Lila Leeds
| Lila Leeds | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Lila Lee Wilkinson January 28, 1928 Iola, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | September 15, 1999 (aged 71) Canoga Park, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1946–1949 |
| Spouse(s) |
Jack Little (annulled) Dean O. McCollom (1949–1950) Irving Rochlin (1951–?) |
Lila Leeds (January 28, 1928 – September 15, 1999) was an American film actress.
Born Lila Lee Wilkinson in Iola, Kansas, Leeds ran away from home as a teen. She worked as a dancer in St. Louis before moving to Los Angeles. While working as a hatcheck girl at Ciro's, she met and married actor, composer, singer and conductor Jack Little. The marriage was annulled when Leeds discovered that Little was already married.
After taking an acting course at the Bliss-Hayden School of Acting, Leeds signed with MGM and began appearing in films. Leeds appeared in the Red Skelton film The Show-Off (1946); Lady in the Lake (1947), based on a Raymond Chandler story; and in the Lana Turner vehicle Green Dolphin Street, where she played a Eurasian who drugs the leading man and rolls him for his money. She had a small part in So You Want to Be a Detective, which was part of the Joe McDoakes series of theatrical shorts.
On September 1, 1948, Leeds gained notoriety for being arrested together with actor Robert Mitchum on charges of marijuana possession. She subsequently spent sixty days in jail.
Considered a Lana Turner look-alike, Leeds was 20 years old and engaged to Turner's ex-husband Stephen Crane at the time of her arrest. Cheryl Crane, Turner and Stephen's daughter, wrote that Leeds first tried marijuana with members of Stan Kenton's orchestra and that she was introduced to heroin while in jail. After Leeds was arrested, Stephen Crane fled to Europe rather than become entangled in scandal.
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