Lori Martin

Lori Martin was born Dawn Catherine Menzer in Glendale, California. She was born at 10 am, four minutes before her twin sister, Doree, arrived. Having an elder sister, Jean, and a younger brother, Stephen, she had plenty of company at an early age. At the age of six, her mother took her to an agent who dealt with child actresses. Her first job was filming a commercial for "Chrysler", followed by many other commercials. Her first film part was in Machine-Gun Kelly (1958), followed by The FBI Story (1959) and Cash McCall (1960), both in 1959. She also appeared on many television shows of the time. It was at the age of 12 that she won the part of "Velvet Brown" on television's National Velvet (1960), and changed her name to Lori Martin. Being a natural blonde, Lori had to have her hair dyed black for the part, many thought she had a resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor. It was this reason that the producers chose her out of 974 hopefuls for this part. The show ran for 54 episodes and was axed in 1962 after making Lori famous. In 1962, she made Cape Fear (1962) and said, afterward, that it was the best performance of her life. She went on to continue in television shows and films for the cinema. She had also made a name for herself making records for her fans but, sadly, they were not hits. Lori later married her husband, Charles Breitenbucher, and retired to Oakhurst, California, where she enjoyed nature, birds, wild animals, and her dog, Taylor. Sadly, her husband died in 1999, leaving her with an only son to raise. At this time, she became ill with bipolar disorder and battled this for many years up until her death.