Lola Albright | |
|---|---|
 Albright as Edie Hart inPeter Gunn, 1959 | |
| Born | Lois Jean Albright (1924-07-20)July 20, 1924 Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | March 23, 2017(2017-03-23) (aged 92) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Actress, singer, model |
| Years active | 1947–1984 |
| Spouses | |
| Signature | |
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Lola Jean Albright (July 20, 1924 – March 23, 2017) was an American singer and actress, best known for playing the sultry singer Edie Hart, the girlfriend of private eye Peter Gunn, on all three seasons of the TV seriesPeter Gunn.
Albright was born on July 20, 1924, inAkron, Ohio. Her mother was Marion A. (née Harvey) and her father was John Paul Albright, both of whom were gospel music singers. Lola's mother also was born in Ohio but her father was a native ofNorth Dakota, who in 1930 supported the family by working as an inspector in a local insulating business.[1][2]
Albright attended King Grammar School and was graduated from West High School in Akron in 1942.[3][4] She sang in public at a young age and studied piano for 20 years. Beginning when she was 15 years old, she worked after school as a receptionist at radio stationWAKR in Akron.[5] She left WAKR at the age of 18 and moved to Cleveland, taking a job as a stenographer atWTAM radio. Her first radio performance came onWJW in Cleveland.[3] Moving toChicago, she worked as a photographer's model and was discovered by a talent scout, which led to her moving to Hollywood at the age of 23.[6]
Albright made her motion-picture debut with a small singing role in the 1947 musical comedyThe Unfinished Dance, and then appeared the following year in twoJudy Garland movies:The Pirate andEaster Parade. She first gained studio and public notice in the 1949film noir productionChampion with her portrayal of the wife of a manipulative boxing manager; she falls for a prizefighter played byKirk Douglas.[7] For the next several years, she appeared in secondary roles in over 20 films, including severalBWesterns. Among them was a co-starring role in the slapstick comedyThe Good Humor Man in 1950 with future husbandJack Carson.
Some of the films in which Albright appeared wereTulsa (1949), starringSusan Hayward;The Silver Whip (1953), in which she playedDale Robertson's love interest; andThe Tender Trap (1955), in which she was one of several women trying to trap a bachelor, played byFrank Sinatra, into marriage.
In the early 1950s, Albright was also a frequent model for pinup painterGil Elvgren.[8]
In 1961, she starred inAlexander Singer'sA Cold Wind in August – a low-budget, black-and-white, independent film – as a divorcedburlesque showstripper in her 30s who becomes involved in a torrid romance with a 17-year-old boy.[7] CriticPauline Kael offered high praise for Albright's performance.[9] In 1985,The New York Times also lauded Albright's acting in the film.[10] With respect to her personal assessment of her role inA Cold Wind in August, Albright said in 1961, "Some people come up to me and say, 'Lola, you shouldn't play that kind of part. It isn't you.' Well, I count to 10, bite my tongue, and then tell them that I'm an actress: I don't want to play myself."[11]
Her performance inA Cold Wind in August gave fresh impetus to her film career, leading to roles inElvis Presley's musicalKid Galahad in 1962, in which she played the hard-boiled, long-time girlfriend of a cynical boxing manager played byGig Young, and in French directorRené Clément'sJoy House as a wealthy widow with a passion for handing out meals to the poor (albeit with an ulterior motive). InLord Love a Duck (1966) she portrayed a cocktail waitress who turns suicidal when she thinks she has ruined her daughterTuesday Weld's life. The next year, she was in the Western epicThe Way West.
She gave up her feature-film career in 1968 after completing her work inThe Impossible Years, a generation-gap farce in which she performed as Alice Kingsley, the despairing wife of a professor of psychiatry played byDavid Niven and the mother of two teenaged daughters.[7]
Unlike other film actors who were slow to begin acting in television, Albright was actively working in the medium from 1951. She appeared on theanthology seriesLux Video Theatre in the episode "Inside Story".[3] Later she had a recurring role onThe Bob Cummings Show in the 1950s, and made guest appearances on television series such asAlfred Hitchcock Presents,Tales of Tomorrow (episode - All the Time in the World),The Thin Man,Gunsmoke,Rawhide,Laredo,Burke's Law,The Dick Van Dyke Show,My Three Sons,The Beverly Hillbillies,Bonanza (two episodes, including S6 E21 "The Search" 1965),The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,Medical Center,Kojak,Columbo,McMillan & Wife,Quincy, M.E.,Starsky & Hutch,The Incredible Hulk, andBranded.
In 1958, Albright was cast inPeter Gunn, the television detective series produced byBlake Edwards and scored byHenry Mancini. She played sultry Edie Hart, a nightclub singer and the romantic interest of Peter Gunn (Craig Stevens). "She was perfect casting for that role because she had an off-the-cuff kind of jazz delivery that was very hard to find," Mancini said in 1992. "Just enough to believe that she'd be singing in that club and that she shouldn't be on Broadway or doing movies."[11] Over the course of 114 episodes produced forPeter Gunn, Albright sang in 38 of them, covering jazz classics such as "How High the Moon",[7] "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", "Easy Street", and "Day In, Day Out".
When actressDorothy Malone had to undergo emergency surgery, Albright filled in for her as the characterConstance MacKenzie on the primetime soap operaPeyton Place. At the time, Albright called the role "one of the biggest challenges of my theatrical career."[12] She continued to perform in films and to make guest appearances on television until her retirement in 1984.[7]
Columbia Records signed Albright as a vocalist, leading to the release of her albumLola Wants You in 1957.[5][13] Albright's subsequent role onPeter Gunn and her performances singing on that series led directly to her second album,Dreamsville (1959), which was arranged by Henry Mancini and featured his orchestra.[14] Albright is one of the few nonmovie-soundtrack singers for whom Mancini arranged.
In 1959, Albright was nominated for theEmmy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series for her work onPeter Gunn.[15] In 1966, she won theSilver Bear for Best Actress award at the16th Berlin International Film Festival for her role inLord Love a Duck.[16]
Albright married and divorced three times. Her first marriage, to Cleveland radio announcer Warren K. Deem, occurred in 1944. They divorced in 1949. From 1951 to 1958, her second husband was actorJack Carson, who had been her co-star inThe Good Humor Man (1950). (Another source says that they married August 1, 1952, and divorced November 10, 1958.)[3] Albright was married to musician Bill Chadney, who played her pianist at the bar called Mother's onPeter Gunn, from 1961 to 1971.[17]
Following her retirement from acting in the early 1980s, Albright spent her remaining years living inToluca Lake, Los Angeles. In 2014, she fell and fractured her spine, an injury that contributed to a general decline in her health over the next three years. On March 23, 2017, Albright died at her home at the age of 92.[2][18]
Short subjects:
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Lux Video Theatre | Jennifer | Season 1 Episode 38: "Inside Story" |
| Lux Video Theatre | Miriam | Season 2 Episode 13: "Stolen Years" | |
| Armstrong Circle Theatre | Season 1 Episode 39: "Twenty-One Days" | ||
| 1952 | All Star Revue | Guest vocalist | Episode: "2.24" |
| Tales of Tomorrow | Carol Williams | Season 1 Episode 38: "The Miraculous Serum" | |
| 1953 | Racket Squad | Nancy Metcalfe | Season 3 Episode 16: "The System" |
| 1954 | Fireside Theatre | Joyce | Season 6 Episode 32: "Invitation to Marriage" |
| The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse | Jane | Season 1 Episode 28: "Borrow My Car" | |
| Duffy's Tavern | Sherry | Season 1 Episode 20: "Archie Faces Marriage" | |
| Adventures of the Falcon | Season 1 Episode 23: "The Golden Phony" | ||
| 1955 | The Bob Cummings Show | Kay Michaels | (Season 2 Episode 3: "Bob Meets Fonda's Sister"), (Season 2 Episode 4: "Too Many Cooks"), (Season 2 Episode 5: "Bob Falls in Love"), (Season 2 Episode 6: "Hawaii Calls"), and (Season 2 Episode 9: "Wedding, Wedding, Who's Having a Wedding?") |
| Screen Directors Playhouse | Nancy Wheeler | Season 1 Episode 4: "Arroyo" | |
| It's a Great Life | Marilyn | Season 2 Episode 9: "Double Date" | |
| Gunsmoke | Lucy Hunt | Season 1 Episode 13: "Reed Survives" | |
| 1956 | The Bob Cummings Show | Kay Michaels | Season 2 Episode 16: "The Letter" |
| Four Star Playhouse | Beverly Hudson | Season 4 Episode 18: "No Limit" | |
| The People's Choice | Dancer | Season 1 Episode 31: "Sock, the Budget Balancer" | |
| Celebrity Playhouse | Season 1 Episode 39: "Girl at Large" | ||
| The Red Skelton Hour | Guest (as herself) | Season 5 Episode 15: "Willie Resists Girls" | |
| The Red Skelton Hour | Priscilla | Season 6 Episode 7: "The First Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims" | |
| 1957 | The Bob Cummings Show | Kay Michaels | Season 3 Episode 32: "Bob Calls Kay's Bluff" |
| The Red Skelton Hour | Foreign Spy | Season 7 Episode 8: "Bolivar the Repairman" | |
| Code 3 | Carol | Season 1 Episode 38: "Sunset Strip" | |
| 1958 | The Thin Man | Katherine West | Season 1 Episode 29: "The Tennis Champ" |
| Panic! | Karen Adams | Season 2 Episode 12: "Fingerprints" | |
| Target | Season 1 Episode 39: "The Jewel Thief" | ||
| Peter Gunn | Edie Hart | Episodes: "The Kill", "Streetcar Jones", "The Vicious Dog", "The Blind Pianist", "The Frog", "Lynn's Blues", "Rough Buck", "Image of Sally", "The Man with the Scar", "The Torch", "The Leaper". | |
| 1959 | Peter Gunn | Edie Hart | Episodes: "The Fuse", "Let's Kill Timothy", "Murder on the Midway", "Pecos Pete", "Scuba", "Edie Finds a Corpse", "The Ugly Frame", "The Lederer Story", "Breakout", "Skin Deep", "February Girl", "Love Me to Death", "The Family Affair", "Lady Windbell's Fan", "Bullet for a Badge", "Kill from Nowhere", "Vendetta", "The Coffin", "The Portrait", "Protection", "Crisscross", "Edge of the Knife", "Death Is a Red Rose", "The Feathered Doll", "Kidnap", "The Rifle", "The Game", "The Price Is Murder", "The Briefcase", "The Wolfe Case". |
| 1960 | Peter Gunn | Edie Hart | Episodes: "Hot Money", "Spell of Murder", "Sentenced", "The Hunt", "Sing a Song of Murder", "The Long, Long Ride", "The Deadly Proposition", "The Murder Clause", "The Dummy", "Slight Touch of Homicide", "Wings of an Angel", "Death Watch", "Witness in the Window", "Send a Thief", "The Semi-Private Eye", "The Heiress", "Baby Shoes", "The Passenger", "The Maître d'", "The Candidate", "The Judgement", "The Death Frame", "Death Across the Board", "The Long Green Kill", "Take Five for Murder", "Dream Big", "Dream Deadly", "Sepi". |
| Michael Shayne | Marie Leonard | Season 1 Episode 4: "Framed in Blood" | |
| 1961 | Peter Gunn | Edie Hart | Episodes: "The Royal Roust", "Bullet in Escrow", "I Know It's Murder", "A Kill and a Half", "The Deep End", "Portrait in Leather", "Come Dance with Me and Die", "Cry Love, Cry Murder", "A Penny Saved", "Short a Motive", "The Most Deadly Angel", "Till Death Do Us Part", "Death Is a Four Letter Word", "Deadly Intrusion", "Voodoo", "Murder on the Line". |
| The United States Steel Hour | Season 8 Episode 20: "Famous" | ||
| King of Diamonds | Margie Howard | Season 1 Episode 1: "The Wizard of Ice" | |
| The Detectives | Edna Craven | Season 3 Episode 11: "The Queen of Craven Point" | |
| Adventures in Paradise | Nita Graham | Season 3 Episode 10: "One Way Ticket" | |
| General Electric Theater | Cathy Armstrong | Season 10 Episode 4: "Cat in the Cradle" | |
| 1962 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Lisa | Season 7 Episode 18: "The Woman Who Wanted to Live" |
| Saints and Sinners | Emily Fielder | Season 1 Episode 1: "Dear George, the Siamese Cat Is Missing" | |
| My Three Sons | Paulette Francis | Season 3 Episode 14: "Going Steady" | |
| The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Ruth Burke | Season 1 Episode 9: "The Black Curtain" | |
| 1963 | The Beverly Hillbillies | Gloria Buckles | Season 1 Episode 27: "Granny's Spring Tonic" |
| The Third Man | Edie | Episode: "The Way of McEagle" | |
| The Eleventh Hour | Lillian Marnell | Season 2 Episode 1: "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" | |
| Burke's Law | Shirley Mills | Season 1 Episode 4: "Who Killed Harris Crown?" | |
| 1964 | Burke's Law | Jennifer Carlisle | Season 1 Episode 27: "Who Killed WHO IV?" |
| Burke's Law | Eve Chapin | Season 2 Episode 3: "Who Killed Cassandra Cass?" | |
| The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Eva Martin | Season 3 Episode 8: "Misadventure" | |
| The Dick Van Dyke Show | Paula Marshall | Season 3 Episode 24: "How to Spank a Star" | |
| Dr. Kildare | Gertrude Carey | Season 3 Episode 29: "A Nickel's Worth of Prayer" | |
| Rawhide | Maribelle Ashton-Warner | Season 6 Episode 25: "Incident of the Banker" | |
| Mr. Broadway | Duff Daniels | Season 1 Episode 11: "Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones" | |
| Wagon Train | Leonora Parkman | Season 8 Episode 8: "Those Who Stay Behind" | |
| 1965 | Burke's Law | Peggy Frost | Season 2 Episode 17: "Who Killed Mother Goose?" |
| Burke's Law | DeeDee Booker | Season 2 Episode 27: "Who Killed Nobody Somehow?" | |
| Laredo | Lilah Evans | Season 1 Episode 17: "Above the Law" | |
| Will Banner | TV movie | ||
| Rawhide | Lottie Denton | Season 7 Episode 30: "The Gray Rock Hotel" | |
| Branded | Ann Williams | Season 2 Episode 3: "Mightier Than the Sword" | |
| Bonanza | Ann | Season 6 Episode 21: "The Search" | |
| Peyton Place | Constance Mackenzie Carson | Episodes: "2.39", "2.40","2.41" (credit only), "2.42", "2.43" (credit only), "2.44", "2.45", "2.46" (credit only), "2.47", "2.48" (credit only). | |
| 1966 | Peyton Place | Constance Mackenzie Carson | Episodes: "2.49", "2.50" (credit only), "2.51" (credit only), "2.52". |
| Branded | Ann Williams | Season 2 Episode 31: "Cowards Die Many Times" | |
| Branded | Ann Williams | Season 2 Episode 32: "Kellie" | |
| Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Edith Woodland | Season 3 Episode 21: "Runaway Boy" | |
| 1967 | How I Spent My Summer Vacation | Mrs. Pine | TV movie |
| Bonanza | Dolly Bantree | Season 8 Episode 18: "A Bride for Buford" | |
| Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Vickie Tate | Season 4 Episode 25: "To Sleep, Perchance to Scream" | |
| The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Azalea | (Season 4 Episode 4: The Prince of Darkness Affair: Part I) and (Season 4 Episode 5: The Prince of Darkness Affair: Part II) (Released in 1968 as the feature-length filmThe Helicopter Spies) | |
| Ready and Willing | Wilma O'Brien | TV movie | |
| Cimarron Strip | Stacey Houston | Season 1 Episode 11: "The Beast That Walks Like a Man" | |
| 1972 | Medical Center | Madeline Barris | Season 4 Episode 3: "Condemned" |
| 1973 | The ABC Afternoon Playbreak | Mary Fiske | Season 1 Episode 5: "My Secret Mother" |
| Kojak | Celia Lamb | Season 1 Episode 7: "The Corrupter" | |
| 1974 | Medical Center | Grace | Season 5 Episode 16: "No Escape" |
| 1975 | The Nurse Killer | Hannah | TV movie |
| Police Story | Minnie | Season 3 Episode 2: "The Cutting Edge" | |
| 1976 | McMillan & Wife | Nurse Fisher | Season 5 Episode 5: "The Deadly Cure" |
| Starsky and Hutch | Lola Turkel | Season 1 Episode 22: "Bounty Hunter" | |
| Columbo | Clare Daley | Season 6 Episode 1: "Fade in to Murder" | |
| 1977 | Delta County, U.S.A. | Dossie Wilson | TV movie |
| Terraces | Dorothea Cabe | TV movie | |
| 1978 | Switch | Millie Tate | Season 3 Episode 12: "Who Killed Lila Craig?" |
| 1981 | The Incredible Hulk | Elizabeth Collins | (Season 4 Episode 12: "The First") and (Season 4 Episode 13: "The First: Part II") |
| 1983 | Quincy M.E. | Liz McKenna | Season 8 Episode 19: "Murder on Ice" |
| 1984 | Airwolf | Beatrice Moretti | Season 2 Episode 6: "Sins of the Past" (final television appearance) |
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