Ella Wallace Raines (August 6, 1920 – May 30, 1988) was an American film and television actress active from the early 1940s through the mid-1950s. Described as "sultry" and "mysterious", the green-eyed star appeared frequently in crime pictures and film noir, but also in drama, comedy, Westerns, thrillers, and romance.
Among the leading men she starred with were John Wayne, Charles Laughton, William Powell, Randolph Scott, Franchot Tone, Brian Donlevy, George Raft, and Burt Lancaster. When film roles dwindled she turned to television. Her second marriage was to Robin Olds, a U.S. Air Force triple-ace fighter pilot and Commandant of Cadets of the United States Air Force Academy and they had 2 children.
Raines appeared as a pin-up girl in the June 2 and June 16, 1944, issues of the G.I. magazine Yank, and on the cover of Life magazine twice, in 1944 for her work in Phantom Lady, and in 1947 for Brute Force.
Early life
Born August 6, 1920 in Snoqualmie Falls, Washington Raines studied drama at the University of Washington where she was discovered by talent agent Charles K. Feldman. He informed his client and sometime business partner, director Howard Hawks who saw her appearing in a play at the university. She also starred in the Preston Sturges comedy Hail the Conquering Hero, and the John Wayne western Tall in the Saddle (all 1944).
After a nearly three decade hiatus, Raines' final appearance as an actress was in a guest role in the crime drama series Matt Houston in 1984.<!--The LA Times also credits her with appearing in the TV series Police Story around that time: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-07-mn-3698-story.html -->
Theatre
She appeared on Broadway with Helen Hayes in The Wisteria Trees in 1955.
Teaching
She was a private tutor for actors and also taught at the University of Washington in the early 1980s. a few days after her graduation from the University of Washington, Raines married her high school sweetheart, United States Army Air Forces Major Kenneth William Trout. The couple divorced December 18, 1945.
On February 6, 1947, Raines married then double-ace World War II fighter pilot Robin Olds, who went on to become a triple-ace during the Vietnam War, was eventually promoted to United States Air Force brigadier general, and served as commandant of the United States Air Force Academy from 1967 to 1971. The couple had two daughters, Christina and Susan and she essentially retired to raise them. They separated in 1975 and divorced in 1976.
Known for her traditional family values, Raines was quoted at the height of her Hollywood career extolling them: "I am naturally captivated with the rewards that Hollywood bestows on those who are successful. But I’m going to do my best to see that these [rewards] never disturb the essential values in my life⸺love of husband, family, home; the things that really count."
Legacy
Raines has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for her contribution to motion pictures at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard, and for television at 6600 Hollywood Boulevard.