Lola Albright | ar

Lola Jean Albright (July 20, 1924 - March 23, 2017) was an American singer and actress.

Albright was born in Akron, Ohio, to John Paul and Marion (née Harvey) Albright, both of whom were gospel music singers. She attended King Grammar School and West High School. She worked as a model before moving to Hollywood, studied piano for 20 years and worked as a receptionist at radio station WAKR in Akron, beginning when she was 15. At 18, she moved to Cleveland and was a stenographer at WTAM radio. Her first radio performance came on WJW in Cleveland.

Albright's motion picture career began with a bit part in the 1947 film The Unfinished Dance, and gained notice in the 1949 film Champion. For the next several years, she appeared in secondary roles in over 20 films, including several 'B' Westerns.

Albright's roles in major films included Elvis Presley's 1962 film Kid Galahad; the 1964 French film Les Felins (director René Clément), and the 1967 western epic The Way West.

Albright first appeared on television in Inside Story, an episode of Lux Video Theatre. She made guest appearances in such television series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Thin Man Mysteries, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, The Dick Van Dyke Show, My Three Sons, The Beverly Hillbillies, Bonanza, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Medical Center, Kojak, Columbo, McMillan & Wife, Quincy, M.E., Starsky and Hutch and The Incredible Hulk.

In 1958, she was cast on Peter Gunn, the television detective series produced by Blake Edwards and scored by Henry Mancini. Albright played Edie Hart, a nightclub singer and the romantic interest of Peter Gunn (Craig Stevens).

In 1964, she appeared with former Peter Gunn co-star Craig Stevens on his short-lived CBS drama Mr. Broadway (episode "Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones").

When Dorothy Malone had to undergo emergency surgery in 1966, Albright filled for her as Constance Mackenzie on the prime-time soap opera Peyton Place. At the time, Albright called this role "one of the biggest challenges of my theatrical career."

Albright continued to perform both in films and television guest appearances until her retirement in the mid-1980s.

Albright's role on Peter Gunn directly led to her music albums accompanied by Henry Mancini and his orchestra, including Lola Wants You (1957) and Dreamsville (1959). Columbia Records signed her as a vocalist.

In 1959, Albright was nominated for the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series for her work in Peter Gunn. In 1966, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award at the 16th Berlin International Film Festival for her role in Lord Love a Duck.

Albright married and divorced three times, having no children. Her first marriage, to "an unnamed radio executive," occurred in 1944. They divorced in 1949. Her second husband was actor Jack Carson (1951 to 1958). (Another source says that they married August 1, 1952, and divorced November 10, 1958.) Her third marriage was to Bill Chadney (1961-1975), who played Emmett, the piano player on Peter Gunn.

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