Do you remember Lola Albright? Perhaps you don’t remember her name, but anyone who watched American
television in the 1950s will remember her most famous role, that being the steamy songstress Edie
Hart in the popular NBC-ABC series Peter Gunn. It was the show that made her a star, and she spent
a solid three seasons as the girlfriend of the hard-boiled private eye the show was named after.
It seems Lola Albright was destined to be a star. She grew up in a small city in Ohio
and came from a family of talented gospel singers. She inherited their knack for
enthusiastic performing, and early on in her Hollywood career, Albright starred in Judy
Garland films and other musically-oriented movies. After the roaring success that was Peter Gunn,
she continued to act—only fading into obscurity sometime in the 1980s.
In this video, we dig deep into the archives of everything Lola Albright,
revealing tantalizing tidbits about on and off-stage antics
and all the fun fan facts you’ve ever wanted to know. If you’re a Lola Albright devotee,
Peter Gunn fan, or just curious to learn more about this iconic performer, watch on!
Lola Albright's Early Years Were Rustic
Lola Albright was born on July 20, 1924—those heady, jazz-filled years between the world’s
most devastating wars. Albright, however, grew up far from the bright lights of flapper
hubs like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles. Her childhood was spent in the relatively
small American city of Akron, Ohio, though her parents—John Paul Albright and Marion Harvey—were
both accomplished gospel singers. Their humble stage careers instilled in Albright
a love for music from a very young age. Since she inherited a fine singing voice
and was an accomplished pianist, she was performing in public from an early age.
She Worked As a Receptionist Before Hollywood Found Her
Lola Albright attended West High School, graduating in 1942.
The entire time she was in high school, she continued to work on her piano playing
skills. Believe it or not, this lovely lady spent her first years as a young adult working as a
receptionist at radio stations in Ohio—among them, WAKR in her hometown of Akron. She also took up
modeling, and it was that fortunate move that landed her first shot at the bright
lights of Hollywood. Like so many studio starlets before her, she was spotted by a talent agent.
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Lola Albright Was Briefly Married to a Radio Announcer
Lola Albright was married three times in her life, and her first marriage to Cleveland
radio announcer Warren Dean took place in 1944. They met when they were both working
at WATM. The relationship didn’t last, and they divorced in 1949. It’s speculated that Albright’s
early success in Hollywood—she starred in her first film in 1947—drove the couple
apart. And clearly, Warren Dean wasn’t set for stardom in quite the same way as his young
(now former) wife. A quick Google search reveals he didn’t leave much of a legacy.
Lola Albright Starred in a Few Early Judy Garland Films
In 1947, Lola Albright landed an uncredited role as a “fashion house associate” in The
Unfinished Dance, an MGM Technicolor film about the life of young ballerinas. The following year,
she starred alongside the talented Judy Garland in The Pirate and Easter Parade.
She appeared on the credits in The Pirate in the role of Isabella but was just Hat
Model and Showgirl in the Easter Parade. Both films were MGM-produced romantic musicals—a
genre that was immensely popular in the early days of the post-war era.
But It Was a Boxing Film With Kirk Douglas Grabbed the Public’s Attention
Before her famed part in Peter Gunn, an appearance in a 1949 film noir production called
Champion accelerated Lola Albright’s rise to fame. In the movie, she plays Palmer, a
sculptor and the seductive wife of an emotionally abusive boxing manager, alongside one of the
most famous male leads of the era—Kirk Douglas. That helped Albright land several spots on some
decidedly B-rated Westerns and a co-starring role in the 1950’s comedy The Good Humor Man.
In fact, Albright’s co-star Jack Carson was to become her future husband. But more on that later!
Lola Albright Was a Favorite of Pinup Artist Gil Elvegren
As Lola Albright began landing more temptress-type roles in Hollywood,
she also caught the eye of 1950s pinup painter Gil Elvgren. Elvgren worked for Brown & Bigelow,
one of the era's largest postcard and calendar publishing houses,
though he got his start in the style before World War II. In fact, his pin-up illustrations
were often reproduced on the noses of military aircraft. Conversely, he also
created the illustrations for popular 1940s and 1950s women’s magazines like Good Housekeeping.
Albright was a favorite model among other silver screen stars such as Donna Reed and Kim Novak.
Her Star Role Was Edie Hart in Peter Gunn
The role Lola Albright was probably best known for in popular culture history was the seductive
nightclub jazz singer Edie Hart. Albright’s Hart was the girlfriend of the titled character,
canny private eye Peter Gunn, played by Craig Stevens. The music was scored by
composer Henry Mancini, who said he loved her off-the-cuff style of delivery that rough enough
“to believe that she'd be singing in that club” instead of in some more refined establishment. The
show aired in 1958 and ran for three seasons on NBC-ABC. In 1959, Albright received an
Emmy Award nomination for her work—the only one she’d receive throughout her television career.
Lola Albright Recorded Several Music Albums
Not only was Lola Albright an accomplished pianist, having studied the instrument for
a good twenty or so years, but she could also sing. So much so that Columbia Records
signed her as an artist in the late 1950s. She released an album called Lola Wants You in 1957,
but the reception was mediocre. However, once she appeared on Peter Gunn,
she worked with the celebrated Henry Mancini to release a second album, Dreamsville,
in 1959. And this was an album the Edie Hart fans were thrilled to get their hands on!
Berlin Film Festival Named her “Best Actress” in 1966
Despite one Emmy nomination for her role on Peter Gunn, Lola Albright didn’t take home
many awards in her lengthy career. That’s why her receipt of the Silver Bear for Best Actress award
from the 16th International Film Festival in 1966 was such a win for her. The movie that
nabbed her this coveted prize was Lord Love a Duck, a teen satire and black comedy considered
somewhat of a cult movie today. Albright played the role of Marie Greene, mother of the movie’s
female protagonist and a cocktail waitress experiencing somewhat of a mid-life crisis.
Lola Albright’s Second and Third Marriages Also Failed
In 1952, Lola Albright married actor Jack Carson. The two were darlings of the Hollywood circuit for
a while. One photograph captures them sitting atop a car waving at the Derby Downs crowds
during the All-American Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio. However, the relationship didn’t last, and
the couple divorced in 1958. Her third (and final) marriage to pianist Bill Chadney didn’t fare much
better. The two met because Chadney, a musician and club owner, played the piano in the fictional
club on Peter Gunn. They married in 1961 and were together a decade before finally splitting.
Acting in a Soap Opera Was the “Biggest Challenge” of Her Acting Career
While Lola Albright held a wide range of roles since she was a bright
young thing in the Hollywood studio heyday of the 1940s, there was only one performance she said
really challenged. And that was when she stepped up to fill in for actress Dorothy Malone on the
primetime soap Peyton Place, who left suddenly due to illness. Albright famously said
the role was "one of the biggest challenges of my theatrical career." Nevertheless, it seemed she
rated well with audiences and casting staff alike since she stayed on the show from 1964 to 1969.
She Didn’t Retire from Acting Until She Turned 60
By the 1970s, it seems Lola Albright’s days of fame were over. But she was still much loved by
the public, especially those who remembered her from her Peter Gunn days. Instead of retiring
right away, she made guest appearances and cameos on all kinds of television shows. She finally
officially retired in 1984 at the respectable age of 60, moving to Toluca Lake in sunny California.
Lola Albright Died in Akron, Where She Was Born and Raised
In 2014, after numerous years of enjoying retirement in Toluca Lake,
Lola Albright had a bad fall at home. She seriously fractured her spine, and the injury
was the start of a decline into ill health that would last three years. Albright passed away at
home from natural causes in March of 2017. She was 92 years old. Fittingly, the Akron Beacon,
the local rag of her hometown in Ohio, was the first publication to report on her death.
Do you consider Lola Albright a one-hit-wonder whose star faded after the 1960s? Or do you
consider her one of Hollywood’s legendary, though perhaps underrated actresses? Head to
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