Film & TV / Music
Laura Devon
1931–2007 · actress, singer
Chicago-born actress raised partly in Grosse Pointe, who learned to act at Wayne State and was discovered in 1961 singing at Detroit's London Chop House.
- Born
Chicago, Illinois- Died
Beverly Hills, California
aged 76- Birth name
- Mary Louise Briley
- Detroit years
- 1940s–1961
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Devon was born in Chicago, the daughter of an automotive engineer, and went to school in Chicago and in Grosse Pointe. She studied journalism and political science at Wayne State University, where campus productions taught her to act, then sang in light opera and amateur theatricals; her first professional role was a lead in The Boy Friend at Detroit's Vanguard Playhouse. In 1961 a studio scout heard her singing at the London Chop House, the downtown steakhouse where Detroit's business and political elite dined, and she was soon under contract in Hollywood. Through the 1960s she guest-starred on Route 66, The Twilight Zone, Rawhide, Bonanza, The Fugitive and The Big Valley and made five features, among them Goodbye Charlie, Red Line 7000 and Gunn. She married the actor Brian Kelly and later the composer Maurice Jarre; her son, the screenwriter Kevin Jarre, was born in Detroit in 1954.
Highlights
- Went to school in Grosse Pointe; studied at Wayne State University
- First professional role at Detroit's Vanguard Playhouse
- Discovered in 1961 singing at the London Chop House
- Guest roles on The Twilight Zone, Rawhide, Bonanza and The Fugitive
- Films include Goodbye Charlie (1964) and Gunn (1967)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1961
London Chop House
Legendary steakhouse where Devon was discovered while singing in 1961; it closed in 1991 and reopened under new owners in 2012.
Studied here · 1940s–1950s
Wayne State University
Where she majored in journalism and political science and first acted in campus productions.