Gorgeous, well-endowed singer/actress Laura Devon arrived in Tinseltown
during the early 1960s, but gave notice less than a decade later and
retired permanently after her fourth marriage. She made only five
films. Laura was categorized as one of those beautiful bouffant blondes
of film and TV who were usually cast as diverting set decoration -- the
equally blonde lovelies Sharon Tate,
Yvette Mimieux and
Dorothy Provine, come first to mind.
She was born Mary Lou Briley in Chicago, Illinois, on May 23, 1931, the
daughter of Merrill Devon, an auto engineer of Swedish, Scottish and
Irish descent, and a mother of Dutch heritage. Her family later moved
to Grosse Point, Michigan, where she attended University High School.
Her interest in singing came at a fairly young age and, by her early
teens, was performing. Graduating from the University of Michigan where
she majored in journalism and political science, she began acting on
stage in such musicals as "The Boyfriend" at the Vanguard Playhouse in
Detroit.
In 1961, Laura was spotted singing at a Detroit night club by a 20th
Century-Fox talent agent and given a screen test. Universal also took
an interest in her photogenic beauty and signed her instead. Laura's
first year under contract involved intensive study in acting, singing
and dance before she even started making the rounds on TV. Eventually,
she appeared in such popular programs as
Route 66 (1960) and
Unwahrscheinliche Geschichten (1959),
her big break coming when she and another budding actress,
June Harding, were hired as ensemble cast
members on
The Richard Boone Show (1963),
an anthology TV series also featuring veterans Boone,
Warren Stevens,
Jeanette Nolan,
Harry Morgan,
Robert Blake,
Guy Stockwell,
Bethel Leslie and
Ford Rainey.
Falling easily into the Hollywood scene, Laura had dated handsome actor
Brian Kelly back in Detroit (his
native city). Their romance ended when he went to Hollywood but
rekindled again when she, too, made it to Hollywood in 1961. They
married a year later, and the good-looking couple became a part of the
"in crowd" while moving up the acting ladder. A couple of months after
their June wedding, they appeared together in
Lillian Hellman's steamy drama "Toys in
the Attic" at the Laguna Beach Summer Theater.
Laura made her film debut as a second female lead in the
Tony Curtis/Debbie Reynolds
gender-bending romp
Goodbye Charlie (1964). Laura
figured prominently in all the sexual hijinks happening in the taunting
George Axelrod script, but the film was
considered a misfire. Laura then got hot and heavy in
Rote Linie 7000 (1965), one of
Howard Hawks later and lesser efforts.
Again, Laura (and the other ladies, for that matter) provided diverting
distraction from the stock car racing sequences.
Still moving up the ranks, she was prominently displayed on
Bonanza (1959),
Gauner gegen Gauner (1964),
Tausend Meilen Staub (1959),
Tennisschläger und Kanonen (1965),
Big Valley (1965) and
enjoyed a recurring role on
Stationsarzt Dr. Kildare (1961). Her last
three films were the horror opus
Die Schreckenskammer (1966),
which had Patrick O'Neal stirring up some
demented antics as a serial strangler. Again, not hired for her
character's brilliance, Laura does manage the classic one liner, "What
am I thinking? He is the easiest man in the world to identify. He only
has one hand!" The next film involved her with handsome
George Maharis and another strangling in
the so-so melodrama
Mit dem Tod im Bunde (1967).
Her final film was probably the best received. With
Craig Stevens taking his popular
Peter Gunn gumshoe character from TV to feature length film, the
atmospheric detective story Gunn (1967) had,
at the very least, a built-in audience. The singing aspect of Laura
also managed to show itself here. She recorded two of
Henry Mancini's songs from the movie, "I
Like the Look" and "Dreamsville".
By this time, Laura's first marriage had dissolved. Husband Brian had
become a TV star via his Porter Ricks character on the dolphin show
Flipper (1964). Within a year of
their divorce, Laura married renowned French film composer
Maurice Jarre, hailed for his
Oscar-winning scores in
Lawrence von Arabien (1962),
Doktor Schiwago (1965) and
Reise nach Indien (1984).
Laura immediately retired and never looked back. She and Jarre divorced
in 1984. Little was heard from Laura until notice of her 2007 death at
her Beverly Hills residence at age 76. She is survived by her
screenwriting son Kevin Jarre.
