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Lila Leeds (January 28, 1928 – September 15, 1999) was an American film actress. Born Lila Lee Wilkinson in Iola, Kansas, Leeds ran away from home as a teen. She worked as a dancer in St. Louis before moving to Los Angeles. While working as a hatcheck girl at Ciro's, she met and married actor, composer, singer and conductor Jack Little. The marriage was annulled when Leeds discovered that Little was still married. After taking an acting course at the Bliss-Hayden School of Acting, Leeds signed with MGM and began appearing in film roles. Leeds appeared in the Red Skelton film The Show-Off... MORE

Lila Leeds (January 28, 1928 – September 15, 1999) was an American film actress. Born Lila Lee Wilkinson in Iola, Kansas, Leeds ran away from home as a teen. She worked as a dancer in St. Louis before moving to Los Angeles. While working as a hatcheck girl at Ciro's, she met and married actor, composer, singer and conductor Jack Little. The marriage was annulled when Leeds discovered that Little was still married. After taking an acting course at the Bliss-Hayden School of Acting, Leeds signed with MGM and began appearing in film roles. Leeds appeared in the Red Skelton film The Show-Off (1946); Lady in the Lake (1947), based on a Raymond Chandler story; and in the Lana Turner vehicle Green Dolphin Street, where she played a Eurasian who drugs the leading man and rolls him for his money. On September 1, 1948, Leeds gained notoriety for being arrested together with actor Robert Mitchum on charges of marijuana possession. She subsequently spent sixty days in jail. Considered a Lana Turner look-alike, Leeds was 20 years old and engaged to Turner's ex-husband Stephen Crane at the time of her arrest. Cheryl Crane, Turner and Stephen's daughter, wrote that Leeds first tried marijuana LESS