Raven De La Croix (born Lynn Christie Martin; August 24, 1947) is an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

and stripper known for her lead role in the 1976

Russ Meyer Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful sexploitation films that fea ...

film '' Up!''. When Meyer first discovered her at Joe Allen's, a hangout in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, she had no acting experience. In 2011,

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for ''Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...

wrote that she "...may be eyer'smost spectacular siren". She is the granddaughter of aviation pioneer Lieutenant William Knox Martin.

Biography

De La Croix was born as Lynn Christie Martin in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to a poor family and was the oldest of eight children. Her father was

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

and her mother French-American. She was a licensed

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

and worked for a time at the

Columbia Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...

. She also worked several other jobs, including prison drug lecturer where she was seen by a prisoner who later recommended her to work for a theatrical agency. Later, she was noticed in a Hollywood restaurant by a

talent scout In professional sports, scouts are experienced talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout ...

for

Eddie Foy, Jr. Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. (February 4, 1905 – July 15, 1983), known professionally as Eddie Foy Jr., was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. was born on February 4, 1905, in New Rochelle, New York, the ...

, which eventually led to an appointment with

. De La Croix also worked at the Melody Burlesk in New York as a stripper. Her first marriage was abusive. The August 1986 issue of ''Wrestling Eye Magazine'' notes on page 48 that, "a recent article in Rock Island, Illinois QUAD TIMES reported she was engaged to wrestler Greg The Hammer Valentine".August 1986 Wrestling Eye Magazine Page 48 Col 1

Filmography

Films

Television

References

Citations

Sources

External links

* 1947 births American film actresses Living people American people of Comanche descent Native American actresses Actresses from New York City 21st-century American women {{US-film-actor-1940s-stub