Lois Hamilton

Lois Hamilton
Born	Lois Aurino October 14, 1943(1943-10-14) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	December 23, 1999(1999-12-23) (aged 56) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Other names	Lois Areno Lois I. Aurino Lois Aurino
Occupation	Model, author, actress, artist and aviatrix

Lois Hamilton (October 14, 1943 – December 23, 1999) was a United States model, author, actress, artist and aviatrix.

Early life and career

Hamilton was born Lois Aurino in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She studied at Temple University in her native Philadelphia before going on to the University of Florence in Florence, Italy, where she received degrees in Psychology and Fine Arts.

Her looks brought an opportunity with the Ford Modeling Agency where she became one of its top models during the 1970s. Hamilton graced the covers of many magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Fortune, Mademoiselle, Vogue Italia, Prevue, Neue Revue Illustrierte, Newsweek, Paris Match, Hello!, Redbook, Ladies' Home Journal, Glamour, Time, and many others. Some of her ad campaigns included Chanel, Clairol, Halston, Pucci and Hermès, and she appeared in over 150 commercials worldwide.

Moving to Hollywood, she made a successful transition from model to actress. Within a year, she landed more TV stints than any other actress at her agency. She worked with such notables as Ivan Reitman, Neil Simon, Sydney Pollack, Robert Redford, Ned Beatty, Burt Reynolds, John Candy, John Larroquette, Dom DeLuise, Roger Moore, Bill Murray, Jane Fonda, Dean Martin, Carl Reiner, David Carradine, Sammy Davis, Jr., Steve Guttenberg, Howard W. Koch, Albert S. Ruddy, Hal Needham, and Thomas R. Bond II to name a few. Under the name Lois Hamilton or Lois Areno, she appeared in several Hollywood films as well as on television shows including many popular series such as Card Sharks, The Dukes of Hazzard and Three's Company.

When she wasn't involved in a feature film or television project, she took to the skies, where she was a licensed private pilot. She logged over 600 hours in the air and was an accomplished aerobatic pilot, flying her 1936 German biplane. Hamilton was also an accomplished sculptress, painter and writer. She exhibited her bronze sculptures and oil paintings in many one-woman shows in Los Angeles. An author as well, she penned her first novel, Move Over Tarzan, a woman's guide on how to be as assertive as the most aggressive, successful man using a woman's femininity.

Death

On December 23, 1999, Hamilton locked herself in her hotel room at the Sheraton Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Apparently depressed over her lingering injuries from an auto accident earlier in the year, she took a fatal overdose of sleeping pills. She was 56 years old. She is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.

However, the official police report states that there are many suspicions around her death, including that the door could have been locked by someone who had a key to the room. The bag placed around her head was also not sealed tight enough to cause death by asphyxiation. Finally, the toxicology report states that the level of sleeping pills in her system was only very minor, and also not enough to cause her death either.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1972	The Last of the Red Hot Lovers	Girl in Car	Credited as Lois Aurino
1975	The Sunshine Boys		Uncredited
1979	The Electric Horseman	Joanna Camden	Credited as Lois Areno
1981	The Cannonball Run	Seymour's Girl	Credited as Lois Areno
	Stripes	Stillman's Girlfriend	Credited as Lois Areno
	Honky Tonk Freeway		Uncredited
1985	Summer Rental	Vicki Sanders
1986	Armed Response	Sara Roth	Alternative title: Jade Jungle
2004	Bob's Night Out	Bob's Stepmother	Released posthumously
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Are You in the House Alone?	Policewoman	Television movie Credited as Lois Areno
	Starsky and Hutch	Paula	1 episode
1979	Topper	Charlene	Television movie Credited as Lois Areno
	CHiPs		1 episode
	The Dukes of Hazzard	Carla	1 episode
1978–1981	Three's Company	Rita Katy Williams	2 episodes Credited as Lois Areno
1979–1980	The Ropers	Debbie Hopper	5 episodes Credited as Lois Areno
1979–1981	Card Sharks	Card Dealer	Credited as Lois Areno
1980	The Love Boat	Angela	1 episode
1982	Pray TV	Bobbi Ellis	Television movie
1983	Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land	Millie	Television movie Credited as Lois Areno
1984	Hart to Hart	Inga	1 episode
	Invitation to Hell	Miss Winter	Television movie
1985	Hunter	Ginger Flagg	1 episode
1990	Designing Women	Susan	1 episode

External links

• Lois Hamilton at the Internet Movie Database
• Lois Hamilton at Find a Grave