Joan Taylor

This article is about the American actress. For other people with the same name, see Joan Taylor (disambiguation).

Joan Taylor (August 18, 1929 – March 4, 2012) was an American television and film actress.

Joan Taylor
Taylor in The Rifleman (1960)
Born	Rose Marie Emma (1929-08-18)August 18, 1929 Geneva, Illinois, U.S.
Died	March 4, 2012(2012-03-04) (aged 82) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Other names	Rose Freeman
Occupation(s)	Actress and screenwriter
Years active	1949–1989
Spouses	Leonard Freeman ​ ​ (m. 1953; died 1974)​ Walter Grauman ​ ​ (m. 1976; div. 1980)​
Children	3

Personal life

Taylor was born Rose Marie Emma in Geneva, Illinois. Her father, Joseph Emma, from Sicily, was a prop man in Hollywood in the 1920s. After his daughter's birth he became the manager of the Deerpath movie theatre in Lake Forest, Illinois, where Joan was brought up.^[1] Her mother, Amelia Berky, was from Austria, and was a vaudeville singing-dancing star in the 1920s.^[2]

Taylor married Leonard Freeman, later the creator of Hawaii Five-O, in 1953. The couple had three daughters. After her contract for The Rifleman ran out, she retired from acting to raise her children.^[3]

When Freeman died in January 1974, following heart surgery, Taylor began managing Leonard Freeman Productions and the business of Hawaii Five-O under the name Rose Freeman.^[4] She attended at least one Hawaii Five-O convention to talk to fans.^[5]

With her children older, she found herself writing, including co-author credit for the comedy Fools Rush In starring Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek.^[6] She remarried, to television producer-director Walter Grauman in 1976; the couple divorced in 1980.^[7]

Career

Taylor's career began at the Pasadena Playhouse. She met Freeman there when both were involved with putting on Here Comes Mr. Jordan.^[8] In the early 1950s, she was chosen by Paramount Pictures as a member of the studio's "Golden Circle", described as a "group consisting of a dozen unusually talented young actors for whom Paramount held high hopes." Her first film was Fighting Man of the Plains, starring Randolph Scott.^[9] Her producer had also insured the 19-year-old's legs for $100,000 against injury.^[9]

Her television career consisted of guest appearances on popular shows, in only one or two episodes. However, she had a successful recurring role in eighteen episodes of The Rifleman, starring Chuck Connors from 1960 to 1962.

Death

Taylor died of natural causes March 4, 2012, in Santa Monica, California.^[10]

Selected filmography

Television

• Mike Hammer as Diane Baxter / (2 episodes, 1958)
• Zane Grey Theater as Rose Bailey (1 episode, 1958)
• Yancy Derringer as Lavinia Lake (1 episode, 1958)
• Peter Gunn as Liz Hatton (1 episode, 1958)
• Wagon Train as Bright Star (1 episode "A Man Called Horse", 1958)
• Gunsmoke as Anna Wheat (1 episode, 1959)
• 21 Beacon Street as Ruth (2 episodes, 1959)
• Men into Space as Carol Gordon (1 episode, 1959)
• The Texan as Rita Maynor (1 episode, 1959)
• The Millionaire as Mary Ann Wilson (1 episode, 1959)
• Colt .45 as Dr. Ellen McGraw (1 episode, 1959)
• Lock Up as Lauren Bodret (1 episode, 1960)
• The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor as Myrna Fontaine (1 episode, 1961)
• Rawhide (1961) – Paibada in S3:E27, "Incident Before Black Pass"
• My Three Sons as Muriel Stewart (1 episode, 1961)
• Bronco as Lorain (1 episode, 1962)
• The Dick Powell Show (1 episode, 1962)
• The Rifleman as Milly Scott (18 episodes, 1960–1962)
• 77 Sunset Strip as Beth Collins (1 episode, 1963)

Feature films

• Fighting Man of the Plains (1949) as Evelyn Slocum
• On Dangerous Ground (1952) as Hazel (uncredited)
• The Savage (1952) as Luta
• Off Limits (1953) as Helen
• War Paint (1953) as Wanima
• Rose Marie (1954) as Wanda
• Apache Woman (1955) as Anne LeBeau
• Fort Yuma (1955) as Francesca
• Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) as Carol Marvin
• Girls in Prison (1956) as Anne Carson
• War Drums (1957) as Riva
• 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) as Marisa Leonardo
• Omar Khayyam (1957) as Yaffa