On January 6, 1912 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Gretchen Young was born. When Loretta was just an infant her father abanded the family and when Loretta was three years old her mother took Loretta and her sisters Polly Ann and Betty Jane to Hollywood and they worked in movies as extras and Loretta's mother ran a boarding house. Loretta's mother married again and had another daughter Georgiana. The four sisters did play in a movie together they played sisters in the movie "The Story of Alexander Graham Bell".
Loretta starred in her first movie at age four when she starred in a silent movie with Fanny Ward. Loretta attended a convent shcool, but returned back home when she was fourteen. When Loretta was fourteen, Director Mervyn LeRoy called Loretta's sister Polly Ann to offer apart in the movie "Naughty,But Nice" but her sister was out of town, Loretta volentered to do the part, the next year Loretta played in another movie "Laugh, Clown , Laugh" with Lon Chaney that was the movie that made Loretta a star. Loretta made an easy transaction to talking movies, and The American Institute of Voice Teachers honord Loretta for "posseing the finest femine voice on the screen" for 3 years straight she was honord with that award.
In 1930, she starred in a movie "The Second Floor Mystery" with Grant Withers, he was 9 years older than Loretta, Loretta was 17 at the time and she married Grant Withers, but it was annulled in 1931. In 1937 she adopted her daughter Judy. In 1938 she won her first and only Acadamey Award for her role in "The Farmer's Daughter". In 1940, Loretta married Tom Lewis, a TV Executive, she had two sons with him Christopher and Peter.In 1956, Loretta and and Tom seperated and in 1969 they divorced.
In 1953 she retired from films, but started a new career in television with her show "The Loretta Young Show" (aka:"Letter to Loretta" it won her three Emmy Awards and ran from 1953-1961.
In 1961 she wrote her autobiography "The Things I had to Learn".In the late 1980's it came out that Loretta's adopted daughter Judy wasn't really adopted she was the child of Loretta and Clark Gable. In 1993, Loretta married Jean Louis, He died in 1997. Sadly,Loretta Young died of ovarian cancer on August 12,2000 in Los Angeles , California, she was 87.
