Laya Raki

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Laya Raki (born Brunhilde Jörns on July 27, 1927) is a dancer and film actress who was popular in Germany in the 1950s and early 60s. She also became an international star for her roles in English films and TV productions.

[edit] Biography

Laya Raki was born in Hamburg, Germany, the daughter of the acrobat Maria Althoff and the partner acrobat and clown Wilhelm Jörns. She was an admirer of the famous dancer La Jana. As she liked to drink raki, she assumed the stage name Laya Raki. She attracted attention for the first time in 1947–1950, when she danced in the nightclubs of Frankfurt and other German cities. In 1950 she performed in Berlin.

Her perfect figure (with the measurements 38-23-36) and her singular erotic radiation became the talk of the town and her star began to rise.

The film company DEFA engaged her for a small role as a dancer in the film "Der Rat der Götter" (The Council of the Gods), which won two awards. The Berliner Morgenpost wrote about her enthusiastically, stating that she was a really great dancer with an expressive face rich in nuances. In the same year the press department of the Realfilm presented her as a new discovery for "Die Dritte von rechts" (The third from the Right), a rather boring dance film, with a highlight being the scene in which the scantily clad dancer Laya Raki (with only two white stars on her nipples) exposes herself to the lustful gazes of the male cinema audience. In 1953 she also danced in the film "Ehe für eine Nacht" (Marriage for One Night). The next film was "Die Rose von Stambul" (The Rose of Stamboul), in which the Austrian actor Paul Hörbiger wanted to marry her upon seeing her dancing. In "Roter Mohn" (Red Poppy) she played the ardently dancing gipsy girl Ilonka who also conducted refreshing dialogs with the famous Viennese comic actor Hans Moser.

In 1954 a swindler promised her film roles in England and even in Hollywood and succeeded in luring her to London, where she was without means—but only for a short time. Fortunately that made headlines. The J. Arthur Rank Film Company, which needed a slightly exotic type for a film in New Zealand, received her with open arms. She was given the role of the Maori chieftain's seductive wife in "The Seekers" and created a worldwide stir with her bare breasts, 10 years before Rudi Gernreich invented the first topless swimsuit.

After having taken some acting lessons in Hollywood she also got roles in several English TV productions. She advanced to be a top star in England through the very popular TV show Crane. In the 39 episodes of this TV series (from 1962–1965) she was the partner of Patrick Allen. He played the bar owner and smuggler Richard Crane, and she the Moroccan dancer and bartender Halima.

The lightly clad Laya Raki captured men's attention like nearly no other German showgirl in the 1950s. It was her speciality to exhibit her feminine charms. She was a sought after pin-up girl and posed for postcards and magazines all over the world. The Broadway columnist Earl Wilson notated her preference for scanty clothing: “You should have seen Laya Raki. Even if she is dressed, she looks like , as if she only wears the zipper and has forgotten the material”. Of course he placed some photos of her in Earl Wilson’s Album of Showgirls (1st Issue! 1956).

In 1962 she performed as a singer. She breathed two titles into the microphone, "Faire l`amour" and "Oh Johnny hier nicht parken", which are still available as singles or CD-ROMs. The latter was forbidden with punishment by the county court of Nuremberg because the ecstatically moaning singer was thought to be imitating coitus.

At the age of 30 Laya Raki married the Australian actor Ron Randell in London. “He is the best and most beautiful man of the world”, she said and remained at his side until he died on June 11, 2005, in Los Angeles.

[edit] Filmography

1950 Der Rat der Götter (The Council of the Gods)
1950 Die Dritte von rechts (The Third from the Right)
1953 Ehe für eine Nacht (Marriage for One Night)
1953 Die Rose von Stambul (The Rose of Stamboul)
1954 Up to His Neck
1954 Am Anfang war es Sünde (The Beginning Was Sin)
1954 The Seekers (a.k.a. Land of Fury)
1955 Die Frau des Botschafters (The Ambassador's Wife)
1955 Gesperrte Wege (a.k.a. Camino cortado)
1955 The Adventures of Quentin Durward
1956 Küss mich noch einmal
1956 Roter Mohn
1957 TV Episode Kyro Caro
1958 Ascoltami
1960 TV Episode Hawaiian Eye
1960 TV Episode House of the Dead
1962 TV Episode Pat Hand
1962 Greh
1962 TV Episode The Beachcomber
1962 Tells of Wells Fargo
1963 TV Series Crane
1963 Die Nylonschlinge (The Nylon Noose)
1963 Das Rätsel der roten Quaste
1964 The Galant One
1964 Das Haus auf dem Hügel
1965 TV Episode Dragon's Teeth
1965 TV Episode I Spy
1966 Poppies are also Flowers
1966 Savage Pampas