Mary Dean Lauria (1922 - 1995)

Actress.

Odette Laure (1917 - 2004)

French Actress and Singer. She had successful careers as a cabaret singer and actress on stage and screen. She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Cesar in 1991 for her performance in Bernard Tavernier’s “Daddy Nostalgie.” She also appeared in “La Marie du Port” (1950), “La Fête à Henriette” (1952), “Le Grand Jeu” (1953), […]

Louise Latimer (1913 - 1973)

Actress, Fashion Designer. A Hollywood starlet of the 1930s, she appeared in a dozen films during a brief motion picture career. She made her film debut in the 1934 motion picture “My Mummy’s Arms.” Over the next three years her screen accomplishments would include “There’s Always Tomorrow” (1934), “Two in Revolt” (1936), “Murder on a […]

Vera Laroche (1912 - 2008)

Actress. During the early 1930s she modeled hats and stockings while appearing on magazine covers like Midinette and La Belle France before performing for two years on stage at the Caveau des Moulins in Paris. She went on to appear in twelve films, most notably in Jean Renoir’s ‘La Marseillaise’ in 1938. After World War […]

Gracie Lantz (1903 - 1992)

Actress. She was the voice of cartoon character “Woody Woodpecker,” which was created by her husband, Walter Lantz.  Family links:  Spouse:  Walter Lantz (1899 – 1994)* *Calculated relationship

Mary Lansing (1911 - 1988)

Actress. She appeared on numerous television shows, in particular The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry R.F.D., and Gomer Pyle. She met actor Frank Nelson who was performing on radio and the two married on January 7, 1933. They had two children but were later divorced. She appeared frequently with Frank on the Jack Benny Show during […]

Lillie Langtry (1853 - 1929)

Stage Actress. She was the daughter of the dean of Jersey. In 1874 she married Edward Langtry, who died in 1897, and in 1899 she married Hugo de Bathe, who became a baronet in 1907. In 1881 she caused a sensation by being the first society woman to go on the stage, making her first […]

Gilda Langer (1896 - 1920)

Actress. Dark, mysterious leading lady of silent films. Born Hermengild Langer in Oderfurt, Moravia (now in the Czech Republic), she made her acting debut at Berlin’s Residenz-Theatre in 1917 and was soon playing leads for the Star and Decla movie studios.  Her brief affair with author Carl Mayer inspired him to write the original scenario […]

Rosemary Lane (1913 - 1974)

Actress. Popular American motion picture figure of the 1930s and 1940s. One of the Lane sisters (Priscilla and Lola). Married to Hollywood make-up artist Bud Westmore. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Parents:  Lorenzo Alverado Mullican (1872 – 1938)  Cora Bell Hicks Lane (1881 – 1952)  Spouse:  Bud Westmore (1918 – 1973)  Siblings:  Leota Belle […]

Nora Lane (1905 - 1948)

Actress. Born in Chester, Illinois, she apparently stumbled into acting during a visit to California when she reportedly took a screen test as a lark. Offered a role, she debuted in the silent ‘Flying U Ranch’ in 1927. She appeared in more than a dozen more films before the end of the silent era, and […]

Lola Lane (1909 - 1981)

Actress. Born Dorothy Mullican in Macy, Indiana, she began her career in a musical act with her sisters actresses Priscilla and Rosemary Lane in 1920s. Together they started performing on Broadway when they were signed to Warner Bros. Studios in 1937 and as sisters they appeared “Four Wives” (1939). On her own, she appeared in […]

Jessie Royce Landis (1896 - 1972)

Actress. Made her stage debut at the age of 20 in Chicago before moving to Broadway, and developing a career on the stage and the cinema. She is best known for playing Cary Grant’s mother in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” (1959) although she was about ten months younger than Grant. Also she played the […]

Oni Faida Lampley (1959 - 2008)

Playwright Actress. She was born Vera Lampley in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Her plays were produced in New York and regionally. Her first play, Mixed Babies (1990), won a Helen Hayes award for Outstanding New Play for its Washington Stage Guild production in Washington D.C. It was produced in New York City by Manhattan Class Company. […]

Karen Lamm (1952 - 2001)

Model-Actress. During the 1970s and early 1980s, she appeared in over 150 films, including major motion pictures and made-for-television movies. She was also a very popular model in both print and commercial work. Some of the television series programs in which she frequently appeared were Columbo, The Dukes of Hazzard, Kojak, Harry-O, Starsky and Hutch, […]

Libertad Lamarque (1908 - 2000)

Renowned Argentinian tango singer and actress. She is best remembered for her films “Madreselva” (1938), “En el Viejo Buenos Aires” (1941), “La Infame” (1953) and “La Cigüeña Dijo Sí” (1960). Later in her career, she appeared in the TV series “Carita de Angel” (2000). (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)

Veronica Lake (1922 - 1973)

Veronica Lake Actress. Known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle, she is probably best remembered for her role in “Sullivan’s Travels” (1942) and for her femme fatale roles in film noirs with Alan Ladd, during the 1940s. Her career spanned five decades, from films, to stage, and television beginning in 1939 until 1970. Born Constance Frances Marie […]

Patricia Van Cleve Lake (1923 - 1993)

Actress, Scandal Figure. In the 1920s, there was speculation that Lake was the child of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and actress Marion Davies, who carried on a public affair despite Hearst being married to another woman. Many reference books state that Lake’s parents were Marion Davies’ sister Rosemary and her first husband, George Van […]

Betty Lago (1955 - 2015)

Brazilian Actress. Lago, born Elizabeth Lago Netto, was an actress known for numerous roles on television and film. She started her career as a model, but turned to acting, first on film and then television.  Lago’s first role was in “Dona Flor e seus dois maridos” (1976), but it was later cut out by the […]

Bernadette Lafont (1938 - 2013)

Actress. She will be best remembered as muse of the acclaimed French film director François Truffaut with whom made her debut as an actress in the short film “Les Mistons” (1957). Bernadette soon became a symbol actress of the Nouvelle Vague, playing roles in some of the masterpieces of French cinema including notably “Le beau […]

Dominique Laffin (1952 - 1985)

French Actress. She appeared in the films, “Passage Secret” (1985), “Akropolis Now” (1983), “Room Service” (1982), “Vive La Mariee” (1982), “His Master’s Eye” (1982), “Nocturnal Uproar” (1979), “Seeking Asylum” (1979), “The Crying Woman” (1978), “The Little Wheedlers” (1978), “A Night All Cats Are Crazy” (1977), and “The Sweet Sickness” (1977).  (bio by: K)

María Fernanda Ladrón de Guevara (1897 - 1974)

Stage and Screen Actress. She was born and died in Madrid. She debuted on stage at the age of 17 in stage company of María Guerrero on the play “La Malquerida” of Jacinto Benavente, becoming a Lady of Spanish Stage. In 1922, she married to valencian actor Rafael Rivelles and formed their own stage company, […]

Sue Carol Ladd (1907 - 1982)

Actress. Wife of actor Alan Ladd.  She was 20 years old when she entered film work. Her first role was a bit part in “Soft Cushions” in 1927. Directors liked the way she took instruction and gave her a more substantial part later that year in “Slaves of Beauty.”   While she didn’t land the […]

Berta Labarga (1948 - 2003)

Spanish-born actress. She appeared in the film “Imagenes Del Deporte N’63” (1973). (bio by: K)

Violet La Plante (1908 - 1984)

Actress. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she was the sister of actress Laura La Plante and was known as Violet Avon during Hollywood’s silent film era. In 1923, she became a starlet member of the “WAMPAS Baby Star” troupe, making her screen debut in “Battling Buddy” (1924). For the next four years she appeared in […]

Laura La Plante (1904 - 1996)

Laura La Plante Beautiful silent film actress Laura La Plante was born Laura La Plant in St. Louis, Missouri on November 1st, 1904. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was a child and she was educated in the public schools there. At age 15 she broke into films, after being noticed for her […]

Rosemary La Planche (1923 - 1979)

Actress. She was crowned Miss America in 1941 and Miss California in 1940 and 1941. La Planche appeared in films including, “Golden Hands Of Kunigal” (1966), “Federal Agents vs. Underworld Inc.” (1949), “Betty Co-Ed” (1946), “Girl Rush” (1944), “Gildersleeve On Broadway” (1943), “Prairie Chickens” (1943), “Fall In” (1942), “Irene” (1940), “Mad About Music” (1938), and […]

Natalya Kustinskaya (1938 - 2012)

Actress. A pretty blonde, she will probably be best remembered as a sex kitten from several Soviet comedies of the 1960s. The child of a show business family, she was raised within the theatrical milieu, studied piano at the Gnessin Music School, and trained at the State Institute of Cinematography prior to her silver screen […]

Karyn “Cookie” Kupcinet (1941 - 1963)

Actress. She was murdered the week after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and many Kennedy Conspiracy theorists believe that she had been killed to silence her. Her murder has never been solved. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was the daughter of Chicago “Sun Times” columnist Irv Kupcinet.  She began her acting career playing summer […]

Suzanne Krull (1966 - 2013)

Actress. A noted character performer, she later became a respected screenwriter. Raised in New York City, she started writing while still a small child, attended Brooklyn’s South Shore High School, and after moving to Southern California graduated from Agoura High School. Suzanne returned to the Big Apple to study for two years at the American […]

Alma Kruger (1970 - 1960)

Actress. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she began her career performing on Broadway in 1907 and made her screen debut in “These Three” (1936). A veteran of more then forty films during the 1930s and 1940s, her credits included “Craig’s Wife” (1936), “The Great Waltz” (1938), “His Girl Friday” (1940), “Saboteur” (1942), “Babes on Swing Street” […]