Laurette Luez was a supporting actress and successful commercial model who appeared in films and on television during a 20-year career. She was a widely known Hollywood celebrity during the 1950s, owing much to publicity about her social life. She is best known for her supporting role as photographic model Marla Rakubian in Rudolph Maté's 1950 film noirD.O.A..
In 1944 she was cast as a fetching Javanese girl in The Story of Dr. Wassell. In October 1944, she was featured in Esquire. She signed a five-year contract with 20th Century-Fox in 1945, for a weekly salary of $125. In the late 1940s, she became a highly successful model, appearing in photographs and artwork for national brands such as Lux soap. In 1949, when she was 21, she played Marla Rakubian in the film noir D.O.A. In 1950, Luez became widely known for supporting roles with Roddy McDowell in Killer Shark, and Kim with Errol Flynn, which was the first major motion picture filmed in India. About working with Flynn, Luez said
Errol and I play our love scenes through the window and do not kiss. But we took stills embracing each other. They asked me if I enjoyed working that way with Errol and I told them it was very, very disturbing, to say the least.
From that time forward she was cast mostly in exotic, sexy character roles in films and television. In 1953, she appeared in Siren of Bagdad as a dancing slave girl. The following year, she played a small role in the Bowery Boys film, Jungle Gents, opposite Huntz Hall's character "Sach". In 1956, she appeared in another exotic slave-girl role as Karamaneh in the syndicated TV series, The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu. She also was a regular on The Donald O'Connor Show. Her last major film credit was in 1963 when she played a cantina girl, Felina, in Ballad of a Gunfighter with Marty Robbins, drawn from his 1959 hit song "El Paso." Luez left the film industry in 1965.
Marriages
Actor Philip Sudano, with whom she had her first son, Alexander Eden.
Greek director Gregg Tallas ; at the time Tallas said he hoped to open a production company in Greece featuring Luez as his star.
Real estate investor Edward A. Harrison. Luez claimed Harrison had not divorced his former wife and also said he threatened both her life and film career.
Robert Creel, with whom she had two children, a son, Craig T. and a daughter, Claudette M..
Last years
By 1990 Luez was living in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles with her sister Lei, along with a nephew. Laurette Luez died on September 12, 1999, in Milton, Florida, aged 71, from undisclosed causes.
