Jean Parker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jean Parker (born Lois Mae Green; August 11, 1915 – November 30, 2005) was an American film and stage actress. She landed her first screen test while still in high school. She acted opposite such well-known actors as Katharine Hepburn, Robert Donat, Edward G. Robinson, Randolph Scott, and Laurel and Hardy. She was married four times and had one son, Robert Lowery Hanks.
Parker appeared in 70 movies from 1932 through 1966. In 1932, she posed as a flower girl and living poster in a float in the Tournament of Roses Parade, where she was seen by Ida Koverman, secretary to MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer. The following day the studio called her on the phone and invited her for a screen test.
Parker's film debut came in Divorce in the Family (1932). She had a successful career at MGM, RKO and Columbia including roles in such films as Little Women, Lady for a Day, Gabriel Over the White House, Limehouse Blues, The Ghost Goes West, and Rasputin and the Empress. In 1939, she starred opposite Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in RKO's The Flying Deuces.
Parker remained active in film throughout the 1940s, playing opposite Lon Chaney in Dead Man's Eyes, and a variety of other films. During World War II, she toured many of the veteran hospitals throughout the U.S. and performed on radio. In the 1950s, Parker co-starred opposite Edward G. Robinson in Black Tuesday; had a small but effective role in The Gunfighter, and appeared in A Lawless Street (1955). Her last film appearance was Apache Uprising (1966).
Parker also appeared on Broadway. In 1949, she replaced Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday on Broadway and enjoyed a successful run in this classic. She appeared on Broadway opposite Bert Lahr in the play Burlesque. She did summer stock in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, toured in the play Candlelight and Loco, and performed on stage in other professional productions. In 1954, Parker played the role of "Cattle Kate Watson of Wyoming" in an episode of the syndicated television series Stories of the Century, the first western program to win an Emmy Award. The series starred and was narrated by Jim Davis. Later in her career and life, Parker continued a successful stint on the West Coast theatre circuit and worked as an acting coach.
At age 83, Parker moved into the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, where she died of a stroke on November 30, 2005, at the age of 90. She was survived by her son, Robert, and granddaughters Katie and Nora Hanks. She was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.
Photos
Movies (74)
The Laurel & Hardy Story: An Affectionate Rememberence
1990 · Self (archive footage)
Cargo of Love
1968 · Denise
Apache Uprising
1965 · Mrs. Hawks
The Parson and the Outlaw
1957 · Sarah Jones
A Lawless Street
1955 · Cora Dean
Black Tuesday
1954 · Hatti Combest
Those Redheads from Seattle
1953 · Liz
Toughest Man in Arizona
1952 · Della
The Gunfighter
1950 · Molly
Rolling Home
1946 · Frances Crawford
Adventures of Kitty O'Day
1945 · Kitty O'Day
Dead Man's Eyes
1944 · Heather Hayden
One Body Too Many
1944 · Carol Dunlap
Bluebeard
1944 · Lucille
Oh, What a Night!
1944 · Valerie
Detective Kitty O'Day
1944 · Kitty O'Day
Lady in the Death House
1944 · Mary Kirk Logan
The Navy Way
1944 · Ellen Sayre
The Deerslayer
1943 · Judith Hutter
Minesweeper
1943 · Mary Smith
Alaska Highway
1943 · Ann Coswell
High Explosive
1943 · Connie Baker
The Traitor Within
1942 · Molly Betts
Wrecking Crew
1942 · Peggy Starr
Tomorrow We Live
1942 · Julie Bronson
Hi, Neighbor
1942 · Dorothy Greenfield
I Live on Danger
1942 · Susan Richards
Soaring Stars
1942 · Herself
Hello, Annapolis
1942 · Doris Henley
The Girl from Alaska
1942 · Mary 'Pete' McCoy
Torpedo Boat
1942 · Grace Holman
No Hands on the Clock
1941 · Mrs. Louise Campbell
The Pittsburgh Kid
1941 · Patricia Mallory
Flying Blind
1941 · Shirley Brooks
Power Dive
1941 · Carol Blake
Roar of the Press
1941 · Alice Williams
Young America Flies
1940 · Jane
Beyond Tomorrow
1940 · Jean Lawrence
Son of the Navy
1940 · Stevie Moore
Knights of the Range
1940 · Holly Ripple
The Flying Deuces
1939 · Georgette
Parents on Trial
1939 · Susan Wesley
Flight at Midnight
1939 · Maxine Scott
She Married a Cop
1939 · Linda Fay
Zenobia
1939 · Mary Tibbett
Romance of the Redwoods
1939 · June Martin
The Arkansas Traveler
1938 · Judy Allen
Romance of the Limberlost
1938 · Laurie
Penitentiary
1938 · Elizabeth Mathews
The Barrier
1937 · Necia Gale
Life Begins with Love
1937 · Carole Martin
The Texas Rangers
1936 · Amanda Bailey
The Farmer in the Dell
1936 · Adie Boyer
The Ghost Goes West
1935 · Peggy Martin
Murder in the Fleet
1935 · Betty Lansing
Princess O'Hara
1935 · Princess O'Hara
Sequoia
1935 · Toni Martin
Caravan
1934 · Timka
Limehouse Blues
1934 · Toni
A Wicked Woman
1934 · Rosanne Stroud, aka Rosanne Trice
Have a Heart
1934 · Sally Moore
Operator 13
1934 · Eleanor
Lazy River
1934 · Sarah Lescalle
You Can't Buy Everything
1934 · Elizabeth 'Beth' Burton Bell
Two Alone
1934 · Mazie
Little Women
1933 · Beth
Lady for a Day
1933 · Louise
What Price Innocence?
1933 · Ruth Harper
Storm at Daybreak
1933 · Danitza
Made on Broadway
1933 · Adele
Gabriel Over the White House
1933 · Alice Bronson
The Secret of Madame Blanche
1933 · Eloise
Rasputin and the Empress
1932 · Princess Maria (uncredited)
Divorce In The Family
1932 · Miss Lucile SmIth
