Lucille Lund, who achieved minor cult status for her dual roles in "The Black Cat," a 1934 horror classic that paired Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi for the first time, has died. She was 89.
Lund, who signed with Universal in 1933 after winning the studio's nationwide beauty and talent contest, died of natural causes Saturday in Torrance. She lived in Palos Verdes Estates.
Lund's short-lived Hollywood career--about 30 films between 1933 and 1939--was not much different than that of many young actresses of the time: a mix of largely forgettable crime dramas, westerns, serials and Three Stooges and Charley Chase comedy shorts. But her role in "The Black Cat" gave her Hollywood career an unexpected afterlife among a later generation of horror film fans.
Born in Buckley, Wash., to Skjak, Oppland Norway immigrant parents, Lund began her theatrical career as a child, playing in stock with the Henry Duffy Players in Seattle.
While studying drama at Northwestern University, someone suggested she send her picture to a beauty and talent contest sponsored by Universal Studios. She won "The All-American Girl" contest, beating out 1,200 other contestants, and took the train to Hollywood.
In 1937, Lund married radio producer-writer Kenneth Higgins and, after the birth of her two daughters, quit the business in 1939.
She is survived by her daughters, Terry Helmy of Torrance and Kim Lund Rosenfield of Palos Verdes Estates; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Lucille Lund, who achieved minor cult status for her dual roles in "The Black Cat," a 1934 horror classic that paired Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi for the first time, has died. She was 89.
Lund, who signed with Universal in 1933 after winning the studio's nationwide beauty and talent contest, died of natural causes Saturday in Torrance. She lived in Palos Verdes Estates.
Lund's short-lived Hollywood career--about 30 films between 1933 and 1939--was not much different than that of many young actresses of the time: a mix of largely forgettable crime dramas, westerns, serials and Three Stooges and Charley Chase comedy shorts. But her role in "The Black Cat" gave her Hollywood career an unexpected afterlife among a later generation of horror film fans.
Born in Buckley, Wash., to Skjak, Oppland Norway immigrant parents, Lund began her theatrical career as a child, playing in stock with the Henry Duffy Players in Seattle.
While studying drama at Northwestern University, someone suggested she send her picture to a beauty and talent contest sponsored by Universal Studios. She won "The All-American Girl" contest, beating out 1,200 other contestants, and took the train to Hollywood.
In 1937, Lund married radio producer-writer Kenneth Higgins and, after the birth of her two daughters, quit the business in 1939.
She is survived by her daughters, Terry Helmy of Torrance and Kim Lund Rosenfield of Palos Verdes Estates; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Bio by: Sabrina Boyd Rath