Lita Milan

The dark, fiery, unconventionally lovely Lita Milan was a pleasant distraction in "B" movie crimers, westerns and action adventures and made a brief mark during the 1950's. Humbly born Iris Maria Lia Menshell in Brooklyn, New York in 1933, she was the younger of two girls born to a Hungarian salesman and a Polish homemaker. Raised in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, she trained in dance as a child and broke into show biz as a Las Vegas chorine. Immediately noticed, she began supplementing her modest income as a cover girl model in such magazines as Photo and Night & Day. Against her parent's wishes, young Iris decided to conquer Hollywood, making an inauspicious film debut as a nurse in the "B" crime drama The Big Chase (1954). She was then given a bit part in the western Duel on the Mississippi (1955) and a featured role in the western The Violent Men (1955) where she acquired the new marquee name of "Lita Milan." Around the same time, Lita began to appear as spitfire foreign types on such TV programs as "The Lone Wolf," "Public Defender," "It's a Great Life" and "Damon Runyon Theatre." Dubbed a "Wampas Baby Star" for publicity attention in 1956 (along with close friend Fay Spain), the smoldering beauty found herself immediately pigeon-holed as senoritas, Indian maidens and other exotics in outdoor films. She received her first interesting film role as a firebrand South American revolutionary disguised as a lounge singer opposite federal agent Dane Clark in the crime drama The Toughest Man Alive (1955). She also played "Alita" in the French Foreign Legion actioneer Desert Sands (1955) starring Ralph Meeker while adding a sexy flair as the Indian "Meteetsee" in the western Gun Brothers (1956) starring Buster Crabbe. Given the feminine lead alongside Anthony Quinn in another "B" western, The Ride Back (1957), as Quinn's incendiary fiancée, she followed this as Peter Graves' Cajun distraction in the backwoods drama Bayou (1957) and as James Craig's captured Indian chief's wife in the western Naked in the Sun (1957). Several flavorful TV roles came to Lita during this time on such adventure shows as "Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers," "The Count of Monte Cristo," "Whirlybirds" and "The Adventures of Jim Bowie," along with roles in some light-hearted sitcoms ("The Bob Cummings Show" and "Burns & Allen"). Lita's best-remembered film role is as the sexy Mexican Celsa opposite a rising Paul Newman in the classic western The Left Handed Gun (1958). Newman's potent portrayal of the boyish, revengeful Billy the Kid received inspired reviews. Lita followed this effort as one of an all-female crime ring (the French member) in the exploitation flick Girls on the Loose (1958) along with Mara Corday, Joyce Barker and Abby Dalton, and also played "bad boy" John Drew Barrymore's girl in the crime syndicate drama Never Love a Stranger (1958). Lita's final movie role had her co-starring with handsome Steve Cochran in Roger Corman's low-budget feature I Mobster (1959). Following a recurring role as Marlene in the TV series The Adventures of Hiram Holliday (1956) starring meek Wally Cox, Lita shocked the country in 1958 when she abruptly abandoned her acting career and disappeared from sight with Ramfis Trujillo, the playboy son of Rafael Trujillo, the notorious Dominican Republic dictator, Rafael Trujillo. They would marry in 1960. Her husband seized power of the republic after the assassination of his father in 1961, but the couple were forced to flee the country soon after. The couple had two sons, Ramses and Ricardo. Living in exile in Madrid, Spain, Lita remained there after the 1969 death of her husband following the fatal crash of his Ferrari. He left her very wealthy. She lived an avid partying lifestyle for a time, but, in later years, was little seen. Her father, living in the New York area, was accosted and murdered by a thief in the late 1970's.