After having poliomyelitis[3] Lang was told that she might never walk again. She turned to the Bible during this time and credited faith for performing a miracle.[3] Shortly after being stricken, her legs and facial muscles were paralyzed, and she had difficulty speaking. The lingering effect she experienced most was tiring easily.[citation needed]
Lang began singing in night clubs to pay her medical debts. She was a self-taught vocalist who trusted her accompanist to select each song's key and pitch. She eventually began singing regularly in Portland and San Francisco.[3]
Career
Film
She first came to the attention of Hollywood producers with appearances in six Death Valley Days episodes (1955–1956). In 1957, she signed a contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer[4] and was assigned to dramatic school. As a new star for MGM Lang played the feminine lead in House of Numbers (1957), co-starring with Jack Palance.[4] It was filmed inside San Quentin Prison and in Mill Valley, California.
Lang was at first named to star opposite Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock. Before being cast the movie was tentatively entitled Jailhouse Kid. In the Joe Pasternak production of Party Girl (1958), Lang played "Ginger D'Amour", a Chicago showgirl of the 1930s.
In November 1958, Lang won an annulment of her two-year marriage to actor Alan Wells. The decree was granted on grounds that Wells had married Lang in Ensenada, Mexico, ten months before his divorce from actress Claudia Barrett was final. Lang and Wells met when she played in Death Valley Days.
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