- She and her husband founded the company that developed Leisure World Communities across the nation. A paid obituary in the L.A. Times on April 23, 2006 says that Set Designer Armour Goetten was her brother. Another brother Gerald was under contract with MGM.
- Along with her husband, Ross W. Cortese, they developed the "Walled City of Rossmoor" in Los Alamitos, California.
- The Alona Cortese Elder Law Center at the Chapman University School of Law, which was founded in 2000, is named for her. The center provides pro bono legal aide to Orange County residents who are needy or of advanced age.
- Co-founder of the School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, with her husband Ross Cortese.
- Accused Lilyan Tashman of assault after the actress found her in husband Edmund Lowe's dressing room, flew into a jealous rage, and attacked her. The charges were later dropped and Alona was awarded a small fee. In retellings of this story, Alona is often confused with her better-known sister, June Marlowe.
- According to her obituary in the Pasadena Star-News, Alona began in real estate by taking courses at night at Hollywood High School while still under contract to MGM.
- Mother of Heidi Cortese.
- A founding donor to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles.
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