Jean Parker (August 11, 1915 – November 30, 2005) was an American movie actress.
Born as Lois Mae Green in Deer Lodge, Montana, she appeared in 70 movies from 1932 through 1966. She was discovered by Ida Koverman, secretary to MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer, after she saw a poster featuring Parker portraying Father Time. She attended Pasadena schools and graduated from John Muir High School. Her original aspirations were in the fine arts and illustration.
She had a successful career at MGM, RKO and Columbia including important roles such as the tragic Beth in the original Little Women, among many other film appearances including Frank Capra's Lady for A Day and Gabriel Over the White House; Sequoia; The Ghost Goes West, opposite Robert Donat; and Rasputin and the Empress, with fellow players, the Barrymore siblings (John, Ethel, and Lionel) in the only movie they all made together. In 1939, she starred opposite Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in RKO's The Flying Deuces.
Parker stayed active in film throughout the 1940s, playing opposite Lon Chaney in "Dead Man's Eyes" "Detective Kitty O' Day", and a variety of other films. Parker managed her own airport and flying service with then-husband Doug Dawson in Palm Springs, California until shortly after the start of World War II. During World War II, she toured many of the veteran hospitals throughout the U.S. and performed on radio. In the 1950s, Parker co-starred opposite Edward G. Robinson in Black Tuesday; had a small but effective role in Gunfighter which starred Gregory Peck and appeared with Randolph Scott and Angela Lansbury in the western Lawless Street (1955). Her last film appearance was Apache Uprising (1966), directed by A. C. Lyles.
Parker also appeared on Broadway. In 1949 she replaced Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday on Broadway and enjoyed a successful run in this classic. Parker also appeared on Broadway opposite Bert Lahr in the play Burlesque, did summer stock in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was on tour in the play Candlelight and Loco, and performed on stage in other professional productions.
She married Robert Lowery (who played Batman in 1949) in 1950. Two years later she gave birth to a son, Robert Lowery Hanks, an executive with the city of Los Angeles, California. Later in life, she continued a successful stint on the West Coast theatre circuit and worked as an acting coach.
She spent her final years in the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, where she died of a stroke on November 30, 2005, aged 90.
Jean Parker was born Lois Mae Green in Deer Lodge, Montana August 11, 1915. Her father was Lewis Green, a gunsmith and hunter, and her mother was Melvina Burch, one of 18 children of a pioneer family that came to Deer Lodge from Missouri and Iowa. Jean's maternal grandfather was a Presbyterian minister. Jean was an accomplished gymnast and dancer, and was adopted by the Spickard family of Pasadena during her formative years when both her father and mother were unemployed during the Great Depression. Jean had entered a poster painting contest and won for portraying Father Time. Ida Koverman, assistant to MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer, heard that a pretty teenage girl had won the contest, contacted Jean, and when she saw how pretty Jean actually was, had Mayer offer her a MGM contract. Jean made several important films in her career, including Ghost Goes West, The (1935) with Robert Donat; Sequoia (1934), with Russell Hardie, shot in the Sequoia National Forest near Springville, CA; Little Women (1933), with'Joan Bennett (I)' and Katharine Hepburn; Operator 13 (1934) with Marion Davies; and many other fine films. After several successful trips cross country entertaining injured servicemen during World War II, Jean lost her successful flying service, co-owned with Doug Dawson in Palm Springs, married and divorced Curt Grotter of the Braille Institute in Los Angeles; and moved on to New York to star in the play "Loco". She also starred on Broadway in "Burlesque" with Bert Lahr and in "Born Yesterday," filling the role for Judy Holliday. Jean's husband, actor Robert Lowery, played opposite her as Brock in the play for a short stint. At the time of her death Jean lived at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California until her death from a stroke in November 2005. She has one son, Robert, an executive with the city of Los Angeles who makes his home in Redondo Beach, California; and two grandchildren, twin girls, Katie and Nora.
