Jeanette Loff

Jeanette Loff was born Janette Clarinda Lov in Orofino, Idaho^[a][1][5] to Marius (1878–1961) and Inga (née Loseth; 1885–1971) Lov.^[4] She was the eldest of three siblings. Her father, a farmer and a barber who played the violin in local orchestras,^[6] was a first-generation American born to Danish parents.^[b] Her mother was also a first-generation American, born to Norwegian parents. Marius relocated the family to Ottertail, Minnesota, where Loff lived with her younger sister Irene (1907–1993).^[c] They next moved to Wadena, Saskatchewan, Canada,^[8][9] in 1912 where Marius opened a barbershop.^[10] Another sister, Myrtle (1914–1957), was born there. Loff attended Lewiston High School in Lewiston, Idaho.^[4]

At the age of 11, Loff played the title role in a theatrical production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.^[4] At age 16 she was a lyric soprano and had the leading role in an operetta Treasure Hunters.^[4] When she was 17 the family moved to Portland, Oregon, where Loff continued her musical education at the Ellison-White Conservatory of Music. She played the organ at theaters in Portland under the name Jan Lov.^[3][11] She sometimes appeared singing theater prologues during vacations from school.^[12]

After moving to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in entertainment, Loff married jewelry salesman Harry K. Roseboom on October 8, 1926; their divorce was finalized three years later in Portland on October 8, 1929, with Loff claiming Roseboom became jealous and violent toward her because of her budding film career.^[13]

Loff's motion picture career began with an uncredited role in the 1927 silent film adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin.^[14] She was signed to a contract by Cecil B. DeMille with Pathé Exchange, anglicising her surname from Lov to Loff.^[6] She was soon cast as in ingénue roles in almost every instance, which enticed her to take a break from her movie career and perform on stage. In 1928, Loff was the first person to ride with Santa Claus down Hollywood Boulevard at the first Santa Claus Lane Parade in Los Angeles.^[15] In 1930, Pathé opted not to renew Loff's contract, after which she signed with Universal Pictures.^[16]

Loff's last screen role before she briefly retired was in the Paul Whiteman revue King of Jazz (1930).^[17] Her performance as a vocalist in the film was praised by Mordaunt Hall in a New York Times review.^[18] She also had a lead role in Party Girl (1930) opposite Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and received critical acclaim for her performance.^[19] The film, however, was controversial due to its depiction of an escort agency, and was banned in some U.S. cities.^[20]

Loff remained under contract to Universal for some months but made no additional films for the studio. Her absence from the film industry was noted in a 1933 issue of Motion Picture Magazine, in addition to speculation about her personal life:

Jeanette Loff, who has been absent from Hollywood for some time, seems to have been able to make Gilbert Roland forget all the other girls he has been interested in since his break with Norma Talmadge, if you care to believe the idle tongues of the cinema city. Miss Loff is planning to go on tour with Buddy Rogers and his band on the West Coast and later hopes to return to the screen.^[21]

Around 1934, Loff relocated to New York City and appeared in musical plays and with orchestras, before returning to films with a role as a country girl in Flirtation. Her final motion picture performances came in Hide-Out and the Joseph Santley-directed Million Dollar Baby, all released in 1934.^[22] After retiring from film, Loff wed Los Angeles businessman Bertram Eli Friedlob in 1936.^{[citation needed]}

On August 1, 1942, Loff ingested ammonia at the Beverly Hills home she shared with husband Friedlob on 9233 Doheny Road.^[23] The ammonia ingestion caused severe chemical burns to her throat and mouth.^[24] She died three days later of ammonia poisoning on August 4, 1942, in Los Angeles.

The New York Times reported Loff had ingested the ammonia "on the coast,"^[25] and coroners were unable to determine whether she ingested ammonia either accidentally or intentionally.^[24] She had been suffering from a stomach ailment and may have accidentally taken the wrong bottle of medication.^[26] While Loff's death could not be patently ruled either accident or suicide, her family maintained that she had been murdered.^[23] Loff is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.^{[citation needed]}

• List of unsolved deaths

• American Film Institute (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films 1921–1930. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-20969-5.
• Barrios, Richard (1995). A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-195-08811-3.
• Fleming, E. J. (2008). Paul Bern: The Life and Famous Death of the MGM Director and Husband of Harlow. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-45274-3.
• Gevinson, Alan (1997). Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-20964-0.
• Marling, Karal Ann (2009). Merry Christmas! Celebrating America's Greatest Holiday. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-04062-5.
• Rainey, Bruce (1990). Those Fabulous Serial Heroines: Their Lives and Films. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-810-81911-5.
• Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 451. ISBN 9781476625997.

• Albert Lea Evening Tribune "Hollywood Sights and Sounds", January 9, 1934, Page 9.
• Los Angeles Times "Jeanette Loff", August 8, 1942, Page 7.
• The New York Times "Miss Loff Dies of Poison", August 6, 1942, Page 22.
• Dallas Morning News "Jeanette Loff, 35, former screen actress, died at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital", August 6, 1942

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jeanette Loff.

• Jeanette Loff at IMDb
• Jeanette Loff at Find a Grave
• Jeanette Loff at Virtual History