Trivia

Her father was German, her mother was an Indonesian from Java.

As of 1971, she was living with her husband Ron Randell in a modest apartment in Beverly Hills, CA, fancying to act again in Germany.

On 18 September 1961 she wears a very low cut dress at the West End premiere of Fanny, Warner Brothers Cinema at Leicester Square, London, which she attends with her husband.

In 1963 Laya Raki was in the spotlight of the press while attending the premiere of The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm at the Coliseum Theater in London. No one noted fellow guest, Princess Margaret.

In 1954 she was lured to London by empty promises of film roles in the United Kingdom and in Hollywood. There, she found herself unemployed, but her situation made headlines that soon opened up opportunities. The J. Arthur Rank Film Company, which needed an exotic type for a film in New Zealand, received her with open arms. She was played the role of the Maori chieftain's seductive wife in "The Seekers" and created a worldwide stir by baring her breasts, 10 years before Rudi Gernreich's topless swimsuit made headline news.

One newspaper, the Berliner Morgenpost, wrote that she was a great dancer with an expressive face rich in nuances. In the same year the press department of Realfilm presented her as a new discovery in Die Dritte von rechts ("The Third from the Right"), a dance film, the highlight of which was a scene in which scantily clad dancer Laya Raki (with only two white stars covering her nipples) exposes herself to the male cinema audience.

On June 1961 she caused a scandal at a wine presentation at the Hotel Gehrhus during the Berlin Film Festival when her gown suddenly splitted open. Fellow guest Jayne Mansfield was devastated by losing all the publicity to Laya Raki. Laya and her husband, Ron Randell, had to leave. Afterwards, there were rumors of a big argument and a split between Laya and Ron.

She attracted attention for the first time in 1947-1950 as a dancer in Frankfurt and other German cities.

The Broadway columnist Earl Wilson noted her preference for scanty clothing: "You should have seen Laya Raki. Even if she is dressed, she looks like, as if she only wears the zipper and has forgotten the material". He placed photos of her in the first issue of "Earl Wilson's Album of Showgirls (1956)".

As she was an admirer of the famous dancer La Jana and liked to drink raki, she assumed the stage name Laya Raki.

She is a close friend of German-born actress Susanne Cramer and one of the last to see her alive.

As of 2015, was living with her husband in Los Angeles, CA.

When she performed in Berlin, her star began to rise: her 38-23-36 figure figure (5.35 ft, 110 lbs) and erotic radiance became the talk of the town.

She appeared in revealing outfits in both film and in photographs, capturing men's attention like no other German showgirl of the 1950s.

In order to appear more exotic, she claimed that her mother was of Indonesian/French descent.

On the 8th of April 2009 she married Duane O. Wood, former vice president of Lockheed International, at his home.

Laya Raki was born in Hamburg, Germany, to acrobat Maria Althoff, and her partner, acrobat and clown Wilhelm Jörns.

In January 1971 she starred on the Sydney stage opposite her husband, Ron Randell, in Come Live with Me.

Laya Raki died peacefully on December 21, 2018 at age 91.

At the age of 30, Laya Raki married Australian actor Ron Randell in London. "He is the best and most beautiful man of the world", she said. They remained married until his death in Los Angeles on June 11, 2005.

In 1962 she sang and recorded "Faire l'amour" and "Oh Johnny hier nicht parken", which were available as singles and on CD-ROMs. Her latter song was banned by a Nuremberg court who declared her ecstatic moaning was simulating sex.

She modeled for postcards, pin-up photographs, and magazines all over the world.

After taking acting lessons in Hollywood, she appeared in several UK TV productions, including 39 episodes of the popular series Crane (1962-1965), which made her a well known actress. Raki starred as Halima, a Moroccan dancer and bartender, who is the partner of the title character, the bar owner and smuggler Richard Crane, played by Patrick Allen.

The film company DEFA engaged her for a small role as a dancer in the film The Council of the Gods, which went on to win two awards.

In January 1969 the German public learns about the death of Susanne Cramer in Los Angeles by a telegram from Laya Raki to her agent in Germany.