Lola Albright Obituary

Actress and singer Lola Albright, who appeared in midcentury movies and television, and released two albums as a singer, died Thursday, March 23, 2017. She was 92.Albright’s acting career began in the late 1940s with roles in films such as 1948’s “Easter Parade” and 1949’s “Champion.” She appeared in dozens of films through the 1950s and ’60s, and she played a variety of roles on television. Albright is known best perhaps for playing the nightclub singer Edie Hart on TV’s “Peter Gunn” from 1958 to 1961.

She earned an Emmy nomination for that role, in 1959.In 1961, Albright starred opposite Elvis Presley in “Kid Galahad” and won critical acclaim for her role as the seductress of a younger man in “A Cold Wind in August.” In 1967, she starred with Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum in the Western “The Way West.”Albright recorded two albums as a vocalist, “Lola Wants You” in 1957 and “Dreamsville” in 1959, accompanied on both albums by Henry Mancini’s orchestra. She was known for a throaty, sultry vocal style.Albright continued acting through the mid-1980s, often appearing in guest-star roles on television series including “Starsky & Hutch,” “Kojak,” “Columbo,” “The Incredible Hulk,” and “Airwolf.”Albright was married three times. The first, in 1944, ended as her acting career was taking off in 1949.

She was married to actor Jack Carson from 1952 to 1958. In 1961, she married Bill Chadney, who had played her pianist on “Peter Gunn.” Albright and Chadney were divorced in 1971.