Lois Hamilton

Lois Hamilton (October 14, 1943 – December 23, 1999) was an American model, author, aviator, artist and actress.

Lois Hamilton was born Lois Irene Yanessa on October 14, 1943, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Francis Yanessa and Helen. She studied at Temple University in her native Philadelphia before attending the University of Florence in Florence, Italy, where she received degrees in psychology and fine arts.

Her looks brought her 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 and Time. Some of her ad campaigns included those for Chanel, Clairol, Halston, Pucci, and Hermès; in all, she appeared in over 150 commercials worldwide during her career.

Hamilton moved to Hollywood, where 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, Burt Reynolds, John Candy, Roger Moore, Bill Murray, Jane Fonda, Dean Martin, Carl Reiner, David Carradine and Sammy Davis Jr.. Under the name Lois Hamilton or Lois Areno, she appeared in films such as Stripes, The Cannonball Run and Honky Tonk Freeway and on television shows like Card Sharks, The Dukes of Hazzard and Three's Company.

When she was not involved in a feature film or television project, Hamilton took to the skies, where she was a licensed private pilot. She logged over 600 hours in the air and was an aerobatic pilot, flying her 1936 German biplane. Hamilton was also an accomplished sculptor, painter and writer. She exhibited her bronze sculptures and oil paintings in many one-woman shows in Los Angeles.

Hamilton fled the country for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, rather than face prison time for an accident in which she was involved while driving under the influence. On December 23, 1999, Hamilton locked herself in her hotel room at the Sheraton Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, where she consumed a fatal overdose of sleeping pills. She was 56 years old. She was interred in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California.