Elizabeth James
Nude

Elizabeth James went from ditching her wonderbra to inspiring wonder with words. She’s reviewed websites for Excite.com and worked as a new media instructor for the UCLA Extension Writers Program. For many years she co-wrote a series of suspense novels with Carol Barkin under the pseudonym “Beverly Hastings.” She even published nonfiction informational books for children. That’s a long way from her screenwriting debut in The Born Losers (1967), which marked the first appearance of Tom Laughlin‘s jeans-wearing hapkido fighting character Billy Jack. Probably due to ’60s sexism, Elizabeth is credited as “James Lloyd.” She also stars in the movie as an innocent girl (symbolized by her white bikini) sucked into the hard world of motorcycle gangs. Speaking of hard, there’s a scene where she’s naked on the floor. Though you can only see her ass, it’s quite a sight. Born Losers was one of Liz’s last acting gigs. She started when she was a child, making her debut way back in 1956 in the TV movie Christmas in the Market-Place. From there she appeared in two episodes of Duty Bound and one episode of Television Playwright. In 1958, the still adolescent Elizabeth made strangers love her in Love from a Stranger. It was after one-episode appearances in Knight Errant Limited and Family Solicitor that she made Born Losers. In 1974, Elizabeth played “Dispatcher” in Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, which remains her final film. We wish that Ms. James would be less like Henry and more like Kenna. E. L. would be an acceptable compromise.