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Lola Jean Albright (born July 20, 1925, Akron, Ohio) was an American singer and actress.
Albright worked as a model before moving to Hollywood. She began her motion picture career with a bit part in the 1948 film The Pirate, and followed it with an important role in the acclaimed 1949 hit Champion. For the next ten years, she appeared in secondary roles in over twenty films, including several 'B' Westerns. Albright also acted in guest roles on several television series.
In 1958, she won the role of Edie Hart on Peter Gunn, a television detective series produced by Blake Edwards and directed by Robert Altman, with the theme music that made Henry Mancini famous. Albright played a nightclub singer who was the romantic interest of Peter Gunn, played by Craig Stevens. In 1959 she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series. Her role required singing and led to the 1957 release of her music album Lola Wants You, as well as her album 1959 Dreamsville, in which her songs were accompanied by Henry Mancini and his orchestra.
Albright's popularity led to several major film roles, including Elvis Presley's 1962 film, Kid Galahad; the 1964 French film Les Felins by director René Clément; and the epic western The Way West.
Later in 1964 she appeared as Duff Daniels in the episode "Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones" with her former Peter Gunn co-star Craig Stevens in his short-lived CBS drama Mr. Broadway.
In 1966, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award at the 16th Berlin International Film Festival for her role in Lord Love a Duck.
In 1968, Albright appeared in The Impossible Years, with David Niven and Christina Ferrare, and in Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? with Doris Day. She also appeared in the NBC medical drama The Eleventh Hour.
Albright temporarily replaced Dorothy Malone as Constance Mackenzie on the hit primetime soap opera Peyton Place, when Malone had to undergo emergency surgery. Albright continued to perform both in films and as a television guest actor until her retirement in the early 1980s.
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