Loretta Young

Loretta Young, the elegant Academy Award-winning actress who charmed film and television audiences for half a century with her beauty, wholesome image and aura of unabashed romanticism, died early Saturday of ovarian cancer, her longtime friend and agent Norman Brokaw announced. She was 87. Young, who had been reported hospitalized since early July, died in Los Angeles at the home of her sister Georgiana Montalban, the wife of actor Ricardo Montalban. Young's gritty determination to be a star--and her hardheaded business sense--kept her in front of the cameras for decades after most stars from Hollywood's Golden Age had faded into nostalgia.

Actress Loretta Young was no shrinking violet - a fact that often didn't sit well with her producers and studio bosses. "She was beautiful, ethereally beautiful, and there was a delicacy to her," said her daughter-in-law Linda Lewis. "But she was stubborn when it came to what she thought was right for her. She actually mentions in one of her interviews that after a while you get tired being reviewed for your cheekbones. " "She didn't really listen to her bosses much," noted her son Chris Lewis.

Actress Loretta Young was no shrinking violet - a fact that often didn't sit well with her producers and studio bosses. "She was beautiful, ethereally beautiful, and there was a delicacy to her," said her daughter-in-law Linda Lewis. "But she was stubborn when it came to what she thought was right for her. She actually mentions in one of her interviews that after a while you get tired being reviewed for your cheekbones. " "She didn't really listen to her bosses much," noted her son Chris Lewis.

Between the mid-1930s and the mid-1960s, American movies could be fairly described as squeaky clean. During that time, married couples depicted in films slept in twin beds, and if there was a romantic scene on a bed, one actor had to have a foot firmly on the ground while kissing. Violence, even in war films and films noir, was more implied than illustrated, and language was definitely G-rated. Just to get Rhett Butler to say his famous "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" in 1939's "Gone With the Wind" almost took an act of Congress.

Judy Lewis, a psychotherapist and former actress who wrote a book about her complicated heritage as the illegitimate daughter of Hollywood legends Loretta Young and Clark Gable, has died. She was 76. A longtime resident of Los Angeles, Lewis died of cancer Friday in Gladwyne, Pa., according to her daughter, Maria Tinney Dagit. Brought up in Bel-Air as Young's adopted daughter, Lewis was an adult when she learned that the glamorous leading lady and Gable, the dashing star of " Gone With the Wind," had conceived her during a brief affair in the 1930s.

Funeral services for actress Loretta Young are scheduled at 11 a.m. today in Cathedral City in Riverside County. The service will be at St. Louis Catholic Church, 68633 C St. The family has asked that memorial donations be made to that church. Young died Saturday at age 87.

Loretta Young starred in dozens of films and won an Oscar for "The Farmer's Daughter" in 1947. But success did not come easily, she recalled in a recent interview. Her father abandoned her at the age of 3, but she was acting as an extra by age 4 and had her first starring role at 13. She did not attend school past the age of 12, she told Parade magazine for its issue to be distributed Sunday. "I hated school.

If you count the appearances as an extra when she was still a toddler, Loretta Young has been in front of the cameras for nearly 70 years. If you count her first featured role, with Colleen Moore in "Naughty but Nice" in 1927, it is the better part of 60 years. She is now 73.

"Lady in a Corner," at 9 tonight on Channels 4, 36 and 39, stars the all too rarely seen Loretta Young. That alone is enough to raise this predictable sudser to watchable heights. The 1947 Oscar winner (for "Farmer's Daughter")--still smashing after a career that began in the silents , for Pete's sake--plays Grace Guthrie, editor-in-chief of one of the nation's classiest fashion magazines.

Loretta Young, who had been set to return to series TV next season after an absence of 24 years, dropped out of the show Thursday. Her agent and producer, Aaron Spelling, cited "creative differences." Young, 72, had been scheduled to report Thursday for a get-acquainted meeting with other cast members signed for "Dark Mansions," a Gothic serial that ABC plans to introduce next season.

Judy Lewis, a psychotherapist and former actress who wrote a book about her complicated heritage as the illegitimate daughter of Hollywood legends Loretta Young and Clark Gable, has died. She was 76. A longtime resident of Los Angeles, Lewis died of cancer Friday in Gladwyne, Pa., according to her daughter, Maria Tinney Dagit. Brought up in Bel-Air as Young's adopted daughter, Lewis was an adult when she learned that the glamorous leading lady and Gable, the dashing star of " Gone With the Wind," had conceived her during a brief affair in the 1930s.

When Judy Lewis used to watch Clark Gable movies with her teen-age friends, she had no clue that Gable might be her father. "It never would have dawned on me," she said. "Why would I ever think such a thing?" Yet many in Hollywood were thinking just that. Even her best friends had heard the rumor from their parents, but no one dared tell her. Jack Haley Jr., a pal from high school days, said: "Our whole group knew who her parents were--and we knew she did not know.

Actress turned psychotherapist Judy Lewis has listed her West Hollywood condominium for $499,000. Lewis, whose biological parents were actress Loretta Lynn and actor Clark Gable, has been living close to her roots. Her pied-a-terre is near her mother's original home. The unit also is within walking distance of restaurants and entertainment. There are two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,210 square feet, and views run from downtown L.A. to Century City. The building has a rooftop sun deck with a swimming pool and spa. Lewis, 74, appeared on TV shows including "Perry Mason" (1959)

Harrison's Attacker Found Insane: The man accused of stabbing former Beatle George Harrison and his wife after breaking into their home near Oxford in December was sent to a British mental hospital Wednesday after being acquitted of attempted murder by reason of insanity. The judge ordered that Michael Abram, 34, be held "without time restriction" and mandated that he gain the approval of a mental health tribunal if he seeks release.

Funeral services for actress Loretta Young are scheduled at 11 a.m. today in Cathedral City in Riverside County. The service will be at St. Louis Catholic Church, 68633 C St. The family has asked that memorial donations be made to that church. Young died Saturday at age 87.

Loretta Young, who died Saturday at age 87, defied the years better than any actress I can think of. At a very elegant party in Malibu honoring Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn several years ago, Loretta arrived in what seemed a motorcyclist's outfit, except that it was of black sateen, clinging to a form that cannot have changed substantially since she was in her teens. It and she were gorgeous.

No sweeping entrance here. Our initial glimpse of Loretta Young in her first film in 23 years is at a park bench, bird-watching. She's wearing a thick overcoat, a fur hat and dark glasses. It's a smart move. Audience expectations--anxiety, perhaps?--are gently deflated; we can see the silver hair under the hat and gradually adjust to the notion that, yes, of course, she's going to look older now. She arrives home and sheds her winter garments.

Loretta Young, the elegant Academy Award-winning actress who charmed film and television audiences for half a century with her beauty, wholesome image and aura of unabashed romanticism, died early Saturday of ovarian cancer, her longtime friend and agent Norman Brokaw announced. She was 87. Young, who had been reported hospitalized since early July, died in Los Angeles at the home of her sister Georgiana Montalban, the wife of actor Ricardo Montalban.