Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Lisa Montell obit

Lisa Montell, Actress in ‘World Without End’ and Lots of TV Westerns, Dies at 89

Her film résumé also included 'Ten Thousand Bedrooms,' 'She Gods of Shark Reef' and 'The Firebrand.'

 

 She was not on the list.


Lisa Montell, also known as Lisa Janti, a starlet in the 1950s and ’60s who appeared in such films as World Without End opposite Rod Taylor and Ten Thousand Bedrooms alongside Dean Martin, has died. She was 89.

Montell died March 7 in Southern California Hospital at Van Nuys of heart problems and sepsis, her daughter, Shireen Janti, told The Hollywood Reporter.

A native of Poland, Montell portrayed characters of various ethnicities during her career. In Naked Paradise (1957) and She Gods of Shark Reef (1958), directed back-to-back in Kauai by Roger Corman, she played Hawaiians.

She also showed up on several TV Westerns, including The Gene Autry Show, Broken Arrow, Tales of Wells Fargo, Colt .45, Have Gun — Will Travel, Sugarfoot, Cheyenne, Bat Masterson and Maverick.

In the sci-fi feature World Without End (1956), written and directed by Edward Bernds, Montell portrayed a woman on Earth in the 26th century, hundreds of years after a devastating atomic war, who falls for an accidental time-traveling astronaut (Taylor).

And in the musical comedy Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957) — Martin’s first film after he and Jerry Lewis split up their act — she was sisters with Anna Maria Alberghetti, Eva Bartok and Lisa Gaye in Rome.

Born Irena Ludmilla Vladimiovna Augustinovich in Warsaw on July 5, 1933, she and her family fled to the U.S. before the Nazi invasion of their country in 1939. They settled in New York City.

She studied drama at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, the High School of Performing Arts and the University of Miami, then moved to Lima, Peru, when her dad, Walery, landed a job with a mining company.

In 1953, she was spotted in a play and made her onscreen debut in The Daughter of the Sun God, filmed in Peru — that movie, however, would not be released until 1962 — and came to Los Angeles after her father died.

She appeared in five films released in 1955 — Escape to Burma, Jump Into Hell, Daddy Long Legs, Finger Man and Pearl of the South Pacific — and portrayed a ballet dancer in the Leslie Caron-starring Gaby (1956).

Her résumé also included other films like Tomahawk Trail (1957), The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958) and The Firebrand (1962) and episodes of The Millionaire, Wire Service, The Ann Sothern Show, Surfside 6, Mike Hammer, The Magical World of Walt Disney and 77 Sunset Strip.

She left acting in the mid-1960s, worked on a local TV show with Tom Bradley and served in his administration after he was elected L.A. mayor.

In addition to her daughter, whom she had with her husband, actor David Janti, survivors include her granddaughter, Tatiana.

Actress

 

    Juanita Llosa and Lisa Montell in Daughter of the Sun God (1962)

    Daughter of the Sun God

        Christine

        1962

 

Combat! (1962)

Combat!

 

    Marcelle

 

    TV Series

 

    1962

 

Valentin de Vargas, Lisa Montell, and Kent Taylor in The Firebrand (1962)

The Firebrand

 

    Clarita Vasconcelos

 

    1962

 

Edd Byrnes, Roger Smith, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in 77 Sunset Strip (1958)

77 Sunset Strip

 

    Linda CarneroDoloresLucita Martinez ...

 

    TV Series

 

    1960–1962

 

Diane McBain and Van Williams in Surfside 6 (1960)

Surfside 6

 

    Nancy Dinato

 

    TV Series

 

    1962

 

Henry Fonda in The Deputy (1959)

The Deputy

 

    Rosaria Martinez

 

    TV Series

 

    1961

 

James Garner and Jack Kelly in Maverick (1957)

Maverick

 

    Andalucia Rubio

 

    TV Series

 

    1961

 

1 sheet movie poster

The Long Rope

 

    Alicia Alvarez

 

    1961

 

Johnny Midnight (1960)

Johnny Midnight

 

    Julie Valenti

 

    TV Series

 

    1960

 

One Step Beyond (1959)

One Step Beyond

 

    Terese

 

    TV Series

 

    1960

 

Cheyenne (1955)

Cheyenne

 

    Rheba GarciaRosa

 

    TV Series

 

    1955–1960

 

Henry Fonda and Gene Barry in Bat Masterson (1958)

Bat Masterson

 

    Selena Thorn

 

    TV Series

 

    1960

 

The Dennis O'Keefe Show (1959)

The Dennis O'Keefe Show

 

    Annabella

 

    TV Series

 

    1959

 

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1958)

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

 

    Simone

 

    TV Series

 

    1959

 

Sugarfoot (1957)

Sugarfoot

 

    CarmencitaKenoee

 

    TV Series

 

    1958–1959

 

Have Gun - Will Travel (1957)

Have Gun - Will Travel

 

    Soledad Ortega

 

    TV Series

 

    1959

 

Rex Allen in Frontier Doctor (1956)

Frontier Doctor

 

    Marguerite Lidell

 

    TV Series

 

    1959

 

Northwest Passage (1958)

Northwest Passage

 

    Emily Duren

 

    TV Series

 

    1959

 

The Magical World of Disney (1954)

The Magical World of Disney -

Four Down and Five Lives to Go

 

    Anita Chavez

     TV Series

     1958

 

The Ann Sothern Show (1958)

The Ann Sothern Show

 

    Maharani

 

    TV Series

 

    1958

 

She Gods of Shark Reef (1958)

She Gods of Shark Reef

 

    Mahia

 

    1958

 

Mike Hammer (1958)

Mike Hammer

 

    Maria Chamini

 

    TV Series

 

    1958

 

Clayton Moore, Lisa Montell, and Jay Silverheels in The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958)

The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold

 

    Paviva

 

    1958

 

The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956)

The Adventures of Jim Bowie

 

    Lisette Rochambeau

 

    TV Series

 

    1958

 

Wayde Preston in Colt .45 (1957)

Colt .45

 

    Teresa Valdez

 

    TV Series

 

    1957

 

Matinee Theatre (1955)

Matinee Theatre

 

    Yasmin

 

    TV Series

 

    1957

 

Tales of Wells Fargo (1957)

Tales of Wells Fargo

 

    Juanita

 

    TV Series

 

    1957

 

Wire Service (1956)

Wire Service

 

    Luisa

 

    TV Series

 

    1957

 

Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957)

Ten Thousand Bedrooms

 

    Diana Martelli

 

    1957

 

Preston Foster in Cavalcade of America (1952)

Cavalcade of America

 

    Frederica McLane

 

    TV Series

 

    1957

 

The O. Henry Playhouse (1957)

The O. Henry Playhouse

 

    Carlotta

 

    TV Series

 

    1957

 

Tomahawk Trail (1957)

Tomahawk Trail

 

    Tula

 

    1957

 

Naked Paradise (1957)

Naked Paradise

 

    Lanai

 

    1957

 

Michael Ansara and John Lupton in Broken Arrow (1956)

Broken Arrow

 

    Tesalbe

 

    TV Series

 

    1957

 

Frank McHugh and Marvin Miller in The Millionaire (1955)

The Millionaire

 

    Paula Wellington

 

    TV Series

 

    1957

 

Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre (1955)

Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre

 

    CarmelitaJeanne DuBois

 

    TV Series

 

    1956

 

Leslie Caron and John Kerr in Gaby (1956)

Gaby

 

    Claire

 

    1956

 

Lux Video Theatre (1950)

Lux Video Theatre

 

    SuzanneYvonne

 

    TV Series

 

    1955–1956

 

World Without End (1956)

World Without End

 

    Deena

 

    1956

 

Coleen Gray and Bill Williams in The Wild Dakotas (1956)

The Wild Dakotas

 

    Ruth Murphy

 

    1956

 

The Gene Autry Show (1950)

The Gene Autry Show

 

    Esther Cameron

 

    TV Series

 

    1955

 

Pearl of the South Pacific (1955)

Pearl of the South Pacific

 

    Momu

 

    1955

 

Peggie Castle, Frank Lovejoy, and Forrest Tucker in Finger Man (1955)

Finger Man

 

    Mary Smith (uncredited)

 

    1955

 

Public Defender (1954)

Public Defender

 

    Bertha

 

    TV Series

 

    1955

 

Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron in Daddy Long Legs (1955)

Daddy Long Legs

 

    College Girl (uncredited)

 

    1955

 

Jacques Sernas in Jump Into Hell (1955)

Jump Into Hell

 

    Jacqueline (as Irene Montwill)

 

    1955

 

Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan in Escape to Burma (1955)

Escape to Burma

 

    Andora

 

    1955

 

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