Lora Lee Michel
Lora Lee Michel (born Virginia Joy Willeford, September 13, 1940) is an American former child actress. She appeared in several feature films during the Golden Age of Hollywood in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1950, she was the focus of a custody dispute in Beverly Hills, California, in which she alleged that her adoptive mother had beaten and starved her. She came to public attention again in 1963 when she and her third husband were sentenced in federal court for stealing a car and driving it across state lines. After her release from prison, she disappeared. It is believed she died from cancer in 1979. Early life and family Michel was born in La Grange, Texas, on September 13, 1940, to Willie Walker Willeford and Lena Smith Brunson. Brunson gave Michel and two other younger siblings up for adoption when Michel was five years old. She was adopted by Otto and Lorraine Michel in Schulenburg, Texas. As of 2014, Michel has one living sister, Barbara Michel Wright. Career Michel was a successful child actress in the late 1940s. By the age of 9, she was earning $100 a day (). By her own count, she appeared in 19