Lola Albright
Lola Jean Albright 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 series Peter Gunn.
Early years
Albright was born in Akron, Ohio, to Marion A. and John Paul Albright, both of whom were gospel music singers. Lola's mother also was born in Ohio but her father was a native of North Dakota, who in 1930 supported the family by working as an inspector in a local insulating business.Albright attended King Grammar School and graduated from West High School in Akron in 1942. 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 station WAKR in Akron. She left WAKR at the age of 18 and moved to Cleveland, taking a job as a stenographer at WTAM radio. Her first radio performance came on WJW in Cleveland. Moving to Chicago, 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.
Film
Albright made her motion picture debut with a small singing role in the 1947 musical comedy The Unfinished Dance and then appeared the following year in two Judy Garland movies: The Pirate and Easter Parade. She first gained studio and public notice in the 1949 film noir production Champion with her portrayal of the wife of a manipulative boxing manager; she falls for a prizefighter played by Kirk Douglas. For the next several years, she appeared in secondary roles in over 20 films, including several B westerns. Among them was a co-starring role in the slapstick comedy The Good Humor Man in 1950 with future husband Jack Carson.Some of the films in which Albright appeared were Tulsa, starring Susan Hayward; The Silver Whip, in which she played the love interest of Dale Robertson; and The Tender Trap, in which she was one of several women trying to trap a bachelor, played by Frank Sinatra, into marriage.
In the early 1950s, Albright was also a frequent model for pinup painter Gil Elvgren.
''A Cold Wind in August''
In 1961, she starred in Alexander Singer's A Cold Wind in Augusta low-budget, black-and-white, independent filmas a divorced burlesque show stripper in her 30s who becomes involved in a torrid romance with a 17-year-old boy. Critic Pauline Kael offered high praise for Albright's performance. In 1985, The New York Times also lauded Albright's acting in the film. With respect to her personal assessment of her role in A 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."Later films
Her performance in A Cold Wind in August gave fresh impetus to her film career, leading to roles in Elvis Presley's musical Kid Galahad in 1962, in which she played the hard-boiled, long-time girlfriend of a cynical boxing manager played by Gig Young; and in French director René Clément's Joy House as a wealthy widow with a passion for handing out meals to the poor. In Lord Love a Duck she portrayed a cocktail waitress who turns suicidal when she thinks she has ruined her daughter Tuesday Weld's life. The next year she was in the Western epic The Way West.She gave up her feature-film career in 1968 after completing her work in The Impossible Years, a generation-gap farce in which she performed as Alice Kingsley, the despairing wife of a professor of psychiatry played by and the mother of two teenage daughters.
Television
Unlike other film actors who were slow to begin acting in television, Albright was actively working in the medium from 1951. She appeared on the anthology series Lux Video Theatre in the episode "Inside Story". Later she had a recurring role on The Bob Cummings Show in the 1950s and made guest appearances on television series such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Thin Man, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Laredo, Burke's Law, The Dick Van Dyke Show, My Three Sons, The Beverly Hillbillies, Bonanza, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Medical Center, Kojak, Columbo, McMillan & Wife, Quincy, M.E., Starsky & Hutch, The Incredible Hulk and Branded.In 1958, Albright was cast in Peter Gunn, the television detective series produced by Blake Edwards and scored by Henry Mancini. She played sultry Edie Hart, a nightclub singer and the romantic interest of Peter Gunn. "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." Over the course of 114 episodes produced for Peter Gunn, Albright sang in 38 of them, covering jazz classics such as "How High the Moon", "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", "Easy Street", and "Day In, Day Out".
When actress Dorothy Malone had to undergo emergency surgery, Albright filled in for her as the character Constance MacKenzie on the prime-time soap opera Peyton Place. At the time, Albright called the role "one of the biggest challenges of my theatrical career." She continued to perform in films and to make guest appearances on television until her retirement in 1984.
Music
signed Albright as a vocalist, leading to the release of her album Lola Wants You in 1957. Albright's subsequent role on Peter Gunn and her performances singing on that series led directly to her second album Dreamsville, which was arranged by Henry Mancini and featured his orchestra. Albright is one of the few non movie-soundtrack singers for whom Mancini arranged.Recognition
In 1959, Albright was nominated for the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series for her work on Peter Gunn. In 1966, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award at the 16th Berlin International Film Festival for her role in Lord Love a Duck.Personal life
Albright married and divorced three times, having no children of her own. Her first marriage, to Cleveland radio announcer Warren Dean, occurred in 1944. They divorced in 1949. Her second husband was actor Jack Carson. Her third marriage was to Bill Chadney, who played Emmett, the piano player on Peter Gunn. They married on May 19, 1961 and divorced in 1975.Following her retirement from acting, Albright spent her remaining years living in Toluca Lake, California. 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 of natural causes at the age of 92.
Filmography
Short subjects:- The Soundman
- Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Cowboy Stars
- Filmmaking on the Riviera
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1951 | Lux Video Theatre | Jennifer | Episode: "Inside Story" |
| 1951 | Lux Video Theatre | Miriam | Episode: "Stolen Years" |
| 1951 | Armstrong Circle Theatre | Episode: "Twenty-One Days" | |
| 1952 | All Star Revue | Guest vocalist | Episode: "2.24" |
| 1952 | Tales of Tomorrow | Carol Williams | Episode: "The Miraculous Serum" |
| 1953 | Racket Squad | Nancy Metcalfe | Episode: "The System" |
| 1954 | Fireside Theatre | Joyce | Episode: "Invitation to Marriage" |
| 1954 | The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse | Jane | Episode: "Borrow My Car" |
| 1954 | Duffy's Tavern | Episode: Archie Faces Marriage | |
| 1954 | Adventures of the Falcon | Episode: "The Golden Phony" | |
| 1955 | The Bob Cummings Show | Kay Michaels | Episodes: "Bob Meets Fonda's Sister", "Too Many Cooks", "Bob Falls in Love", "Hawaii Calls" and "Wedding, Wedding, Who's Having a Wedding?" |
| 1955 | Screen Directors Playhouse | Nancy Wheeler | Episode: "Arroyo" |
| 1955 | It's a Great Life | Marilyn | Episode: "Double Date" |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke | Lucy Hunt | Episode: "Reed Survives" |
| 1956 | The Bob Cummings Show | Kay Michaels | Episode: "The Letter" |
| 1956 | Four Star Playhouse | Beverly Hudson | Episode: "No Limit" |
| 1956 | The People's Choice | Dancer | Episode: "Sock, the Budget Balancer" |
| 1956 | Celebrity Playhouse | Episode: "Girl at Large" | |
| 1956 | The Red Skelton Hour | Guest | Episode: "Willie Resists Girls" |
| 1956 | The Red Skelton Hour | Priscilla | Episode: "The First Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims" |
| 1957 | The Bob Cummings Show | Kay Michaels | Episode: "Bob Calls Kay's Bluff" |
| 1957 | The Red Skelton Hour | Foreign Spy | Episode: "Bolivar the Repairman" |
| 1957 | Code 3 | Carol | Episode: "Sunset Strip" |
| 1958 | The Thin Man | Katherine West | Episode: "The Tennis Champ" |
| 1958 | Panic! | Karen Adams | Episode: "Fingerprints" |
| 1958 | Target | Episode: "The Jewel Thief " | |
| 1958 | 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". |
| 1960 | Michael Shayne | Marie Leonard | Episode: "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". |
| 1961 | The United States Steel Hour | Episode: "Famous" | |
| 1961 | King of Diamonds | Margie Howard | Episode: "The Wizard of Ice" |
| 1961 | The Detectives | Edna Craven | Episode: "The Queen of Craven Point" |
| 1961 | Adventures in Paradise | Nita Graham | Episode: "One Way Ticket" |
| 1961 | General Electric Theater | Cathy Armstrong | Episode: "Cat in the Cradle" |
| 1962 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Lisa | Episode: "The Woman Who Wanted to Live" |
| 1962 | Saints and Sinners | Emily Fielder | Episode: "Dear George, the Siamese Cat Is Missing" |
| 1962 | My Three Sons | Paulette Francis | Episode: "Going Steady" |
| 1962 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Ruth Burke | Episode: "The Black Curtain" |
| 1963 | The Beverly Hillbillies | Gloria Buckles | Episode: "Granny's Spring Tonic" |
| 1963 | The Third Man | Edie | Episode: "The Way of McEagle" |
| 1963 | The Eleventh Hour | Lillian Marnell | Episode: " Cold Hands, Warm Heart" |
| 1963 | Burke's Law | Shirley Mills | Episode: "Who Killed Harris Crown?" |
| 1964 | Burke's Law | Jennifer Carlisle | Episode: "Who Killed WHO IV?" |
| 1964 | Burke's Law | Eve Chapin | Episode: " Who Killed Cassandra Cass?" |
| 1964 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Eva Martin | Episode: "Misadventure" |
| 1964 | The Dick Van Dyke Show | Paula Marshall | Episode: "How to Spank a Star" |
| 1964 | Dr. Kildare | Gertrude Carey | Episode: "A Nickel's Worth of Prayer" |
| 1964 | Rawhide | Maribelle Ashton-Warner | Episode: "Incident of the Banker" |
| 1964 | Mr. Broadway | Duff Daniels | Episode: "Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones" |
| 1964 | Wagon Train | Leonora Parkman | Episode: " Those Who Stay Behind" |
| 1965 | Burke's Law | Peggy Frost | Episode: "Who Killed Mother Goose?" |
| 1965 | Burke's Law | DeeDee Booker | Episode: "Who Killed Nobody Somehow?" |
| 1965 | Laredo | Lilah Evans | Episode: "Above the Law" |
| 1965 | Will Banner | TV Movie' | |
| 1965 | Rawhide | Lottie Denton | Episode: "The Gray Rock Hotel" |
| 1965 | Branded | Ann Williams | Episode: "Mightier Than the Sword" |
| 1965 | Bonanza | Ann | Episode: "The Search" |
| 1965 | Peyton Place | Constance Mackenzie Carson | Episodes: "2.39", "2.40","2.41", "2.42", "2.43", "2.44", "2.45", "2.46", "2.47", "2.48". |
| 1966 | Peyton Place | Constance Mackenzie Carson | Episodes: "2.49", "2.50", "2.51", "2.52". |
| 1966 | Branded | Ann Williams | Episodes: "Kellie" and "Cowards Die Many Times". |
| 1966 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Edith Woodland | Episode: "Runaway Boy" |
| 1967 | How I Spent My Summer Vacation | Mrs. Pine | TV Movie |
| 1967 | Bonanza | Dolly Bantree | Episode: "A Bride for Buford" |
| 1967 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Vickie Tate | Episode: "To Sleep, Perchance to Scream" |
| 1967 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Azalea | Episodes: The Prince of Darkness Affair: Parts I and II. Released in 1968 as the feature-length film The Helicopter Spies. |
| 1967 | Ready and Willing | Wilma O'Brien | TV Movie |
| 1967 | Cimarron Strip | Stacey Houston | Episode: "The Beast That Walks Like a Man" |
| 1972 | Medical Center | Madeline Barris | Episode: " Condemned" |
| 1973 | The ABC Afternoon Playbreak | Mary Fiske | Episode: "My Secret Mother" |
| 1973 | Kojak | Celia Lamb | Episode: "The Corrupter" |
| 1974 | Medical Center | Grace | Episode: "No Escape" |
| 1975 | The Nurse Killer | Hannah | TV Movie |
| 1975 | Police Story | Minnie | Episode: "The Cutting Edge" |
| 1976 | McMillan & Wife | Nurse Fisher | Episode: "The Deadly Cure" |
| 1976 | Starsky and Hutch | Lola Turkel | Episode: "Bounty Hunter" |
| 1976 | Columbo | Clare Daley | Episode: "Fade in to Murder" |
| 1977 | Delta County, U.S.A. | Dossie Wilson | TV Movie |
| 1977 | Terraces | Dorothea Cabe | TV Movie |
| 1978 | Switch | Millie Tate | Episodes: "Who Killed Lila Craig?" |
| 1981 | The Incredible Hulk | Elizabeth Collins | Episodes: "The First Parts 1 and 2" |
| 1983 | Quincy M.E. | Liz McKenna | Episode: "Murder on Ice" |
| 1984 | Airwolf | Beatrice Moretti | Episode: "Sins of the Past", |