![]() Naughty But Nice led to a contract and the stardom Young had wanted nearly all her life. Young would eventually have her bite corrected with braces and retainers. Young found out about their plan to remove the teeth and replace them with ones going inward. The studio also saw another problem with the girl-her protruding front teeth. Young read about her new name in the newspapers. Thinking the name too European, it was decided Loretta was a better choice. Moore had a favorite doll named Lauritia and suggested that as a name. The studio officials did not like the name Gretchen, though. Colleen Moore, the star of Naughty But Nice, in which Young appeared, noticed her uniqueness and talked the studio into giving her a screen test. Young got her first adult part after asking a telephone caller if she could substitute for her sister Polly, who was unavailable, at a casting call. ![]() This attention garnered her juvenile bit parts when she was 11, a studio contract when she was 12, and starring adult roles when she was 14. If they were supposed to move left, she moved right. If the children were supposed to sit, she stood. On movie sets, Young gained attention by doing things a little differently. She would eventually discover her learning disability was dyslexia. With determination and help from others, she managed her academic problems in reading and spelling. Often her classroom was a corner of the studio stage and her teacher a tutor. As a student, Young would get days off from school whenever the studio needed her as an extra. Young developed a strong faith and moral convictions from which she never wavered, although it might be said she strayed. Young's mother was a devout Catholic who saw to her daughters' educations by sending them to parochial schools, including the Ramona Convent boarding school and Catholic Girls' High School, and by inviting priests for dinner. The couple would later remain friends after their divorce. The union produced daughter, Georgiana, in 1925. When Young was 10, her mother married George Belzer. Jack also went to live with another family he never returned permanently. The two girls lived with Maetsie and her husband for over a year. Gladys consented when "Maetsie" agreed to take Gretchen's cousin Carleen Traxler, too, and allow them to return home whenever they wanted. Mae Murray, the picture's star, liked the little girl and asked Gladys if she could come live with her. Her first role was as a fairy in The Primrose Ring. When Gretchen turned four, she too started earning money as an extra. An assistant director for Famous Players-Lasky, he persuaded Gladys to let her older girls become movie extras. Gladys's brother-in-law, Ernest Traxler, lived nearby. Gladys packed up her children and moved to Hollywood, where she opened a boarding house to support her family. One day in 1916, Earl left for work and did not come back. She joined sisters Polly Ann and Betty Jane (who became the actress Sally Blane) a brother Jack came along later. Her parents were Earl Young, a railroad auditor, and Gladys Royal Young. Loretta Young was named Gretchen by her parents when she was born on January 6, 1913, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Except for absences for serious illness and the births of her children, she was continuously before the cameras from age 12 through the early 1960s, making more than 250 film performances and appearing on more than 300 television programs. She was the first actor to win both an Academy Award and an Emmy. ![]() Young ended her film career to become a pioneer of the Golden Age of Television. She attained star status on film as well as on the radio, even though she had no theater or dramatic school instruction. Her remarkable career, begun as a child extra during the Silent Era of motion pictures, extended through the Golden Age of Hollywood. Few actors have enjoyed the professional longevity of the stunning Loretta Young (1913-2000) and even fewer in three media- motion pictures, radio theatre, and television.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |