Laurette Luez

Laurette Luez (born Loretta Mary Luiz; August 19, 1928 – September 12, 1999) was an American supporting actress and successful commercial model who appeared in films and on television during a 20-year career. She was a widely known Hollywood celebrity during the 1950s, owing much to publicity about her social life. She is best known for her supporting role as photographic model Marla Rakubian in Rudolph Maté's 1950 film noir D.O.A..

Early life Luez was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the second of three children to Frank and Francesca Luiz (née Clancy), vaudeville singers and dancers who performed traditional Hawaiian and Spanish music. Luez's father was from Hawaii and had Portuguese ancestry. Her mother was Australian, the daughter of an actor. Luez first showed up on stage doing a hula dance at age three. In July 1935 the family left Honolulu on the to settle in Los Angeles. That same year, six-year-old Loretta performed for Sultan Ibrahim of Johor, who was known as one of the wealthiest men in the world at that time. She also was a regular on The Donald O'Connor Show (1954–1955).

Luez left the film industry in 1965.

Marriages Actor Philip Sudano (August 16, 1947, Los Angeles, California; divorced 1948), with whom she had her first son, Alexander Eden. Greek director Gregg Tallas (1950, Las Vegas, Nevada; the marriage lasted three months, from June to September 1950); at the time Tallas said he hoped to open a production company in Greece featuring Luez as his star. Real estate investor Edward A. Harrison (October 30, 1951, "secretly" in Tijuana, Mexico; annulled early 1952). Luez claimed Harrison had not divorced his former wife and also said he threatened both her life and film career. Robert Creel (1956; divorced 1983), with whom she had two children, a son, Craig T. (born September 14, 1962, Los Angeles) and a daughter, Claudette M. (born May 1, 1968, Los Angeles).

Filmography