Biography

Lana Morris always appeared to be more confident and mature than the other post war British starlets. However, the big roles always escaped her and she appeared as a supporting actress in many British films of the 1950s. She later re-started her career, appearing as a professional panellist on many of the TV shows of the 1960s.

- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

Lana Morris was one of the British cinema's brightest stars in the 1950s and enjoyed considerable success in films such as Spring in Park Lane (1948) and Trottie True (1949).

Born Averil Anita Maureen Anita Morris, she made her stage debut as a dancer in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London.

She changed her name to Lana Morris shortly before film producer Herbert Wilcox cast her as a cockney maid in the smash hit Spring in Park Lane with Anna Neagle. She was teamed with Norman Wisdom in Trouble in Store and Man of the Moment and in 1950 she appeared in the West End in the farce Don't Lose Your Head.

While appearing in the TV program, Kaleidoscope, she met her future husband, Ronnie Walden, who went on to become the head of BBC Light Entertainment.

Back on stage in 1967 she co-starred with Gladys Cooper in Wait Until Dark and other West End hits included Play On With Love (1970) and the long running comedy Move Over, Mrs Markham (1971) in which she appeared with Moira Lister and Cicely Courtneidge. In 1978 she starred in Shut Your Eyes and Think of England and in 1983 she took over from Judi Dench in the touring production of Pack of Lies.

The 1980s saw her back on television in programs such as Howards Way and Inspector Morse and with repeats of many of her other TV shows being shown all over the world she was comfortable enough to pick and choose work.

Prior to her sudden death she had completed just one performance of the play Dangerous to Know at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, in which she had appeared with Michael Praed and Rula Lenska. An understudy was found at short notice and an announcement was made before the curtain on the second night by producer Bill Kenright.

She was a stylish and gifted actress; one critic wrote of her, "Lana Morris is one of the lucky few for whom a film or play is always waiting."

- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous