Lona Andre (born Launa Anderson; March 2, 1915 – September 18, 1992) was an American film actress, golfer, and businesswoman.

Biography

Born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, Andre attracted attention with her first films in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

and was named as one of the

WAMPAS Baby Stars The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers, which honored 13 (15 in 1932) young actresses each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. ...

of 1932. After a strong finish in the ''Paramount Panther Woman Contest'' – won by

Kathleen Burke Kathleen B. Burke (September 5, 1913 – April 9, 1980) was an American movie actress of the 1930s and former model. Early years Born in Hammond, Indiana, in 1913, Burke was a graduate of Hammond High School. She moved with her parents t ...

– she was signed to a movie contract by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. When Paramount did not renew her option, Andre worked as a freelance artist. During the 1930s she appeared frequently in films, usually as the lead in "B" pictures, and by the end of the decade had starred in more than fifty films. In 1934 Andre was part of the cast of ''School For Girls'' along with

Toby Wing Toby Wing (born Martha Virginia Wing, July 14, 1915 – March 22, 2001), "Toby" being an old family nickname, was an American actress and showgirl, once called "the most beautiful chorus girl in Hollywood". Early years Wing was born in Ame ...

, Lois Wilson, Sidney Fox, and Dorothy Lee. In 1936 she appeared alongside

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

in their feature film ''

Our Relations ''Our Relations'' is a 1936 feature film starring Laurel and Hardy, produced by Stan Laurel for Hal Roach Studios. This is the third of three films in which they play a dual role: the first was '' Brats'' and the second was ''Twice Two''. The sto ...

''. In June 1935, Andre eloped to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

to marry

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

actor

Edward Norris Septimus Edward Norris (March 10, 1911 – December 18, 2002) was an American film actor. Early years Norris was born in 1911, the son of a prominent Philadelphia gynecologist, who was described in a newspaper article as "a famous surgeon and ...

, then filed for an annulment action four days after her marriage in

Tijuana, Mexico Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

. When she worked with

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

for

Educational Pictures Educational Pictures, also known as Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. or Educational Films Corporation of America, was an American film production and film distribution company founded in 1916 by Earle (E. W.) Hammons (1882–1962). Educational pr ...

in the mid-1930s, she enjoyed his company and they were often seen nightclubbing. In October 1942, she married Richard E. Patton. She was later married to salesman, James T. Bolling, and was divorced from him in March 1947. (An

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

story dated May 23, 1947, reported that a judge granted the divorce "yesterday", which would have been May 22, 1947.) In 1938 Andre set a then world golfing record for women by shooting 156 holes of golf in 11 hours and 56 minutes on the Lake Norconian, California course. Her best round was 91 for 18 holes and her worst was 115. Her acting career greatly diminished during the 1940s, and she made her last film appearance in 1943, in the

Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...

featurette ''

Taxi, Mister ''Taxi, Mister'' is a 1943 American comedy film directed by Kurt Neumann and written by Earle Snell and Clarence Marks. The film stars William Bendix, Grace Bradley, Joe Sawyer, Sheldon Leonard, Joe Devlin, Jack Norton, Frank Faylen, Mike Mazurk ...

''. After her film career ended she became a successful real estate broker and never returned to acting. She was interred in

Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries is an American corporation that owns and operates a chain of cemeteries and mortuaries in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties in Southern California. History The company was founded by a group of ...

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

Filmography

References

*''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', "Change Of Mind Balks Marriage", November 2, 1933, Page 17. *''Los Angeles Times'', "Musical Picture Tops Program On Pantages Screen", October 18, 1934, Page 19. *''Los Angeles Times'', "Daughter Trio Elope; Cupid Snares Mother", June 7, 1935, Page A1. *''Los Angeles Times'', "Lona Andre's Marriage Ends With Annulment", October 19, 1935, Page A3. *''

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

Standard-Examiner'', "Going Hollywood", October 28, 1938, Page 9. *''Syracuse Herald-Journal'', "Big Phone Bill Wins Divorce", March 23, 1947, Page 104.

External links

* * *
Gallery of Lona Andre Pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Lona American film actresses Actresses from Nashville, Tennessee 1915 births 1992 deaths Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) 20th-century American actresses WAMPAS Baby Stars