Roy Rognan(1910-1943)
- Actor
Was married to Jean O'Rourke, with whom he
formed a comic ballroom dance act as "Lorraine and Rognan." Together,
they appeared as a specialty routine in two Paramount musical films,
The Fleet's In (1942), in which
they danced to "I Remember You" backed by
Jimmy Dorsey's orchestra, and
Salute for Three (1943), in
which they entertained at a serviceman's canteen. Both Lorraine and
Rognan were among the 39 passengers on the ill-fated USO plane which
crashed on February 22, 1943 off the coast of Lisbon, Portugal, on
which singer Jane Froman was among the 14
survivors. Also spared was Jean Lorraine, but Rognan was a fatality.
The disaster, and Froman's recovery, were basis for the 1952 film
biography of Froman
Un refrain dans mon coeur (1952),
starring Susan Hayward. In its
June 16, 1943 review of "Salute for Three," Variety opined, "Jeanne
(sic) Lorraine and the late Roy Rognan (who lost his life in the Lisbon
clipper crash) score heavily with their classic comedy ballroom
dancing."
