Loretta Young Biography Quotes 48 Report mistakes

Early Life
Loretta Young was born Gretchen Young on January 6, 1913, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her family moved to Southern California when she was young, and she and her sisters Polly Ann Young and Sally Blane all found their way into motion pictures as children. Raised in the Catholic faith by their mother, Gladys, the sisters grew up near the Hollywood studios just as the American film industry was consolidating its power. Gretchen adopted the professional name Loretta during her teen years, and by the late 1920s she was appearing regularly on screen.

From Silent Child Roles to Sound-Era Star
Young began with uncredited work in silent films and transitioned smoothly into talkies, where her luminous screen presence, distinctive voice, and poise stood out. Early notable appearances included Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) opposite Lon Chaney, and then a breakthrough in the sound era with roles that displayed both dramatic sensitivity and light comedic timing. A key early collaboration came with director Frank Capra on Platinum Blonde (1931), which paired her with Jean Harlow and established Young's range in romantic comedy.

Studio-Era Ascendancy
Throughout the 1930s she alternated between dramas and romances, building a reputation for skillful, unaffected acting and for immaculate screen glamour. She headlined Ramona (1936), one of the era's Technicolor attractions, and worked with top leading men including Cary Grant, Tyrone Power, and Don Ameche. She played Mabel Hubbard in The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939), opposite Ameche, with her real-life sisters Polly Ann Young and Sally Blane appearing as Mabel's sisters, a popular novelty that underscored the family's Hollywood footprint. Directors such as Frank Borzage and Henry King also helped shape her screen persona.

Personal Life and Family
In 1930 Young eloped with actor Grant Withers; the marriage was soon annulled, and she moved carefully thereafter, mindful of her faith and public image. While filming The Call of the Wild (1935) with Clark Gable, she became pregnant, and in 1935 she gave birth to a daughter, Judy Lewis. In an era of rigid studio control and strict morality clauses, Young kept the paternity private; Judy was presented to the world as adopted and was raised within the family. Decades later, Judy Lewis publicly revealed her parentage in a memoir, and the long-private story became part of the complicated history of studio-era Hollywood. In 1940 Young married radio executive and producer Tom Lewis. They raised Judy and had two sons: Christopher Lewis, who became a writer-producer, and Peter Lewis, who later gained recognition as a guitarist and songwriter with the rock band Moby Grape. The marriage ended in divorce in 1969. In 1993 Young married the celebrated costume designer Jean Louis, whose creations, including her famous television gowns, had long accentuated her image; he predeceased her in 1997.

Peak Film Years and Accolades
The mid- to late-1940s brought some of Young's most enduring work. She starred in The Stranger (1946), directed by and co-starring Orson Welles, with Edward G. Robinson, and in The Bishop's Wife (1947) with Cary Grant and David Niven. Her performance as a determined Swedish-American maid turned congresswoman in The Farmer's Daughter (1947), opposite Joseph Cotten and Ethel Barrymore, earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress. She followed with Rachel and the Stranger (1948), sharing the screen with William Holden and Robert Mitchum, and received another Oscar nomination for Come to the Stable (1949). She reunited with Clark Gable in Key to the City (1950), showing her sustained box-office appeal well into the postwar period.

Pioneering Television Work
In 1953 Young made one of the most successful transitions of any film star to weekly dramatic television with Letter to Loretta, soon retitled The Loretta Young Show. She hosted and often starred in self-contained stories that emphasized moral choices and personal integrity, introducing each episode with a signature entrance in a swirling gown. The series ran through 1961 on NBC and made her a household name for a new generation. As both on-camera talent and hands-on producer, she exercised unusual creative control for a woman in 1950s television, choosing scripts, shaping themes, and collaborating closely with designers and directors. The program brought her multiple Emmy Awards and cemented her status as a pioneer of star-driven anthology drama. She returned to series television with The New Loretta Young Show (1962-1963), playing a widow and mother in a contemporary family drama.

Style, Faith, and Public Image
Young was renowned for immaculate grooming and an elegant silhouette, cultivated with the help of designers such as Jean Louis. Her public persona blended movie-star glamour with a forthright Catholic conscience; she favored stories in which characters faced ethical dilemmas and often included brief closing remarks that underlined the episode's moral. Colleagues frequently cited her professionalism on set, and younger performers, especially women, saw in her career a template for insisting on standards and for seeking meaningful parts within a male-dominated system.

Later Career and Final Years
After stepping back from regular series work, Young made occasional screen appearances, including well-received television movies in the 1980s that earned awards attention and introduced her to viewers who knew her mostly from reruns. She continued to champion charitable causes, many tied to her faith and to children's welfare. Family remained central: she maintained close ties with her sons Christopher and Peter; Judy Lewis, whose life story intertwined painfully with Hollywood secrecy, later reconciled with her mother; and her half-sister Georgiana Young, married to actor Ricardo Montalban, extended the family's ties within the industry.

Legacy
Loretta Young died on August 12, 2000, in Los Angeles, at age 87. Across more than six decades, she created a body of work that spanned silent films, Golden Age features, and the formative years of American television. She is remembered for her Oscar-winning film roles, her groundbreaking Emmy-recognized anthology series, and a distinctive combination of poise, discipline, and empathy that made her a model of star professionalism. The collaborators who surrounded her, co-stars such as Cary Grant, Joseph Cotten, Tyrone Power, Orson Welles, and David Niven; directors like Frank Capra and Frank Borzage; and creative partners including Jean Louis, helped shape a career that mirrored the evolution of American screen entertainment from the 1920s to the turn of the millennium.

Our collection contains 48 quotes who is written by Loretta, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Ethics & Morality - Wisdom - Art - Love.

Other people realated to Loretta: Sam Goldwyn (Businessman)