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 -
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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