Help needed please - UPDATED 25.2.07

[kismet]

Can anyone help me with a problem.  The lady I want to trace is Iris Renee Parker (aka Iris Renee Keene).  She was born in London on 7th January 1921.  Her parents were Albert Edward and  Alice Flora Parker. 

She was married in Reading in 1942 (married surname Keene) and divorced in 1947, when an American Lieutenant Pat Rhodes  (I assume Air Force because of the large number of American Air Bases in and around Reading during the war) was cited as co-respondent - neither of them attended the divorce hearing which was heard in October 1947 and finalised in December 1947.    She was issued with a British Passport, number 415870 on 14th February 1947.  Her passport was in her married name of Iris Renee Keene as it was issued before her divorce.

I can find no record of her in any UK genealogy database.  I was told some years ago that she had appeared in a movie, but which one was not known.  I was also told that she was a concert pianist, but I have no way of proving this.

I did find a record of the death of an Iris R Parker (aged 73) on the LDS website, who had the same birth date and which gives the SSN as 567-48-8777 (issued in 1953/54), the date of death as 17 November 1999, the last residence as 91607 (Valley Village, Los Angeles, CA).  Also two relatives names were given - Melissa A Parker and Renee Parker - if they were daughters why would they have the surname Parker as Parker was her maiden name?

I would like to be able to establish:

1.  Whether the Iris R Parker whose death is recorded in California is the same as the Iris R Parker born in London that I am looking for.  If she is then item 2 is irrelevant.

2.What date she entered the US after 14.2.47 and by what means, ship or aircraft. 

3. If possible whether she married Pat Rhodes, and how I can make contact with Melissa A Parker and Renee Parker if the lady in question turns out to be the one I am seeking.

I hope this isn't too much in one go.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that someone will know where to go for this kind of query.

Kismet

[KathMc]

First, here is a link that has an Iris Parker appearing in a movie, but it doesn't really give any information about her:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2468518/

I'm curious as to where you found the relatives names with her. That is a great find. It seems to coincidental that this Iris has the same birthday as yours and a relative named Renee. I would attempt to get the death certificate. That will tell you who filled it out, her parents names, and where she is buried. You can then contact the cemetery and they might be able to give you something, or pass your information on to the family. It's worth a shot.

Kath

[kismet]

Yes, I'd already been to imdb and found that Iris Parker, but like you said it gives no background on her other than her name and the name of the film.  Not a lot of help really, I was hoping for some kind of biographical info.

As to the relatives names, they were passed on to my by another Rootschat member who said they were from a pay-per-view site - http://www.intelius.com.search-summary-out.php?PHPSESSID=9f154a28a3ddc2ad963957856bd0942b (that's exactly as she passed it on to me.  I must admit, I haven't tried it as she gave me the info from it. 

I do think it strange, though, that although the birthdate, etc. is right, the relatives names are Parker.  If they are daughters then why would they have their mother's maiden name? 

Thanks for your interest.  Any suggestions gratefully received.

Kismet

[aghadowey]

Kismet- maybe Irene married in U.S. but used Parker as stage name and after 2nd divorce she and daughters(?) used Parker as surname.
Another possibility is that Irene had daughters(?) but wasn't married so they used her stage name as their surname.

[KathMc]

aghadowey is right. The daughters also could have taken their mother's name after a divorce as they didn't like their father (we have a man in my town who did that). I think there are many possibilities, but I would make it a priority to try to find them. I think, if they are willing to share, might have a lot of answers, and they might be thrilled to find relatives in England. They might not know about their mother's transgressions in England though, so tread carefully there I would think. Good luck and if I can help in any other way, I'll be happy too.

Kath

[KathMc]

One other idea: What about contacting the Screen Actos Guild?

http://www.sag.org/sagWebApp/

I am not sure if they would have anything on her, but it's worth a shot.

Kath

[kismet]

Hope this message gets to all of you  - thanks for your suggestions.  I'll keep trying.

The strange thing is that I can find the death of an Iris R Parker in America but, even though I have her birth certificate sitting on my desk beside me at the moment I cannot find a record of her birth in the UK on any database AND even though I have her parents marriage certificate sitting with her birth certificate, I cannot find records of either of them or their marriage on any database either.