Lyn Statten(1925-2007)
- Actress
Born Lyn April Parnes to Max and Evelyn Parnes on April 8, 1925, in New
York City, New York, Statten eventually made her way into bit parts on
and off Broadway, even touring with the Pajama Tops ensemble before
landing in Los Angeles, where her only noteworthy film to date was
Crown International's "The 7th Commandment" released in December, 1961;
a feature only distributed to drive-in vendors. Statten's portrayal of
the femme-fatal Terry James, who takes the fall for an auto accident
when her boyfriend, suffering amnesia, deserts the scene, is one of the
most lost pieces of cinematic history ever to grace the screen.Statten
proved only to be a one-hit-wonder, but her icy and bad-girl image
continues to live on in the palms of avid cult film devotees. She even
made several attempts at selling her own screenplay writings; one being
"The Composite," which she desperately wished to grab the attention of
Alfred Hitchcock. In the 1980's, after decades of being out of the
Hollywood circuit, Statten relocated to Half Moon Bay's Burlingame,
California, where she became an honored member of the Toastmasters
organization. After two bouts of uterine cancer, one in the mid-60's,
and another in the late 90's, the third-go-around finally took its toll
and Statten succumbed to the disease on October 25, 2007. She is
survived by her brother, Harold and several nieces and nephews.