Loretta Young
Sweet, sweeter, sweetest. No combination of terms better describes the screen persona of lovely Loretta Young. A&E's Biography (1987) has stated that Young "remains a symbol of beauty, serenity, and grace. But behind the glamour and stardom is a woman of substance whose true beauty lies in her dedication to her family, her faith, and her quest to live life with a purpose." Loretta Young was born Gretchen Young in Salt Lake City, Utah on January 6, 1913, to Gladys (Royal) and John Earle Young. Her parents separated when Loretta was three years old. Her mother moved Loretta and her two older sisters to Southern California, where Mrs. Young ran a boarding house. When Loretta was 10, her mother married one of her boarders, George Belzer. They had a daughter, Georgianna, two years later. Loretta was appearing on screen as a child extra by the time she was four, joining her elder sisters, Polly Ann Young and Elizabeth Jane Young (later better known as Sally Blane), as child players. Mrs. Young's brother-in-law was an assistant director and got young Loretta a small role in the film The Only Way (1914). The role consisted of nothing more than a small, weeping child lying on an operating table. Later that year, she appeared in another small role, in The Primrose Ring (1917). The film starred Mae Murray, who was so taken with little Loretta that she offered to adopt her. Loretta lived with the Murrays for about a year and a half. In 1921, she had a brief scene in The Sheik (1921). Loretta and her sisters attended parochial schools, after which they helped their mother run the boarding house. In 1927, Loretta returned to films in a small part in Naughty But Nice (1927). Even at the age of fourteen, she was an ambitious actress. Changing her name to Loretta Young, letting her blond hair revert to its natural brown and with her green eyes, satin complexion and exquisite face, she quickly graduated from ingenue to leading lady. Beginning with her role as Denise Laverne in The Magnificent Flirt (1928), she shaped any character she took on with total dedication. In 1928, she received second billing in The Head Man (1928) and continued to toil in many roles throughout the '20s and '30s, making anywhere from six to nine films a year. Her two sisters were also actresses but were not as successful as Loretta, whose natural beauty was her distinct advantage. The 17-year-old Young made headlines in 1930 when she and Grant Withers, who was previously married and nine years her senior, eloped to Yuma, Arizona. They had both appeared in Warner Bros.' The Second Floor Mystery (1930). The marriage was annulled in 1931, the same year in which the pair would again co-star on screen in a film ironically titled Too Young to Marry (1931). By the mid-'30s, Loretta left First National Studios for rival Fox, where she had previously worked on a loan-out basis, and became one of the premier leading ladies of Hollywood. In 1935, she made The Call of the Wild (1935) with Clark Gable and it was thought they had an affair where Loretta got pregnant thereafter. Because of the strict morality clauses in their contracts - and the fact that Clark Gable was married - they could not tell anybody except Loretta's mother. Loretta and her mother left for Europe after filming on The Crusades finished. They returned in August 1935 to the United States, at which time Gladys Belzer announced Loretta's 'illness' to the press. Filming on Loretta's next film, Ramona, was also cancelled. During this time, Loretta was living in a small house in Venice, California, her mother rented. On November 6, 1935, Loretta delivered a healthy baby girl whom she named Judith. It wasn't until the 1990's when she was watching Larry King Live where she first heard the word 'date rape' and upon finding out exactly what it was, professed to her friend and biographer Edward Funk and her daughter in law Linda Lewis, that she had gone through the same with Clark Gable. "That's what happened between me and Clark." In 1938, Loretta starred as Sally Goodwin in Kentucky (1938), an outstanding success. Her co-star Walter Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Peter Goodwin. In 1940, Loretta married businessman Tom Lewis, and from then on her child was called Judy Lewis, although Tom Lewis never adopted her. Judy was brought up thinking that both parents had adopted her and did not know, until years later, that she was actually the biological daughter of Loretta and Clark Gable. Four years after her marriage to Tom Lewis, Loretta had a son, Christopher Lewis, and later another son, Peter Charles. In the 1940s, Loretta was still one of the most beautiful ladies in Hollywood. She reached the pinnacle of her career when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in The Farmer's Daughter (1947), the tale of a farm girl who rises through the ranks and becomes a congresswoman. It was a smash and today is her best remembered film. The same year, she starred in the delightful fantasy The Bishop's Wife (1947) with David Niven and Cary Grant. It was another box office success and continues to be a TV staple during the holiday season. In 1949, Loretta starred in the well-received film, Mother Is a Freshman (1949) with Van Johnson and Rudy Vallee and Come to the Stable (1949). The latter garnered Loretta her second Oscar nomination, but she lost to Olivia de Havilland in The Heiress (1949). In 1953, Loretta made It Happens Every Thursday (1953), which was to be her final big screen role. She retired from films in 1953 and began a second, equally successful career as hostess of Letter to Loretta (1953), a half-hour television drama anthology series which ran on NBC from September 1953 to September 1961. In addition to hosting the series, she frequently starred in episodes. Although she is most remembered for her stunning gowns and swirling entrances, over the broadcast's eight-year run she also showed again that she could act. She won Emmy awards for best actress in a dramatic series in 1954, 1956 and 1958. After the show ended, she took some time off before returning in 1962 with The New Loretta Young Show (1962), which was not so successful, lasting only one season. For the next 24 years, Loretta did not appear in any entertainment medium. Her final performance was in a made for TV film Lady in the Corner (1989). By 1960, Loretta was a grandmother. Her daughter Judy Lewis had married about three years before and had a daughter in 1959, whom they named Maria. Loretta and Tom Lewis divorced in the early 1960's. Loretta enjoyed retirement, sleeping late, visiting her son Chris and daughter-in-law Linda, and traveling. She and her friend Josephine Alicia Saenz, ex-wife of John Wayne, traveled to India and saw the Taj Mahal. In 1990, she became a great-grandmother when granddaughter Maria, daughter of Judy Lewis, gave birth to a boy. Loretta lived a quiet retirement in Palm Springs, California until her death on August 12, 2000 from ovarian cancer at the home of her sister Georgiana and Georgiana's husband, Ricardo Montalban.
Loretta Yu
Loretta Yu was born on December 22, 1982 in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. She is an actress and producer, known for Blood and Water (2015), Save Me (2017) and Between (2015).
Lorette Clow
Lorette Clow was born in Altona, Manitoba, Canada. She is an actress, known for Open Range (2003), A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride (2008) and The Great Fear (2016).
Lorette Dugardin
Lorette Dugardin is known for Madeleine Collins (2021) and Un ciel radieux (2017).
Lorette Nyssen
Lorette Nyssen is known for Acide (2023), Petite leçon d'amour (2021) and Tik Tok: A Long Goodbye.
Lorey Hayes
Lorey Hayes is known for Dignity (2020), Dreamgirls (2006) and The Last Ship (2014).
Lori Alan
Lori Alan, actor/writer/producer, started talking as soon as she fell out of the womb, and hasn't stopped since. A native of the Washington, DC area, her passion for entertaining led the five-year-old actress to make her television debut as the star of a Shakey's Pizza commercial. She went on to graduate with honors from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and set off cutting her teeth on the comedy circuit, as a longtime member of New York's Gotham City Improv (Groundlings East). Lori is perhaps best known for her award-winning voice-over work. Recently honored by her peers at the First Annual Voice Arts Awards (the Academy Awards for Voice-Overs) Lori took first-place prizes for Outstanding Body Of Work and Outstanding National Television Commercial. She starred as Diane Simmons on Family Guy, Pearl the Whale on SpongeBob: Squarepants, Sue Richards, The Invisible Woman, on Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four, and The Boss in the Metal Gear Solid video game trilogy. She's proud to be a part of the Pixar Family. Voicing characters in Wall-e, Monster's University, Bonnie's Mom in Pixar's Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, Minions, and Mother's Sadness in Inside Out. Lori has firm roots in theatre, where she's thrived for over three decades. She mounted a smash solo show, Lori Alan: The Musical, She had the honor of working with Paul Reubens in The Pee-wee Herman Show at Club Nokia. She originated the role of Mae in the award-winning musical Reefer Madness, the cult musical which just celebrated its 17 year reunion concert at 54 Below. Backstage West proclaimed, "Lori Alan might give Carol Burnett pause!" Luckily, that talent brought Lori right to the small screen. From roles on the gripping Showtime drama Ray Donovan, to the hilarious Comedy Central gem Workaholics, to the deliciously naughty Desperate Housewives. She delves deeply into her material, emerging with the power to make the audience laugh and cry in the same moment. Her television career has flourished with appearances on Bones, Southland, CSI, 90210, Grey's Anatomy, Law and Order (both LA and the original.) She now has a thriving voice over/on camera coaching practice to give back, as so many mentors did for her. Lori lives in Los Angeles with the love of her life, Sir Philip Bumble, her 4-legged, "soulmate" Bichon-Lhasas Apso mix, who was covered in gasoline when she rescued him at a mobile station. In the true spirit of activism, one of Lori's sole purposes is to fight for the end of the dog meat trade in the U.S. and Asia by raising awareness of the brutal and illegal trafficking of dogs. Lori also sits on the board of Pickle Pants Dog Rescue in Los Angeles, which focuses on rescuing, rehabbing, and re-homing animals otherwise set for death row from high kill shelters. Lori is a celebrity supporter of the Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) a national nonprofit organization working to end the use of animals for food through public education and grassroots activism. Her other hobbies include singing in the shower- or anywhere for that matter-, discovering new gluten-free cookies, and trying to switch to decaf.
Lori Allen Thomas
Lori Allen Thomas is an actress and producer, known for Cross Wars (2017), Harmonica (2015) and Powderkeg (2013).
Lori Alter
Lori Alter is an actress and writer, known for House at the End of the Street (2012), Power Play (1998) and The Cheetah Girls (2003). She has been married to William Laurin since August 3, 2003. They have two children.
Lori Ann Fuller
Born in Longview, Texas and raised in Bossier City, Louisiana, soprano Lori Ann Fuller has been performing on stage and screen her entire life. With Los Angeles Opera, Ms. Fuller won a Grammy Award for her role in Ghosts of Versailles, Best Opera Recording in 2016. Her first professional role was Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, performed in Park Ridge, Illinois. With the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Fuller performed the leading soprano role, Angela, in Kurt Weill's Firebrand of Florence. This performance, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, also stars Rodney Gilfry, Felicity Palmer, Lucy Schaufer, and George Dvorsky. It was released on CD by Capriccio Records in 2003. Ms. Fuller made her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Rose Maurrant in Kurt Weill's Street Scene in October 2001, alongside Catherine Malfitano, Dean Peterson, Gregory Turay, and Timothy Nolan, with David Pountney directing, and Richard Buckley conducting. She also performed a concert version of Street Scene at Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, singing the same role, conducted by Barry Wordsworth with the BBC Concert Orchestra. Since these prestigious debuts in London and Chicago, Ms. Fuller has performed several roles all around the US, including Madame Goldentrill and Mrs. Gobineau in a double bill of Mozart's Impresario and Menotti's The Medium with Portland Opera Repertory Theater (ME), Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with Pine Mountain Music Festival (MI), Zorika in Lehar's Gypsy Love with Light Opera Works (IL), Gilda in Rigoletto with l'opera piccola (IL), and Violetta in La traviata with Pacific Repertory Opera, now called Opera San Luis Obispo (CA) and also Antelope Valley Opera (CA). With Alternative Opera Theater (CA), she performed the leading roles in a double bill of Menotti's The Telephone and Hugo Weisgall's The Stronger. Other career highlights include Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'Amore performed in Sant'Angelo in Vado, Italy, Marian Paroo in Willson's Music Man (CA), and Josephine in HMS Pinafore (CA). In 2010, Ms. Fuller performed the role of Suckley in the world premiere opera The First Lady, composed by Kenneth Wells, conducted by Stephen Karr. Since making Southern California home base, Ms. Fuller has had great opportunity performing with Los Angeles Opera in numerous capacities. Her LA Opera mainstage productions include Maiden in Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (2006), starring Patti LuPone, Audra MacDonald, and Anthony Dean Griffey, Jano in Janacek's Jenufa (2007), starring Karita Mattila, Lover in Il Tabarro, starring Mark Delevan, and Cercatrice in Suor Angelica (2009), starring Sondra Radvanovsky, and various roles in the Grammy Award Winning Opera, Ghosts of Versailles (2015). All of these productions were conducted by James Conlon. Also for LA Opera, Ms. Fuller has performed concerts and recitals for LA Opera for Educators, LA Opera Leagues, LA Opera Ring Festival, Hispanics for LA Opera, and many donor benefits. In 2007, Ms. Fuller debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, performing the Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 by Heitor Villa-Lobos, conducted by Joana Carneiro. Additionally, on the concert stage, Ms. Fuller has performed as soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah, Stravinsky's Les Noces, Haydn's The Creation, Faure's Requiem, Vivaldi's Gloria, Bach's Cantatas No. 6 and 51, Mozart's Concert Arias K. 369 and K. 583. In 2010, she debuted with Orchestra Unleashed, singing the world premiere of Abide With Me, composed and conducted by Gustav Hoyer. She has performed as featured soprano soloist with the Longview Opera (TX), and in California, the Mozart Festival in San Luis Obispo, Verdi Chorus, Hollywood Master Chorale, Bach's Lunch Recital Series, and Live at the Lounge in Hermosa Beach. Ms. Fuller studied voice at Centenary College of Louisiana before transferring and graduating with the Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. After graduation, she moved to Chicago, where she studied and completed her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance at DePaul University. In addition to her performing life on stage, Ms Fuller enjoys working in front of and behind the camera. She is co-founder of Project Blackfish Productions (along with her husband, actor, writer, and director Mike "Pish" Piscioneri).