- Luana Walters
Luana Walters (July 22, 1912-May 19, 1963) was a motion picture actress from
Los Angeles, California .Walters was an expert horsewoman which led to her discovery as an actress at a
rodeo inPalm Springs, California . She won a woman's bucking contest which was being watched by a movie scout, who noticed her.Her film career began when she visited a friend on a
United Artists lot.Douglas Fairbanks Sr. was excited about her screen possibilities and arranged for a film test. However, only three days later Fairbanks went to Europe, and the test was never completed. Not long afterwards Joe Schenck saw Walters on the dance floor at the Cocoanut Grove inLos Angeles, California . After viewing the abbreviated test made by Fairbanks, Schenck offered her a contract with United Artists. The studio did not make a movie in the next six months so Walters' option was not taken up.Walters' screen credits start with an uncredited role in "Reaching For The Moon" (1930). Her skill as an equestrian helped her in parts in westerns like "Ride 'Em Cowboy" (1936), "Where The West Begins" (1938), "Mexicali Rose" (1939), and "Law Of The Wolf" (1939).
On many occasions Walters made films in which her role was cut out. This began when she made "Reaching For The Moon" with Fairbanks. Her parts were also deleted from "Spawn of the North" (1938) and "Souls At Sea" (1937). The former was a
Carol Lombard feature and the latter paired Walters withRobert Cummings .In the latter portion of her career Walters was in a number of
B-Movie films, most of them of thesci-fi and horror genres. She plays a female reporter on the trail of a fiend's story in "The Corpse Vanishes" (1942), withBela Lugosi . She appears as a cellblock guardin "Girls In Prison" (1956). Her final role came in "The She Creature" (1956).Luana Walters died of alcoholism in Los Angeles in 1963.
References
* The Helena Independent, "Harrison In Hollywood", December 23, 1938, Page 11.
*Ironwood, Michigan Daily Globe, "In Hollywood", December 8, 1936, Page 6.
*Mansfield, Ohio News Journal, "Theaters", June 29, 1942, Page 13.
*Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, "At The Theaters", March 3, 1938, Page 13.
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