Actress luana anders death
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Luana appeared in 3 films for director Curtis Harrington; ingenue Ellen Sands, in Night Tide (1961), a cameo as a party guest in Games (1967), and repressed librarian Louise in the perverse The Killing Kind (1973).
Anders achieved cult status as groovy hippie commune dweller Lisa in Easy Rider (1969). They starred together in the Westerns "The Missouri Breaks" and "Goin' South," the latter of which Nicholson also directed.
Later Career and Personal Life
Anders actively worked in television throughout her career, appearing in numerous long-running series such as "Little House on the Prairie," "Santa Barbara," and "Ironside." She also found time for theater, amassing nearly 80 credits on stage and screen.
Robert Altman frequently credited Luana with getting his career started.
A dedicated Buddhist, she was an active member of Soka Gakkai International.
Final Roles and Tragic Death
Anders's final film roles were in the 1996 comedies "American Strays" and "Cannes Man." Tragically, she died of breast cancer on July 21, 1996, at the age of 58.
Luana Anders
Versatile performer Luana Anders kindled two significant partnerships while studying acting in the 1950s.
Luana began in such B-films as Reform School Girl (1957) (alongside her lifelong friend Sally Kellerman) and Life Begins at 17 (1958), in which she costarred with actor (and future producer) Mark Damon.
Luana also worked with Damon in Roger Corman's The Young Racers (1963). Luana was terrorized by a deranged Mickey Rooney on an abandoned studio back-lot in the unreleased gonzo oddity The Manipulator (1971) and starred in Robert Downey Sr.'s Greaser's Palace (1972).
Anders appeared in Shampoo (1975), a film reportedly based on her romance with hairdresser Richard Alcala; the picture was written by her friend and fellow Corey classmate Robert Towne.
She had a recurring part on the daytime soap opera, Santa Barbara (1984).
Amongst the series Luana appeared on, are Hunter (1984), Ben Casey (1961) and The Rifleman (1958).
Anders co-wrote the comedy Limit Up (1989), and was uncredited in scripting the action/adventure romp Fire on the Amazon (1993), which was Sandra Bullock's debut film for Corman.
The first was with schlocky genre director Roger Corman, who cast Anders as the sister of iconic horror antagonist Vincent Price in his big-screen adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's macabre masterwork "The Pit and the Pendulum." Corman also introduced her to would-be auteur Francis Ford Coppola, with whom she worked on his cheapo 1963 thriller "Dementia 13," playing a scheming widow.
The sound man was Francis Ford Coppola, and Anders played the conniving and duplicitous Louise Haloran, in Coppola's debut feature, Dementia 13 (1963).
She played Vincent Price's sister, Catherine Medina in Corman's The Pit and the Pendulum (1961).
Anders acted opposite Charles Grodin, in Sex and the College Girl (1964).
In 1993, Anders adopted the pseudonym Margo Blue to pen the screenplay for "Fire on the Amazon," a Corman-produced B-movie notable for featuring a young Sandra Bullock. She convinced Nicholson to join her in her improv class with legendary teacher and veteran character actor Jeff Corey. The sound man on The Young Racers (1963) asked her if she wanted to star in his first directing effort.
Anders also appeared in small roles in two of Nicholson's four directorial efforts-the Western comedy "Goin' South" and "The Two Jakes," a follow-up to Roman Polanski's Nicholson-led noir, "Chinatown." Anders died in 1996, and Nicholson honored their friendship during his Best Actor acceptance speech for "As Good as It Gets" two years later.
She appeared as a streetwalker Sandy Dennis picks up in Altman's That Cold Day in the Park (1969).
Friend Jack Nicholson made a point of seeing and commenting on the movie during the Cannes film festival where Easy Rider (1969) won the Palme D'or; the subsequent publicity gave Altman the notoriety to launch his career.
She frequently acted in films with good friend Nicholson; she was especially memorable as a Buddhist chanting party girl in The Last Detail (1973).
She died of breast cancer at the age of 58. She was best known for Dementia 13, That Cold Day in the Park, and Personal Best.
Anders was a lifelong Buddhist. She made her acting debut as a teenager and began appearing in films and television shows throughout the late 1950s.
Breakthrough Roles
In 1958, Anders starred in several films directed by Joseph Kane, including "The Man Who Died Twice" and "The Notorious Mr.
Monks." She also played Lola in an episode of "M Squad" and Ellen in "Letter to Loretta." Her role as Carol Peck in Arthur Dreifuss's "Life Begins at 17" marked a notable success in her early career.
Height of Her Career
In 1961, Roger Corman cast Anders in his horror film "Pit and the Pendulum." In 1963, she landed her breakthrough role as Louise Haloran in Francis Ford Coppola's classic thriller "Dementia 13." Throughout the early 1960s, Anders's career soared, with prominent roles in films such as Corman's "The Young Racers."
Working with Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson
In 1969, Anders appeared in Dennis Hopper's "Easy Rider" alongside Peter Fonda.
Born Luana Margo Anderson, Luana Anders began her career as a bike messenger at MGM, along with fellow actors, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight and future film producers George Edwards, and Fred Roos. Besides being personal friends, the two collaborated frequently on projects, both appearing in the drifter bible "Easy Rider," with Anders as a skinny-dipping hippie, and in the salty naval comedy "The Last Detail," in which she played a similarly free-spirited party girl.
She appeared in a number of movies with collaborator Richard Martini, including You Can't Hurry Love (1988), about which Variety declared, "It's about time we see the great Luana Anders back on the screen".
She was a member of the improvisational comedy stage group, The Committee.
A lifelong Buddhist and supporter of the American chapter of Soka Gakkai International, Luana Anders died on July 21, 1996.
BornMay 12, 1938
DiedJuly 21, 1996(58)
Luana Anders (born Luana Margo Anderson; May 12, 1938 – July 21, 1996) was an American actress and screenwriter, often seen in films produced by Roger Corman.
Jack Nicholson, an old friend with whom she had attended their earliest acting classes with Jeff Corey, mentioned her in his Academy Award acceptance speech for As Good as It Gets.
Works with Luana Anders:
Film
Short Films
Television
Other screenplays
Luana Anders
| American film and TV actress Date of Birth: 12.05.1938 Country: USA |
Content:
- Early Life and Career
- Breakthrough Roles
- Height of Her Career
- Working with Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson
- Later Career and Personal Life
- Final Roles and Tragic Death
Early Life and Career
Born Luana Margo Anderson in New York City in 1938, Luana Anders first encountered the film industry as a child, delivering mail for MGM Studios.
It was during that same '50s acting class where she met Corman that Anders befriended legendary actor Jack Nicholson.