So how did Wallace Earl Laven get all these different
names?
Here is an explanation from Barbara Laven, daughter
of Wallace & Arnold Laven:
My mother, Wallace Earl Laven, née Sparks, was an
actor, dancer, singer, and, in later years, a student
film maker. She was also the wife of my father, the late
Arnold Laven, of Levy, Gardner, Laven, the production
company that owns "The Rifleman." My mother tried out
two stage names early in her career, "Eileen Harley"
and "Amanda Ames."
"Eileen" was the name of a childhood friend. "Amanda"
was the name of one her closest friends in her early ad.
They were both professional dancers, and in a lot of
movie musicals together. "Ames" was the name she
thought sounded best with "Amanda." Later, she began
using "Amanda Harley," which is the stage name she used
the rest of her career. She choose the name "Harley"
because it is a real family name, on her mother's side.
(It can be traced back to an ancestor named Harley who
was the English doctor that "Harley Street" is named
after in London. From the 19th century on through to
today, "Harley Street" is where expensive London
doctors, many of them specialists and surgeons, have
their practices.) My mother did have a step sister
whom she didn't know about until she was in her mid
thirties, and whom she never met in person. Her step
sister lived in Miami, Florida, where my mother was
born, and I believe her step sister was a nurse. Her
name wasn't "Rachael Ames," though. Finally, I'm afraid
there are no Foulgers in our family. ~Barbara Laven
3/11/12 — Thanks Barbara!
