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Laurette Luez Profile
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Photo gallery |
| (Loretta Mary Luiz) |
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| 19 August 28 | is born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the second of three children of Frank and Francesca Luiz, vaudeville artists specializing in traditional Hawaiian and Spanish songs and dances. Her father’s a native Hawaiian of Portuguese descent; her mother, the daughter of celebrated Australian actor Cornelius Clancy. |
| c. 31 | makes her stage debut at the age of 3 dancing the hula |
| 13 July 35 | arrives in Los Angeles with her family from Honolulu, Hawaii, aboard the Mariposa |
| c. 35 | performs at the command of the Sultan of Jahore, Malaysia, at the age of 6 |
| 44 | her photo is spotted by a scout for Cecil B. DeMille. She is cast for the part of a Javanese girl in The Story of Dr. Wassell. |
| October 44 | is featured in Esquire magazine. Her measurements are 34-24-35. |
| 45 | signs a five-year contract with 20th Century-Fox, with a weekly salary of $125 |
| 47 / 48 | marries actor Philip Sudano. He's three years her senior. |
| 22 October 48 | her son Alexander Eden is born in Los Angeles |
| ? | helps Fox starlet Norma Jean Mortenson change her name to Marilyn Monroe and becomes a friend of hers |
| ? | does a Lux Beauty Soap commercial |
| c. 49 | receives national publicity when selected as the perfect model by the American Nightwear Fashion Stylists |
| October 49 | she and associate producer Sam Goldwyn, Jr., son of producer Samuel Goldwyn, tell friends that they'll soon announce their engagement |
| November 49 | is the date of Sam Goldwyn, Jr., who is with his father at Ciro's to listen to Sophie Tucker |
| is signed by producer Lindslay Parsons to be Roddy McDowell’s leading lady in Killer Shark. She is reported joining the company on location in Ensenada, Mexico. |
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| January 50 | when she and Goldwyn break off their romance, columnist Sheila Graham learns for the first time that they had been engaged for a year. “The ring was returned to Sam.” |
| February 50 | says her engagement to Goldwyn, Jr., is off. He wanted her to give up her career, and she has no inclination to quit short of stardom. |
| March 50 | her going from Roddy McDowell in Killer Shark to Errol Flynn in Kim is heralded as the biggest casting jump of the year |
| ? | obtains her role in Kim by accident. She hears that MGM is about to put Pagan Love Song into production and so she calls the only person she knows at MGM, casting director Robert Webb. He is out, but she leaves her number and he calls back. She inquires if there would be a role for her. "Laurette, I've had you in mind all time," Webb says. "Come over tomorrow for an interview." She goes over, is interviewed and is told a part is hers. It is then she learns that the picture isn't Pagan Love Song but Kim. Needless to say, she is surprised plenty. |
| April 50 | says about her part in Kim: "Errol and I play our love scenes through the window and do not kiss. But we took stills embracing each other. They asked me if I enjoyed working that way with Errol and I told them it was very, very disturbing, to say the least." Kim's the first major picture ever filmed in India. |
| May 50 | columnist Jimmy Fidler confirms that she has beauty, personal magnetism and a super-abundance of ambition, but she lacks acting experience. Some months ago, her agent persuaded her to enroll in a course in diction lessons with one of Hollywood's best dramatic coaches. "Improve your speech," he promised, "and I'll be able to get you leading roles." Laurette did her part. She worked overtime studying diction. And the agent has now kept his promise. He "sold" his client for the leading feminine role in Prehistoric Women. But I doubt the diction lessons will help her performance greatly. Her dialogue is limited to one, often-repeated word. It's "ugh!" |
| ? | at the home of co-star Allan Nixon and his wife, actress Marie Wilson, she meets producer Sam Abarbanel and director Gregg Tallas for rehearsals for her upcoming Prehistoric Women |
| ? | when she gets ill while filming Prehistoric Women, Greek-born director Gregg Tallas stays with her all through her recovery, and they become romantically involved |
| June 50 | ends her engagement to Goldwyn, Jr., by returning his engagement ring via mail to Germany, where Goldwyn’s working on some runaway film production. Goldwyn will marry Jennifer Howard, 24-year-old daughter of playwright Sidney Howard, in August 1950. |
| ? | elopes with Tallas to Las Vegas and gets married. He’s 13 years her senior. Tallas plans to start a production company in his native Greece with her as his star. |
| ? | when Goldwyn returns from Germany irate, he demands that she divorce Gregg and marry him, but she refuses |
| September 50 | is crowned queen at the Latin Holiday 12-hour party held at the Officers Town Club in Long Beach, California |
| January 51 | makes the heads turn when sitting at the fashionable 21 |
| September 51 | she and Ed Harrison set their marriage date for early January |
| 30 October 51 | secretly weds Edward A. Harrison, real estate investor, in Tijuana, Mexico. It's her third marriage. |
| December 51 | columnist Harrison Carroll writes: “Sultry Laurette Luez, who has cancelled wedding plans with Ed Harrison, was at Ciro’s with TV producer John Ettlinger...” |
| 15 January 52 | files for an annulment of her marriage to Harrison in Superior Court in Los Angeles. She claims that, at the time she married him, Harrison had not received his final decree of divorce from his previous wife, June Harrison, and that she had not received a final decree dissolving her marriage to Tallas. She charges that Harrison threatened her life and her career. He's 39; she's 23. |
| January 52 | her escort at the Captain's Table is TV actor Judson Holdren. She discloses her secret marriage to Harrison, which she's now trying to have annulled. |
| End February 52 | her escort at the Mocambo is Bob Darin. They are among the ringsiders to greet Lita Baron, wife of Rory Calhoun, and Billy Daniels. |
| March 52 | is seen at the Encore Room with her ex-husband, Harrison, sitting at adjoining tables. They are giving out with icicles. |
| April 52 | films "Something Always Happens," a pilot film for TV starring Robert Cummings. The director informs her that she will have to report to wardrobe and get her neckline lifted higher. "It's not the censors who are bothered this time," the director says. "It's Robert Cummings who is bothered. He can't keep his mind on the dialog." |
| May 52 | American Pictures is after her, Irish McCalla, Dagmar, and Lili St.Cyr for their upcoming Space Women. The story is about women who dominate the solar system from a spaceship. |
| November 52 | has a big female wrangle with Patricia Medina during the filming of Siren of Baghdad. It stems from the identical hairdos that the hairdressers gave them. The beauties go into a tizzy when they compare their top-knots - then they blow their tops. |
| February 53 | is seen at the Mocambo with Ted Jordan |
| is reportedly in the cast of Space Girls with Lili St.Cyr, Peggie Castle, Pat Knight, Charlie Chaplin, Jr., and Manny Robinson |
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| 54 | is on stage as Tondeleyo in White Cargo |
| October 54 | is the latest amour of G. David Schine |
| February 55 | columnist Walter Winchell thinks she and actor Brad Dexter "act like they invented something new" |
| March 55 | she and Johnny Bernardino, former Cleveland Indian baseball star, are a twosome at Fairchild’s |
| July 55 | is on TV's "Star Theater" with Donald O'Connor and Regina Gleason |
| October 56 | is romanced by Paul Brinkman, estranged husband of actress Jeanne Crain. In the meantime, Jeanne makes the local plush spots with Orrin Lehman. |
| Louella Parsons reveals: “The girl Paul Brinkman seems to be seeing these evenings is Laurette Luez. They were dining again at the Gourmet Beverly...” |
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| 56 | marries Robert Creel |
| August 57 | is noted at the Eldorado with Gaby, popular Canadian photographer |
| 14 September 62 | her son Craig T. is born in Los Angeles |
| 63 | plays cantina girl Felina, from Marty Robbin’s hit song “El Paso,” in her last movie, Ballad of a Gunfighter |
| 65 | ends her showbiz career to be a fulltime wife and mother |
| 7 September 67 | her father dies at age 69 in Los Angeles |
| 1 May 68 | her daughter, Claudette M., is born in Los Angeles |
| 90 | resides in the comfortable Los Feliz section of Los Angeles with her sister, Lei, and a nephew |
| ? | moves to Milton, Florida |
| 12 September 99 | as Laurette Luez, she dies at age 71 in Milton, Florida |
| Sources: Laurette Luez to Richard S. Aldrich in Filmfax, Richard Koper, Legendary Woman: The Laurette Luez Story, The Newark Advocate, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, The Monessen Daily Independent, Valley Morning Star, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, Dixon Evening Telegraph, Nevada State Journal, The Herald-Press, Humboldt Standard, Pottstown Mercury, Independent Record, Syracuse Herald-Journal, The Coshocton Tribune, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Evening Independent, Kingsport-News, Waterloo Daily Courier, The Vidette-Messenger, www.IMDb.com, www.Ancestry.com | |
| Recommended Books: | |
| Links: Filmography Legendary Women: The Laurette Luez Story | |