1915–1932: Early life Parker was born on August 11, 1915, in
Deer Lodge, Montana, to Lewis A. Green, a gunsmith, hunter, and chef from
South Dakota, and Melvina Burch (later known professionally as Mildred Brenner, who worked in the MGM set department), a native of Deer Lodge. Many of the details surrounding Parker's birth have been reported with little consistency. Secondary sources regarding her birth year range from 1912 to 1916, and some claim she was born in
Butte, not Deer Lodge. Furthermore, some sources state her birth name as Lois Mae (or May) Green, while others indicate she was born Luise Stephanie Zelinska. Despite these discrepancies, Parker's son, Robert, insisted she was born Lois May Green in Deer Lodge in 1915,
1938–1949: Film and stage In 1938, she had the lead role in the drama
Romance of the Limberlost, followed by a supporting part in RKO's comedy
The Flying Deuces (1939) opposite
Stan Laurel and
Oliver Hardy. On November 9, 1939, she opened the Downtown Theatre in
Oakland, California, and in December 1941, at the Orinda Theater in
Contra Costa County. On February 14, 1941, Parker married Los Angeles radio commentator Henry Dawson Sanders, known professionally as Douglas Dawson. Beginning in September 1941, the couple operated a flying service (the Dawson-Parker Parker Flying Service) from
Palm Springs Airport in California, which was eventually shuttered at the outbreak of
World War II. In July 1942, Sanders joined the United States Coast Guard, and in September 1942 the couple were separated preceding their July 1943 divorce. A month after she was granted her final divorce decree on July 29, 1944, Parker married Dr. Kurt "Curtis" Arthur Grotter, a Hollywood insurance broker and former correspondent for a group of Czechoslovak newspapers and active with the Braille Institute in Los Angeles, as he had a substantial loss of vision. (second from left), 1949 Parker remained active in film throughout the war, playing opposite
Lon Chaney Jr. in the
film noir thriller ''
Dead Man's Eyes'' (1944). For
Monogram Pictures, she inaugurated the Kitty O'Day mystery film series, playing the title character in two films: ''
Detective Kitty O'Day (1944), and Adventures of Kitty O'Day (1945). In the latter part of the 1940s, Parker appeared in several stage productions: She made her Broadway debut in the title role of the comedy Loco
in 1946. Parker returned to Broadway with a starring role opposite Bert Lahr in Burlesque (1946–1947). Her performance in the production was well received by audiences. A review of the October 1948 Philadelphia premiere by The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the production a rave review, noting: "To say that piquant and personable Miss Parker, and Chaney as her uncouth, comedy Caliban, play their parts as though they had been written for them, is the highest possible praise, but is amply merited for the zestful spontaneity of their performances." In the summer of 1949, Parker appeared in a production of the comedy play Light Up the Sky'', opposite
Gregory Peck, which opened at the
La Jolla Playhouse before having touring performances throughout the fall of that year. On December 29, 1949, Parker and her third husband, Grotter, were granted a divorced following their July 1949 separation. In April 1947, Jean Parker Christened Seaboard Air Line passenger train, "The Silver Comet" at New York's Penn station, before the train's first run to Birmingham, Alabama.
1950–2005: Later career and retirement Parker and Chaney continued to appear in touring productions of
Born Yesterday through 1950. Also in 1950, Parker returned to film with a supporting role in
The Gunfighter opposite Gregory Peck, playing a saloon singer. Parker made international headlines when she was escorted off
Bondi Beach by swimsuit inspector Abe Laidlaw, who measured her bikini and determined it was too skimpy. On May 19, 1951, Parker secretly married actor
Robert Lowery Hanks at the home of a friend in
Hialeah, Florida. The two had previously co-starred in the 1944 film
The Navy Way. In late 1951, Parker and Lowery co-starred in a touring stage production of
Sidney Kingsley's
Detective Story. Critic Harold Whitehead, reviewing a
Montreal performance of the play, observed that Parker seemed "shaky and ill-at-ease" throughout. Parker continued to appear occasionally in films throughout the remainder of the 1950s, including a starring role opposite
Edward G. Robinson in the film noir
Black Tuesday (1954), followed by a role in
A Lawless Street (1955). In 1954, Parker played the role of "
Cattle Kate Watson of Wyoming" in an episode of the syndicated television series
Stories of the Century, the first
western program to win an
Emmy Award. Later in her career and life, Parker continued a successful stint on the West Coast theatre circuit and worked as an acting coach. Parker worked as an
acting coach in the 1970s for a time, but spent the following several decades largely out of the public eye, earning a reputation as a "Hollywood recluse." In 1998, she moved into the
Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in the
Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles. ==Death==