only child, Cassie, with whom she had a close relationship. Her marriage to Unger ended in divorce in 1991.
In the later years of her life, Frederick live in Los Angeles, where she lived in a house with her daughter, of whom she shared custody.
In the final years of her life, Lynne's health spiraled downward as she struggled with alcoholism and bouts of depression. Rumors of chronic drug addiction, clinical depression, failed rehab treatments, and suicide attempts were common tabloid reports of her in later years.
The wear and tear of the struggles in her life took a toll on her appearance. Her weight ballooned, her face became sunken and bloated, and her hair now cropped short and damaged. Rumor had it that when the paparazzi stood outside her house trying to get photos of Lynne, there were several occasions where she would walk past them unnoticed as the photographers didn't recognize her drastically different appearance in contrast to her once-youthful appearance.
On the morning of 27 April, 1994, Frederick's lifeless body was discovered by her mother, Iris, in her home. Immediately following Frederick's death, the Fleet Street tabloids engaged in a firestorm of negative press accusing Frederick of being an alcoholic and cocaine addict. It was even reported the cause of her death due to cocaine and alcohol. Although the exact cause of Frederick's death hasn't been publicly disclosed, her mother revealed in Hello Magazine that Lynne's death had been caused by natural causes due to a seizure in her sleep, although this has been disputed by some people, seizures frequently kill people, who stop drinking without medical help.
For many years, Lynne Frederick's legacy remained tainted and was seldom, if ever mentioned. But in recent years, her films have resurfaced to a new generation, and she's been given a new fan base and cult following. Although she won't be remembered as a big name in films, her glowing beauty holds an enduring fascination amongst cinema fans. She's a symbol of the harsh world of the entertainment industry.