Laura Clay (1849 - 1941)

A daughter of Cassius Marcellus Clay and his wife Mary Jane Warfield, Clay was born at their estate, White Hall, near Richmond, Kentucky. The youngest of four daughters, Laura was raised largely by her mother, due to her father’s long absences as he pursued his political career and activities as an abolitionist. Clay was educated […]

Laura Devon (1931 - 2007)

Laura Devon was born May 23, 1931 in Chicago. Her birth name has been given as either Mary Lou Briley or Mary Laura Briley. Her father was identified in the press as Merrill Devon, an automotive engineer, and her mother as Velma Prather. She attended school in Chicago and Grosse Pointe. She entered Wayne State University, […]

Laura Gardin Fraser (1889 - 1966)

American Sculptor. Born Laura Gardin on September 14, 1889, in Chicago, daugther of John Emil and Alice Tilton Gardin. As a young girl, Laura was given her first horse and developed her lifelong love of animals, which often became her subjects. She had an aptitude in modeling figures and working in clay, a talent she […]

Laura Hope Crews (1879 - 1942)

Actress. She began her career as a child in her native San Francisco, performing in stage shows before coming to New York in 1901. For the next several years she was a prominent member of Henry Miller’s company, performing on Broadway. In the 1920s, she split her time between performing in the theatre and films, […]

Laura Joyce Bell (1858 - 1904)

Opera Singer. A contralto, she was a star of light opera in the late 19th century. Born Hannah Joyce Maskell, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England and made her stage debut there at the Strand Theatre. She traveled to New York City, New York and made her first American appearance […]

Laura Keene (1826 - 1873)

Actress. Born Mary Frances Moss, in London, England, she came to the United States in 1852 and quickly found success on the American stage. In 1855, she made history becoming the first female theatrical manager and the following year she moved into her own self-titled theater. It was a successful venture for a number of […]

Laura La Plante (1904 - 1996)

Laura La Plante Beautiful silent film actress Laura La Plante was born Laura La Plant in St. Louis, Missouri on November 1st, 1904. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was a child and she was educated in the public schools there. At age 15 she broke into films, after being noticed for her […]

Laura Oakley (1879 - 1957)

Actress of the silent era. Oakley appeared in the films, “The Vanishing Dagger” (1920), “The Rise And Fall of Officer 13” (1915), “Sally Scraggs Housemaid” (1914), “Hawkeye And The Cheese Mystery” (1914), “The Deuce And Two Pair” (1914), “Under The Black Flag” (1913), “The Buccaneers” (1913), “Memories” (1913), “The Girl Ranchers” (1913) and “When His […]

Laura Sadler (1980 - 2003)

Actress. Born in Ascot, Berkshire, England. She was identified as a future talent at early age by Dustin Hoffman, who had seen her in a play. Sadler is best remembered fo her roles on such British television series’ as, ‘Judi Jeffreys’ on “Grange Hill” from 1997 to 1999, ‘Skirty Marm’ in “Belfry Witches” in 1999, […]

Laura Scudder (1881 - 1959)

Born in Philadelphia, Laura Scudder worked as a nurse before moving to California. While there she became the first female attorney in Ukiah, California before moving south to Monterey Park, California, where she started her food company in 1926. At first, potato chips were packaged in barrels or tins, which left chips at the bottom stale […]

Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema (1852 - 1909)

Artist. The second wife of noted Dutch-born artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, she had a significant career as a painter in her own right. Raised in London, Laura met the somewhat older Alma-Tadema in late 1869 at the home of artist Ford Madox Brown. Lawrence, who had just lost his wife, was apparently taken with her, […]

Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema (1852 - 1909)

Artist. The second wife of noted Dutch-born artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, she had a significant career as a painter in her own right. Raised in London, Laura met the somewhat older Alma-Tadema in late 1869 at the home of artist Ford Madox Brown. Lawrence, who had just lost his wife, was apparently taken with her, […]

Laurel Blair Salton Clark (1961 - 2003)

United States Astronaut. Chosen as an astronaut in 1996, she was serving as a Mission Specialist on the United States Space Shuttle “Columbia” when on February 1, 2003 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration lost all communication and radar contact with the shuttle just minutes before a 9:16AM scheduled landing time. A short time later […]

Laurel Clark (1961 - 2003)

During medical school Laurel Clark did active duty training with the Diving Medicine Department at the United States Navy Experimental Diving Unit in March 1987. After completing medical school, Clark underwent postgraduate medical education in pediatrics from 1987 to 1988 at the National Naval Medical Center. The following year she completed Navy undersea medical officer […]

Lauren Bacall (1924 - 2014)

Lauren Bacall Was born Betty Joan Perske on September 16, 1924, in The Bronx, New York, the only child of Natalie (née Weinstein-Bacal), a secretary who later legally changed her surname to Bacall, and William Perske, who worked in sales. Both her parents were Jewish. According to Bacall’s own statement, her mother emigrated from Kingdom […]

Lauren Gail Bessette (1964 - 1999)

Sister-in-law of socialite figure John F. Kennedy, Jr., she and her sister Carolyn were killed when the plane they were traveling in crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.   The National Transportation Safety Board later determined that the probable cause was the pilot’s failure to maintain control during descent over water at […]

Lauren Gail Bessette (1964 - 1999)

Sister-in-law of socialite figure John F. Kennedy, Jr., she and her sister Carolyn were killed when the plane they were traveling in crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.   The National Transportation Safety Board later determined that the probable cause was the pilot’s failure to maintain control during descent over water at […]

Laurence Binyon (1869 - 1943)

British poet and critic. Robert Laurence Binyon was born in Lancaster, the son of a clergyman. He was educated at St. Paul’s School in London and at Trinity College, Oxford; where, in 1890, he won the Newdigate Prize for his poem “Persephone.” After he graduated, he worked at the British Museum in the Department of […]

Laurence Chaderton (1970 - 1640)

First Master of Emmanuel College, at the request of its founder, Sir Walter Mildmay (q.v.). Live to the ageof 103. Buried in the chapel of the college, where this memorial window also features. (bio by: David Conway)

Laurence Haddon (1970 - 2013)

Actor. He left Syracuse University after the United States’ entry into World War II and served with the Merchant Marines. Following his return home, he worked in the aluminum industry for a short period prior to catching the acting bug and embarking upon New York. He achieved small stage roles and in 1953 was cast […]

Laurence Harvey (1928 - 1973)

Actor. Born Laruschka Mischa Skikne in Lithuania, he made his cinema debut in the British film “House of Darkness” in 1948. He was most noted for his roles as Colonel Travis in the film “The Alamo”(1960) and as Raymond Shaw in “The Manchurian Candidate” (1962). His many other credits included “Knights of the Round Table” […]

Laurence Marshall (1889 - 1980)

Electronics Entrepreneur. In 1922 he founded the Raytheon Corporation and was president of the company for 38 years, until his retirement in 1950. His company developed the radar, the microwave and the Hawk missile. A noted anthropologist as well, he and his family organized an expedition and studied the Bushman of the Kalahari Desert in […]

Laurence Olivier (1907 - 1989)

Laurence Olivier Laurence Olivier could speak William Shakespeare‘s lines as naturally as if he were “actually thinking them”, said English playwright Charles Bennett, who met Olivier in 1927. Laurence Kerr Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, England, to Agnes Louise (Crookenden) and Gerard Kerr Olivier, a High Anglican priest. His surname came from a great-great-grandfather […]

Laurence William Austin (1922 - 1997)

Folk Figure. Born the son of Ethel Austin, Cecil B. DeMille’s tailor, and William Austin, a silent film actor. He apparently cultivated a mysterious mien, declining even to discuss his age in interviews. He acquired a theater specializing in silent films about 1990. He apparently delighted in his role as proprietor of Silent Movie, which […]

Laurens Hammond (1895 - 1973)

Engineer, Businessman, Music Innovator. He was the founder and president of Hammond Organ Company. Graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the Cornwell University, he is known for being the inventor of homonymous electromechanical organ. The realization of this portable instrument was the result of his idea of introducing the people to the pleasure of making music, […]

Laurent Marie Clerc (1785 - 1869)

Deaf Education Pioneer. He is remembered as the “Apostle of the Deaf in America” for his co-founding of the first school for the deaf in North America. He was born Louis Laurent Marie Clerc in the small village of La Balme, France where his father was the mayor. It is not clear if he was […]

Laurette Luez (1928 - 1999)

Laurette Luez was the second of three children born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Frank and Francesca Luiz, vaudeville singers and dancers who performed traditional Hawaiian and Spanish music. Luez’s father was Hawaiian with some Portuguese ancestry. Her mother was Australian, the daughter of an actor. Luez first showed up on stage doing a hula dance […]

Laurette Taylor (1884 - 1946)

Actress. Born Helen Laurette Magdalene Cooney in New York, she began her theatrical career as a child in vaudeville, where she was billed as “La Belle Laurette”. She was one of the brightest stars on Broadway and played in various stock companies as well as touring in plays produced by her first husband, Charles A. […]

Laurie Anders (1922 - 1992)

Entertainer. Born Lorayne Day in Casper, Wyoming. A voluptuous blonde starlet, she enjoyed brief fame as a crooning cowgirl on CBS TV’s “The Ken Murray Show” from 1950 to 1953. Her hit theme song, “I Love the Wide Open Spaces” (with the emphasis on “Wide”), became a popular catch phrase of the era. Anders brought […]

Laurie Bartram (1958 - 2007)

She was an actress and ballet dancer who started in 1973. She is perhaps best known for her role as the camp counselor Brenda in the original film Friday the 13th, a performance where she was praised as one of the more “likeable” characters in the film. She also appeared in the soap opera Another […]