born April 26, 1893?, Sissons, Calif., U.S.
died Aug. 18, 1981, New York, N.Y.
U.S. novelist and screenwriter.
She was a child actress; at an early age she also began contributing sketches and articles to various periodicals. By age 20 she was a professional screenwriter for silent films. Her first novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1925), brought fame to Loos and her central character, the naive gold digger Lorelei Lee; a musical version (1949) starred Carol Channing (b. 1921), and a film (1953) starred Marilyn Monroe . Loos's later film scripts included Blossoms in the Dust (1941) and I Married an Angel (1942). She also wrote two memoirs, A Girl Like I (1966) and Kiss Hollywood Good-Bye (1974).