One of the most buzzworthy periods of pop culture that defined 2022 was the $50 million defamation lawsuit involving ex-couples Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Today, like it or not, Johnny Depp’s name has become synonymous with that of Amber Heard. However, before all of that drama, there were many with whom he was romantically entangled. Most fans remember famous beauties like Venessa Paradis and Winona Ryder, but one woman was present before the stardom started Johnny Depp.
Johnny Depp was arguably one of the biggest teen heartthrobs of the 80s Hollywood who started gaining notoriety with his role in the TV series 21 Jump Street. While today there is hardly anything we do not know about the actor, there is still someone from his past who barely gets talked about. That person happens to be Johnny Depp’s first wife Lori Anne Allison. So who is Lori Anne Allison and what happened to her? Let us find out a little more about her.
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Allison‘s Early Life
Lori Anne Allison was born on September 6, 1957, in the United States of America. Since Lori did not have the media spotlight for a long time, there is hardly any information regarding her parents and her early life. However, it is known that she at least has a brother who used to be the bass guitarist and singer of the band Six Gun Method.
One of the primary things that stuck out during her early years is her attraction to the art of makeup. Like every child, Lori enjoyed playing with dolls and even applying makeup to beautify her dolls. Her experiments sometimes included changing her dolls’ hairstyles and even colouring them with sketch pens.
At the age of 11, Lori could confidently draw a sketch of a human face on paper and would often use that as a canvas for her makeup practices. But working on a paper or a doll can only take you that far. What she needed was a hands-on experience in her interest. She got that opportunity when she was 13. After visiting a small makeup boutique on Collins Avenue Miami, she got to experience the power of makeup on her own face. That was where she learned the real technique and art of makeup. She learned the essentials of enhancing one’s true beauty through makeup without overpowering facial features.
Lori Started her Career in Music Industry
Even though Lori was passionate about makeup, she did not think that she would make a career out of it. As a matter of fact, she was also very interested in music and wanted to pursue a career in it. She had initially dreamt of being a record producer. So she moved to Los Angeles in 1980 to explore the music industry. She started making new friends in the industry who would later help her to have the right footing there. But her dream of becoming a record producer was cut short after a tragic incident regarding a target shooting mishap caused her to be partially deaf in her left ear.
Her Passion for Makeup was her Calling
After the incident that left her with one injured ear, she decided to change her career path. She went back to her roots and started to consider trying to work as a makeup artist. Growing up Lori was influenced by musicians mainly David Bowie, models, drag queens and other makeup artists like Way Brandy, so her makeup always stood out even in a big crowd. She revealed that at the age of 16, she had rainbow streaks on her hair, shaved her eyebrows and had different clothing styles, which led her to be labelled as a freak. So now she was focused on channelling all her efforts to turn her old passion into new realities.
Now, this is where her friends from the industry became her biggest supporters. Apparently, her musician friend Adam Ant and actress Christina Applegate helped her navigate through the makeup field. Christina even gifted her with a professional makeup kit and introduced her to her first job on TV. Adam, on the other hand, helped her get jobs in a film and play.
Lori gradually started to get more work without her friends helping her out at every step. She landed different jobs as a makeup artist for fashion photographers. She was first ever credited for her makeup job in the 1992 film ‘Sunset Heat’. She then went to work in multiple films and TV series such as ‘Acting on Impulse’, ‘Cyber Bandits’, ‘Venus Rising’, ‘Rule of Three’, ‘Matters of Consequences’, ‘Stand Up to Cancer, ‘Supreme Court of Comedy’ and many more.
Lori also started her small business with the launch of her own makeup product called ‘Serendipity Lip Glosses’ in 2015. You can probably buy her products online too from her website serendipity.com. According to IMDB, she also owned a small cupcake business called D’ Cups.
The Couple Married when Johnny was only 20
Lori had known Johnny Depp prior to his ultimate fame. Before going into acting, Depp used to play in a band. Lori was the sister of one of the members of the band who was the bassist and singer. This is probably how the couple met each other. They got married on December 20, 1983. Johnny Depp was only 20 years old at the time of their marriage.
While Lori was working as a makeup artist, she reportedly introduced actor Nicholas Cage to her husband who gave him great advice to approach a career in acting. Subsequently, Depp decided to follow his advice and got his first role in the horror film Nightmare at Elm Street’ 1984.
The couple had a loving relationship and both of them were supportive of each other’s careers. However, they got separated in 1985 citing irreconcilable differences. They finally got divorced on May 7, 1986. Many believed that there was infidelity involved from Depp’s side. Many reports regarding his relationship with his co-star Sherilyn Fenn with whom he got engaged not long after his first divorce.
In their two years of marriage, the couple did not have any children. Perhaps it was Depp’s growing career or they were just too young for a committed relationship at that point that both of them suffered from failure in their marriage.
Lori Lives a Low-key Life
Lori has been focusing on building her career and often works with high-profile people and celebrities. She reportedly lives in a lavish house in Los Angeles that cost not less than $150,000. She is also known to be a dog lover and owns a pooch named Matty. She has a private Instagram account that she uses to boost her social and professional life. Her Instagram account has 652 followers and 794 posts.
As for her net worth, it is estimated to be somewhere around 1 million US dollars. She also got around 7 million US dollars as a divorce settlement.
Speaking Out in Support of her Ex-husband
Even though Lori and Johnny did not have a happy ending, their mutual affection and support for each other still remain to date. We all know that Johnny Depp is embroiled in a domestic violence case with his ex-wife Amber Heard. In all of this, Lori came to the defence of her ex-husband claiming that he had never been violent with her and she could not even imagine a soft guy like him would even hurt anyone.