Nola Luxford

Nola Luxford (born Adelaide Minola Pratt; 23 December 1895 – 10 October 1994) was a New Zealand-born American film actress, spanning from the silent film era to the 1930s. During the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she was also a writer and pioneer broadcaster, providing a daily radio programme for audiences in Australia and New Zealand.

Early life Luxford was born as Adelaide Minola Pratt in Hunterville, New Zealand, on 23 December 1895, and raised in Hastings. She was the eldest of three children of Adelaide Agnes McGonagle, a schoolteacher, and Ernest Augustus Pratt, a draper, who also operated and owned a bookstore, Luxford was interested in performance from a young age, learning the piano and taking part in repertory productions. She made six film appearances between 1932 and 1935, with the only credited ones of any notability being The Iron Master (starring Reginald Denny) and Lost in Limehouse (starring Laura La Plante), both in 1933. She retired from film after 1935, and settled in Pasadena, California.

Luxford was hired by NBC as one of the first female network news announcers, which included the announcement on 3 September 1939 of Britain's declaration of war on Germany during World War II. After being sought out by two Royal New Zealand Air Force sergeants who were unfamiliar with New York and needed assistance, Luxford was inspired to established the Anzac Club of New York, an organisation that supported Australian and New Zealand service personnel visiting the city. Luxford divorced Maurice in April 1927, and two months latter married William Bauernschmidt, the son of a wealthy family from Baltimore.

Partial filmography

The Tiger's Coat (1920) as Clare Bagsby The Mad Marriage (1921) as Bob Opened Shutters (1921) as Edna Derwent The Flying Dutchman (1923) as Melissa Rouged Lips (1923) as Mamie Dugan The House of Youth (1924) as Society Girl Girl Shy (1924) as wife of Ronald DeVore, The Rich Man (uncredited) The Prince of Pep (1925) as Marion Ward Border Justice (1925) as Mary Maitland That Devil Quemado (1925) as Conchita Rameriz Forlorn River (1926) as Magda Lee The Meddlin' Stranger (1927) as Mildred Crawford Ladies Beware (1927) as Jeannie King of the Herd (1927) as Nancy Dorance Lost in Limehouse (Short) (1933) as Diana The Iron Master (1933) as Diana Kind Lady (1935) as Rose