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Jean Parker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lois Mae Green, known by her screen name Jean Parker, (August 11, 1915 - November 30, 2005), was an American movie actress born in Deer Lodge, Montana. She was once married to actor Robert Lowery (who played Batman in 1949). She appeared in 70 movies from 1932 through 1966. She was discovered by Ida Koverman, secretary to MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer, after she saw a poster featuring Ms. Parker portraying Father Time. Ms. Parker attended Pasadena schools and graduated from John Muir High School. Her original aspirations were in the fine arts and illustration.
She had a successful career at MGM, RKO and Columbia including important roles such as Beth in the original Little Women, among many other film appearances including Frank Capra's Lady for A Day and Gabriel Over the White House; Sequoia; The Ghost Goes West, opposite Robert Donat; and Rasputin and the Empress, with fellow players, the Barrymore siblings (John, Ethel, and Lionel) in the only movie they all made together. In 1939, she starred opposite Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in RKO's The Flying Deuces.
Ms. Parker stayed active in film throughout the 1940s and managed her own airport in Palm Springs, California.
During World War II, she toured many of the veteran hospitals throughout the U.S. and performed on radio. In 1949 she replaced Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday on Broadway and enjoyed a successful run in this classic. Ms. Parker also appeared on Broadway opposite Bert Lahr in the play Burlesque, did summer stock in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was on tour in the play Candlelight and Loco, and performed on stage in a variety of other professional productions.
She married Robert Lowery in 1950, and in 1952 gave birth to a son, Robert Lowery, Jr., an executive with the city of Los Angeles, California. She has two granddaughters, Katie and Nora Lowery, both aspiring actors. Later in life, she began a successful stint on the west coast theatre circuit and worked as an acting coach.
She spent her final years in the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, where she died of a stroke two months after her 90th birthday.