Lorna Gray obit

Lorna Gray, Queen of Shorts and Serials at Columbia and Republic Pictures, Dies at 99

She was not on the list.

Lorna Gray, who appeared on the big screen with John Wayne, Buster Keaton, Boris Karloff and The Three Stooges and, billed as Adrian Booth, starred in many 1940s Republic Pictures serials and Westerns, has died. She was 99.

The actress died Sunday at her home in Sherman Oaks, her niece, Pam Loe-Watson, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Born Virginia Pound on July 26, 1917, in Grand Rapids, Mich., she won the Miss Michigan beauty pageant and worked as a model, singer and in a vaudeville show before making her movie debut in Paramount Pictures' Hold 'Em Navy (1937), starring Lew Ayres.

She signed with Columbia, which changed her name to Lorna Gray, and worked with Wayne in Red River Range (1938), with Keaton in the short Pest From the West (1939) and with Karloff in The Man They Could Not Hang (1939).

The dark-haired beauty also fooled around in The Three Stooges shorts You Nazty Spy! (as a spy named Mattie Herring), Rockin' Thru the Rockies, Three Sappy People and Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise — classics one and all — and appeared in the Columbia cliff-hangers Flying G-Men (1939) and Deadwood Dick (1940).

The actress began the next stage of her career as Adrian Booth at Republic, which claimed her as a new "discovery." She starred in such serials as Perils of Nyoka (as the ruthless Vultura, a villainess with a pet ape, opposite Clayton Moore), Captain America (as the hero's girlfriend, Gail Richards) and Federal Operator 99.

She also appeared alongside Monte Hale in several Westerns, including Out California Way (1946), Along the Oregon Trail (1947) and Under Colorado Skies (1947).

She retired from acting after appearing in two films released in 1951, The Sea Hornet and Yellow Fin, then devoted many years to the World Adoption International Fund, an adoption agency founded by actress Jane Russell. She also became an ordained minister.

The actress was married to actor David Brian (Intruder in the Dust, The Damned Don't Cry, Million Dollar Mermaid, TV's Mr. District Attorney) from 1949 until his death in 1993.

In addition to Pam, survivors include her other nieces Roberta, Robin, Rebecca, Patricia and Penny and her caregivers of 37 years, Carlos and Lucy Iraheta and their family.



Filmography

Year Title Role Notes

1937 Hold 'Em Navy Girl

Thrill of a Lifetime Chorus girl Uncredited

1938 The Buccaneer Uncredited

The Big Broadcast of 1938 Divorcee

Scandal Street Uncredited

Adventure in Sahara Carla Preston

Red River Range Jane Mason

Smashing the Spy Ring Anna Loring

1939 The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt Girl Michael runs into in nightclub Uncredited

Flying G-Men Babs McKay

Outside These Walls Secretary Uncredited

Missing Daughters Nan Uncredited

Good Girls Go to Paris Bridesmaid Uncredited

Coast Guard Uncredited

The Man They Could Not Hang Janet Savaard

Those High Grey Walls Nurse Uncredited

Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise May Jenkins Short, Uncredited

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Woman at station Uncredited

Beware Spooks! Uncredited

The Amazing Mr. Williams Nurse Uncredited

Three Sappy People Sherry Rumsford Short

The Stranger from Texas Jean Browning

1940 Cafe Hostess Cafe hostess Uncredited

You Nazty Spy! Mattie Herring Short, Uncredited

Convicted Woman Frankie Mason

Bullets for Rustlers Ann Houston

Rockin' thru the Rockies Flossie Short

Deadwood Dick Anne Butler Serial

Up in the Air Rita Wilson

Drums of the Desert Helene Laroche

1941 Father Steps Out Helen Matthews

Tuxedo Junction Joan Gordon

1942 Perils of Nyoka Vultura

Ridin' Down the Canyon Barbara Joyce

1943 So Proudly We Hail! Lt. Tony Dacelli

O, My Darling Clementine Clementine Cheshire

1944 Captain America Gail Richards Serial

The Girl Who Dared Ann Carroll

1945 Adventures of Kitty O'Day Gloria Williams

Fashion Model Yvonne Brewster

Federal Operator 99 Rita Parker

Tell It to a Star Mona St. Clair

Dakota Entertainer Uncredited

1946 Home on the Range Bonnie Garth

Valley of the Zombies Susan Drake

Man from Rainbow Valley Kay North

Daughter of Don Q Dolores Quantero

Out California Way Gloria McCoy

1947 Last Frontier Uprising Mary Lou Garnder

Spoilers of the North Jane Koster

Along the Oregon Trail Sally Dunn

Exposed Judith Bentry

Under Colorado Skies Julia Collins

1948 Lightnin' in the Forest Dell Parker

California Firebrand Joyce Mason

Texas Gunfighters Connie Faulkner

The Plunderers Julie Ann McCabe

1949 The Last Bandit Kate Foley

Hideout Betty / Hannah Kelly

Brimstone Molly Bannister

1950 Rock Island Trail Aleeta

The Savage Horde Livvy Weston

1951 Oh! Susanna Lia Wilson

Yellow Fin Jean Elliott

The Sea Hornet Ginger Sullivan