Born Luana Margo Anderson, Luana Anders began her career as a bike messenger at MGM, along with fellow actors,
Jack Nicholson,
Sandra Knight and future film producers
George Edwards, and
Fred Roos. She convinced Nicholson to join her in her improv class with legendary teacher and veteran character actor
Jeff Corey. Luana began in such B-films as
Reform School Girl (1957) (alongside her lifelong friend Sally Kellerman) and
Life Begins at 17 (1958), in which she costarred with actor (and future producer)
Mark Damon.
Luana also worked with Damon in
Roger Corman's
The Young Racers (1963). The sound man on
The Young Racers (1963) asked her if she wanted to star in his first directing effort. The sound man was
Francis Ford Coppola, and Anders played the conniving and duplicitous Louise Haloran, in Coppola's debut feature,
Dementia 13 (1963).
She played
Vincent Price's sister, Catherine Medina in Corman's
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961).
Anders acted opposite
Charles Grodin, in
Sex and the College Girl (1964). Luana appeared in 3 films for director
Curtis Harrington; ingenue Ellen Sands, in
Night Tide (1961), a cameo as a party guest in
Games (1967), and repressed librarian Louise in the perverse
The Killing Kind (1973).
Anders achieved cult status as groovy hippie commune dweller Lisa in
Easy Rider (1969).
Robert Altman frequently credited Luana with getting his career started. She appeared as a streetwalker
Sandy Dennis picks up in Altman's
That Cold Day in the Park (1969).
Friend Jack Nicholson made a point of seeing and commenting on the movie during the Cannes film festival where
Easy Rider (1969) won the Palme D'or; the subsequent publicity gave Altman the notoriety to launch his career.
She frequently acted in films with good friend Nicholson; she was especially memorable as a Buddhist chanting party girl in
The Last Detail (1973). Luana was terrorized by a deranged
Mickey Rooney on an abandoned studio back-lot in the unreleased gonzo oddity
The Manipulator (1971) and starred in
Robert Downey Sr.'s
Greaser's Palace (1972).
Anders appeared in
Shampoo (1975), a film reportedly based on her romance with hairdresser Richard Alcala; the picture was written by her friend and fellow Corey classmate Robert Towne.
She had a recurring part on the daytime soap opera,
Santa Barbara (1984).
Amongst the series Luana appeared on, are
Hunter (1984),
Ben Casey (1961) and
The Rifleman (1958).
Anders co-wrote the comedy
Limit Up (1989), and was uncredited in scripting the action/adventure romp
Fire on the Amazon (1993), which was
Sandra Bullock's debut film for Corman. She appeared in a number of movies with collaborator
Richard Martini, including
You Can't Hurry Love (1988), about which Variety declared, "It's about time we see the great Luana Anders back on the screen".
She was a member of the improvisational comedy stage group, The Committee.
A lifelong Buddhist and supporter of the American chapter of Soka Gakkai International, Luana Anders died on
July 21, 1996.
Fire on the Amazon(1993)
Limit Up(1989)
One from the Heart(1981)
Cannes Man(1996)as Agent on Phone
American Strays(1996)as Martha
The Point of Betrayal(1995)as Nurse
Wild Bill(1995)as Sanitarium Woman
Criminal Passion(1994)as Martha
The Escape Artist(1982)
Harper Valley P.T.A.(1978)
You Are What You Eat(1968)as Self
Here's Hollywood(1960)as Self
Compression(1995)as Self
Welcome to the Basement(2012)as Devra
100 Years of Horror(1996)as Louise Haloran
Halloween Monster Bash(1991)as Louise Haloran
Madhouse(1974)as Catherine Medina (Clip from 'The Pit and the Pendulum')
