Jean Parker

Jean Parker (born Luise Stephanie Zelinska, August 11, 1915 – November 30, 2005) was an American film and stage actress. She landed her first screen test while still in high school. She acted opposite such well-known actors as Katharine Hepburn, Robert Donat, Edward G. Robinson, Randolph Scott and Laurel and Hardy. She was married four times and had one son, Robert Lowery Hanks.

Career

Born as Luise Stephanie Zelinska in Deer Lodge, Montana of Polish-French descent, both her father, who was variously a gunsmith, a hunter and a chef, and her mother, one of 18 children of a pioneer family, were unemployed during the depression of the 1930s. In her adolescence, she chose to go by the name Lois Mae Green.

She appeared in 70 movies from 1932 through 1966. In 1932, she posed as a flower girl and living poster in a float in the Tournament of Roses Parade, where she was seen by Ida Koverman, secretary to MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer. The following day the studio called her on the phone and invited her for a screen test. She attended Pasadena schools and graduated from John Muir High School. Her original aspirations were in the fine arts and illustration.