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Lois Moran


Photo: Albert Witzel (1879-1929)

1909 - 1990

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The actress Lois Moran was born as Lois Darlington Dowling. Her father was killed in an accident when she was one year old. Her mother got remarried with Timothy Moran who adopted Lois. But only nine years later her stepfather also died because of influenza.

Her mother decided to move to Paris in 1919 in order to grant her daughter a cultural highbrow education. Lois Moran began in Paris a successful career as a dancer and photographers like Man Ray became aware of her. This fame attracted the attention of director Marcel l'Herbier, who engaged her for two movies.

Lois Moran made her film debut at the age of 15 in the French movie "La galerie des monstres" (24), it followed the great success "Feu Mathias Pascal" (25) at Ivan Mosjoukin's side.

Her mother encouraged her to send pictures of her to D.W. Griffith and Samuel Goldwyn. When Goldwin was in France in 1925 he visited Lois Moran and examined her first two roles. He was keen on her and offered her the leading role in "Romeo and Juliet". The movie didn't come off but Lois Moran was engaged as Laurel Dallas in the movie "Stella Dallas" (25) with which she had an unexpected success and she became famous in one go.

As a result it followed other demanding offers which led Lois Moran from a teenager to a young woman. To her other successful silent movies belong "The Reckless Lady" (26), "The Road to Mandalay" (26), "Padlockes" (26), "The Irresistible Lover" (27), "Love Hungry" (28), "Blindfold" (28) and "True Heaven" (29).

She continued her career at the beginning of the 30's with "Mammy" (30), "Under Suspicion" (30), "Transatlantic" (31) and "The Spider" (31) before she retired from the film business. 

Lois Moran only took over a new role in 1954 for the TV serial "Waterfront" (54), her last movie was the German production "Alice in den Städten" (74).

Besides her film career she was also working for the Gershwin brothers, and F. Scott Fitzgerald was so fascinated by Lois Moran's personality the he used her as a model for his figure "Rosemary Hoyt" in the play "Tendes is the Night". His admiration to her was so intense that Fitzgerald's wife Zelda made a huge jealousy scene.
 

Other movies with Lois Moran:
Just Suppose (26) Prince of Tempters (26) God Gave Me Twenty Cents (26) The Music Master (27) The Whirlwind of Youth 827) Publicity Madness (27) Sharp Shooters (28) Don't Marry (28) The River Pirate (28) Making the Grade (29) Joy Street (29) Behind That Curtain (29) Words and Music (29) A Song of Kentucky (29) Not Damaged (30) The Dancers (30) West of Broadway (31) Men in Her Life (31)


 
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