Jean Parker
Acting • Born 1915-08-11 – Died 2005-11-30
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jean Parker (born Lois Mae Green; August 11, 1915 – November 30, 2005) was an American film and stage actress. She landed her first screen test while still in high school. She acted opposite such well-known actors as Katharine Hepburn, Robert Donat, Edward G. Robinson, Randolph Scott, and Laurel and Hardy. She was married four times and had one son, Robert Lowery Hanks. Parker appeared in 70 movies from 1932 through 1966. In 1932, she posed as a flower girl and living poster in a float in the Tournament of Roses Parade, where she was seen by Ida Koverman, secretary to MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer. The following day the studio called her on the phone and invited her for a screen test. Parker's film debut came in Divorce in the Family (1932). She had a successful career at MGM, RKO and Columbia including roles in such films as Little Women, Lady for a Day, Gabriel Over the White House, Limehouse Blues, The Ghost Goes West, and Rasputin and the Empress. In 1939, she starred opposite Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in RKO's The Flying Deuces. Parker remained active in film throughout the 1940s, playing opposite Lon Chaney in Dead Man's Eyes, and a variety of other films. During World War II, she toured many of the veteran hospitals throughout the U.S. and performed on radio. In the 1950s, Parker co-starred opposite Edward G. Robinson in Black Tuesday; had a small but effective role in The Gunfighter, and appeared in A Lawless Street (1955). Her last film appearance was Apache Uprising (1966). Parker also appeared on Broadway. In 1949, she replaced Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday on Broadway and enjoyed a successful run in this classic. She appeared on Broadway opposite Bert Lahr in the play Burlesque. She did summer stock in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, toured in the play Candlelight and Loco, and performed on stage in other professional productions. In 1954, Parker played the role of "Cattle Kate Watson of Wyoming" in an episode of the syndicated television series Stories of the Century, the first western program to win an Emmy Award. The series starred and was narrated by Jim Davis. Later in her career and life, Parker continued a successful stint on the West Coast theatre circuit and worked as an acting coach. At age 83, Parker moved into the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, where she died of a stroke on November 30, 2005, at the age of 90. She was survived by her son, Robert, and granddaughters Katie and Nora Hanks. She was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.
Filmography
78 credits
The Flying Deuces
Movie • 1939
Georgette
Beyond Tomorrow
Movie • 1940
Jean Lawrence
One Body Too Many
Movie • 1944
Carol Dunlap
Tomorrow We Live
Movie • 1942
Julie Bronson
Black Tuesday
Movie • 1954
Hatti Combest
Bluebeard
Movie • 1944
Lucille
A Lawless Street
Movie • 1955
Cora Dean
Lady for a Day
Movie • 1933
Louise
Dead Man's Eyes
Movie • 1944
Heather Hayden
The Gunfighter
Movie • 1950
Molly
Little Women
Movie • 1933
Beth
Lady in the Death House
Movie • 1944
Mary Kirk Logan
The Texas Rangers
Movie • 1936
Amanda Bailey
Minesweeper
Movie • 1943
Mary Smith
Detective Kitty O'Day
Movie • 1944
Kitty O'Day
The Secret of Madame Blanche
Movie • 1933
Eloise
The Navy Way
Movie • 1944
Ellen Sayre
No Hands on the Clock
Movie • 1941
Mrs. Louise Campbell
Operator 13
Movie • 1934
Eleanor
Sequoia
Movie • 1935
Toni Martin
Zenobia
Movie • 1939
Mary Tibbett
Divorce In The Family
Movie • 1932
Miss Lucile SmIth
The Ghost Goes West
Movie • 1935
Peggy Martin
Adventures of Kitty O'Day
Movie • 1945
Kitty O'Day
Those Redheads from Seattle
Movie • 1953
Liz
Limehouse Blues
Movie • 1934
Toni
Made on Broadway
Movie • 1933
Adele
You Can't Buy Everything
Movie • 1934
Elizabeth 'Beth' Burton Bell
A Wicked Woman
Movie • 1934
Rosanne Stroud, aka Rosanne Trice
The Parson and the Outlaw
Movie • 1957
Sarah Jones
Toughest Man in Arizona
Movie • 1952
Della
Lazy River
Movie • 1934
Sarah Lescalle
She Married a Cop
Movie • 1939
Linda Fay
The Arkansas Traveler
Movie • 1938
Judy Allen
Murder in the Fleet
Movie • 1935
Betty Lansing
Rolling Home
Movie • 1946
Frances Crawford
Have a Heart
Movie • 1934
Sally Moore
Two Alone
Movie • 1934
Mazie
I Live on Danger
Movie • 1942
Susan Richards
Storm at Daybreak
Movie • 1933
Danitza
Romance of the Limberlost
Movie • 1938
Laurie
Cargo of Love
Movie • 1968
Denise
Princess O'Hara
Movie • 1935
Princess O'Hara
Rasputin and the Empress
Movie • 1932
Princess Maria (uncredited)
Gabriel Over the White House
Movie • 1933
Alice Bronson
The Barrier
Movie • 1937
Necia Gale
Alaska Highway
Movie • 1943
Ann Coswell
Power Dive
Movie • 1941
Carol Blake
Caravan
Movie • 1934
Timka
What Price Innocence?
Movie • 1933
Ruth Harper
Flight at Midnight
Movie • 1939
Maxine Scott
Hi, Neighbor
Movie • 1942
Dorothy Greenfield
Apache Uprising
Movie • 1965
Mrs. Hawks
The Farmer in the Dell
Movie • 1936
Adie Boyer
The Pittsburgh Kid
Movie • 1941
Patricia Mallory
Parents on Trial
Movie • 1939
Susan Wesley
Flying Blind
Movie • 1941
Shirley Brooks
Torpedo Boat
Movie • 1942
Grace Holman
The Traitor Within
Movie • 1942
Molly Betts
The Deerslayer
Movie • 1943
Judith Hutter
Soaring Stars
Movie • 1942
Herself
Romance of the Redwoods
Movie • 1939
June Martin
Knights of the Range
Movie • 1940
Holly Ripple
Son of the Navy
Movie • 1940
Stevie Moore
Hello, Annapolis
Movie • 1942
Doris Henley
Roar of the Press
Movie • 1941
Alice Williams
Life Begins with Love
Movie • 1937
Carole Martin
Wrecking Crew
Movie • 1942
Peggy Starr
Young America Flies
Movie • 1940
Jane
High Explosive
Movie • 1943
Connie Baker
The Girl from Alaska
Movie • 1942
Mary 'Pete' McCoy
Oh, What a Night!
Movie • 1944
Valerie
Penitentiary
Movie • 1938
Elizabeth Mathews
The Laurel & Hardy Story: An Affectionate Rememberence
Movie • 1990
Self (archive footage)
Private Secretary
TV • 1953
Matinee Theater
TV • 1955
Suspense
TV • 1949
Stories of the Century
TV • 1954
Ella Watson aka Cattle Kate