Kathleen Crowley
American actress (1929–2017) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kathleen Crowley (born Betty Jane Crowley; December 26, 1929 – April 23, 2017)[1] was an American actress. She appeared in over 100 movies and television series in the 1950s and 1960s, almost always as a leading lady.
Kathleen Crowley | |
|---|---|
Crowley as Kiz in Maverick (1960) | |
| Born | Betty Jane Crowley December 26, 1929[1] Green Bank, Washington Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | April 23, 2017 (aged 87) Green Bank, Washington Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Other names | Kathleen Rubsam |
| Alma mater | American Academy of Dramatic Arts |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, beauty pageant winner |
| Years active | 1951–1970 |
| Known for | Maverick 77 Sunset Strip Waterfront Target Earth |
| Title | Miss New Jersey 1949 |
| Spouse |
John Rubsam (m. 1969) |
| Children | 1 |
Kathleen Crowley (1958)
With Roger Moore in Maverick
Biography
Summarize
Perspective
Early life
Born on December 26, 1929, in the Green Bank section of Washington Township, New Jersey, Crowley graduated from Egg Harbor City High School in 1946. On August 7, 1949, the 19-year-old Crowley won the title of Miss New Jersey at a contest held at Asbury Park, New Jersey.[2][3] As the winner, she entered the Miss America pageant held in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 10, 1949, and finished in seventh place.[4] At the time, she was working as a bookkeeper.[5]
Acting career
Crowley attended New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1950 on a scholarship won at the Miss America pageant, and undertook some live TV work there.[6][7]
In February 1951, she appeared with Conrad Nagel in A Star Is Born on Robert Montgomery Presents. Crowley made 81 television appearances and was cast in 20 movies between 1951 and 1970. One of her last movie roles was in Downhill Racer with Robert Redford. She made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of defendant and title character Marylin Clark in the 1958 episode "The Case of the Lonely Heiress." She was in the 1963 episode of Perry Mason's "The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito" as Mrs. Bradisson.[8]
Her most frequent recurring appearance was as Terry Van Buren in seventeen episodes of Waterfront. She also appeared in seven episodes of the popular TV Series 77 Sunset Strip (1958-1964) beginning with that series' episode titled "Lovely Lady Pity Me," based on a novel by series creator Roy Huggins. In the episode "Strange Bedfellows," she appeared as Martizza Vedar, a character purposely similar to Zsa Zsa Gabor due to their extremely close physical resemblance. For the episode "The Desert Spa Caper," Crowley portrayed alcoholic actress Claire Dickens. In 1966 Crowley portrayed Sophia Starr on two episodes of the TV series Batman, entitled "The Penguin Goes Straight" and "Not Yet He Aint."
Many of her films were science fiction and horror movies, but she appeared in a wide range of narrative television series produced from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s including Crossroads, Yancy Derringer with Jock Mahoney, Bourbon Street Beat with Andrew Duggan, Surfside 6 with Troy Donahue, Hawaiian Eye with Connie Stevens, 77 Sunset Strip with Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Bat Masterson with Gene Barry, Cheyenne with Clint Walker, an anthology series Fireside Theater, another anthology series The Americans, Bonanza in the first season chapter 28, Colt .45, Bronco with Ty Hardin, Branded with Chuck Connors, Climax!, My Three Sons with Fred MacMurray, The Donna Reed Show, Checkmate with Sebastian Cabot and Doug McClure, Route 66, Thriller with Boris Karloff, Batman with Adam West, Disneyland, Family Affair with Brian Keith, Rawhide with Clint Eastwood, The Virginian with Doug McClure, The High Chaparral, The Restless Gun with John Payne, Tales of Wells Fargo with Dale Robertson, The Lone Ranger, and The Adventures of Champion.[citation needed] In 1960, Crowley appeared as Laurie Allen on the TV Western Laramie in the episode titled "Street of Hate."
Crowley is best remembered for appearing in eight episodes, a series record for leading ladies, as a variety of seductive sirens on the series Maverick (1957-1962).[9] She was the only actress in the series whom James Garner lauded for her acting ability in depth and at length in his memoir The Garner Files.[10] Her Maverick episodes were "The Jeweled Gun" with Jack Kelly, "Maverick Springs" with James Garner and Jack Kelly, "The Misfortune Teller" with James Garner, "A Bullet for the Teacher" and "Kiz" with Roger Moore, and three more with Jack Kelly titled "Dade City Dodge," "The Troubled Heir," and "One of Our Trains is Missing."
Private life
Crowley married John Rubsam in Los Angeles on September 27, 1969, and gave birth to her only child, a son named Matthew, the following year.[11][12]
Death
She died at age 87 on April 23, 2017, at her home in Green Bank, New Jersey.[13][14]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | The Silver Whip | Kathy Riley | |
| The Farmer Takes a Wife | Susanna | ||
| Sabre Jet | Susan Crenshaw | ||
| 1954 | Target Earth | Nora King | |
| 1955 | Female Jungle | Peggy Voe | |
| Ten Wanted Men | Marva Gibbons | Uncredited | |
| City of Shadows | Fern Fellows | ||
| Seven Cities of Gold | Mother | Uncredited | |
| 1956 | Westward Ho the Wagons! | Laura Thompson | |
| 1957 | The Quiet Gun | Teresa Carpenter | |
| The Phantom Stagecoach | Fran Maroon | ||
| 1958 | The Flame Barrier | Carol Dahlmann | |
| 1959 | Curse of the Undead | Dolores Carter | |
| The Rebel Set | Jeanne Mapes | ||
| 1963 | Showdown | Estelle | |
| 1969 | Downhill Racer | Reporter | |
| 1970 | The Lawyer | Alice Fiske | |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Robert Montgomery Presents | Esther Blodgett | Season 2 Episode 12: "A Star Is Born" |
| Kraft Television Theatre | Jane Eyre | Season 4 Episode 23: "Jane Eyre" | |
| Starlight Theatre | Louise | Season 2 Episode 9: "Miss Buell" | |
| Armstrong Circle Theatre | Season 1 Episode 42: "The Hero" | ||
| 1952 | Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson | Episode: "Mr. Influence" | |
| 1953 | Chevron Theatre | 2 episodes | |
| 1954 | The Lone Wolf | Niki Armon | Season 1 Episode 25: "The Last Ballet Story" |
| Cavalcade of America | Abigail Paddock | Season 3 Episode 3: "The Forge" | |
| Public Defender | Sharon Ferrari | Season 2 Episode 11: "Until Proven Guilty" | |
| Big Town | Season 5 Episode 10: "Bubonic Plague" | ||
| The Longer Ranger | Cindy Powers | Season 4 Episode 15: "Homer with a High Hat" | |
| City Detective | Janet | Season 1 Episode 23: "Crazy Like a Fox" | |
| Mayor of the Town | Helen | Season 1 Episode 3: "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" | |
| 1954–1955 | Fireside Theatre | Peggy | 4 episodes |
| 1954–1955 | Waterfront | Terry Van Buren | 17 episodes (Recurring role) |
| 1955 | Studio 57 | Clara | Season 1 Episode 20: "The Westerner" |
| General Electric Theater | Mary | Season 4 Episode 7: "Farewell to Kennedy" | |
| 1955–1956 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Peggy Prentiss | 2 episodes |
| 1955–1957 | Climax! | Laura Harriss / Louise / Sally / Jeanne Warren | 4 episodes |
| 1956 | Star Stage | Season 1 Episode 21: "Screen Credit" | |
| The Star and the Story | Season 2 Episode 14: "Appearances and Reality" | ||
| The Adventures of Champion | Ellie Powell | Season 1 Episode 25: "The Die-Hards" | |
| Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers | Season 1 Episode 3: "The Hostage" | ||
| The Wonderful World of Disney | Laura Thompson | Season 3 Episode 10: "Along the Oregon Trail" | |
| 1956–1958 | Matinee Theater | Linda Stone | 3 episodes |
| 1957 | The 20th Century Fox Hour | Alice | Season 2 Episode 17: "The Great American Hoax" |
| Crossroads | Terry | Season 2 Episode 35: "Coney Island Wedding" | |
| On Trial | Felicity O'Brien | Season 1 Episode 30: "The Case of the Girl on the Elsewhere" | |
| Lux Video Theatre | Dot | Season 7 Episode 38: "Edge of Doubt" | |
| Cheyenne | Marilee Curtis | Season 3 Episode 6: "Town of Fear" | |
| 1957–1962 | Maverick | Daisy Harris (aka Daisy Haskell) / Melanie Blake / Flo Baker / Keziah 'Kiz' Bouchet / Marla / Modesty Blaine | 8 episodes |
| 1958 | Colt .45 | Elena Duncan | Season 1 Episode 16: "Decoy" |
| Wagon Train | Ann Jamison | Season 1 Episode 23: "The Mark Hanford Story" | |
| The Restless Gun | Mary Blackwell | Season 1 Episode 24: "Woman from Sacramento" | |
| Tombstone Territory | Wyn Simmons | Season 1 Episode 23: "Guilt of a Town" | |
| Suspicion | Lurene Guthrie | Season 1 Episode 37: "Eye for an Eye" | |
| The Rough Riders | Tess Pearce | Season 1 Episode 7: "Blood Feud" | |
| Lux Playhouse | Anna | Season 1 Episode 5: "Coney Island Winter" | |
| Yancy Derringer | Desiree | Season 1 Episode 11: "Marble Fingers" | |
| Cimarron City | Claire Norris | Season 1 Episode 12: "McGowan's Debt" | |
| 1958–1961 | 77 Sunset Strip | Ann / Carol Miller / Vetta Nygood / Abigail Allen / Maritza Vedar / Claire Dickens / Melody (voice, uncredited) | 7 episodes |
| 1958–1962 | Bronco | Redemption McNally / Belle Siddons | 2 episodes |
| 1958–1966 | Perry Mason | Marylin Clark / Lillian Bradisson / Grace Knapp | 3 episodes |
| 1959 | Rawhide | Millie Wade | Season 1 Episode 18: "Incident Below the Brazos" |
| Markham | Ellen Childs | Season 1 Episode 11: "Forty-Two on a Rope" | |
| Death Valley Days | Elizabeth Hayward | Season 8 Episode 38: "Somewhere in the Vultures" | |
| Bourbon Street Beat | Adele Deckbar | Season 1 Episode 8: "Invitation to a Murder" | |
| 1959–1960 | Bat Masterson | Jo Hart / Mari Brewster | 2 episodes |
| 1959–1962 | Tales of Wells Fargo | Gilda / Royal Maroon | 2 episodes |
| 1960 | Laramie | Laurie Allen | Season 1 Episode 24: "Street of Hate" |
| The Deputy | Martha Jackson | Season 2 Episode 4: "The Fatal Urge" | |
| 1960–1961 | Hawaiian Eye | May Caldwell / Julia Abbott | 2 episodes |
| 1960–1968 | Bonanza | Kathleen aka Quick-Buck Kate / Laurie Hayden / Mademoiselle Denise | 3 episodes |
| 1961 | The Americans | Lucy Vickery | Season 1 Episode 3: "The Regular" |
| Thriller | Dr. Lois Walker | Season 1 Episode 24: "The Ordeal of Dr. Cordell" | |
| Affairs of Anatol | Ilona | TV Movie | |
| Surfside 6 | Lady Kay Smallens / Dr. Leslie Halliday | 2 episodes | |
| 1962 | Checkmate | Pauline Spencer | Season 2 Episode 30: "Rendezvous in Washington" |
| FBI Code 98 | Marian Nichols | TV Movie | |
| 1963 | Route 66 | Diana Kirk | Season 3 Episode 20: "...Shall Forfeit His Dog and Ten Shillings to the King" |
| Redigo | Laura | Season 1 Episode 10: "Shadow of the Cougar" | |
| 1964 | The Donna Reed Show | Nancy Patterson | Season 6 Episode 29: "Love Letters Are for Burning" |
| My Three Sons | Lois Wilson | Season 5 Episode 1: "Caribbean Cruise" | |
| The Farmer's Daughter | Grace | Season 2 Episode 14: "The Helping Hand" | |
| 1965 | The Virginian | Jennifer McLeod | Season 3 Episode 27: "Farewell to Honesty" |
| The Bravo Duke | Mrs. Ortegas | TV Movie | |
| Branded | Laura Rock | Season 2 Episode 1: "Judge Not" | |
| 1966 | Gidget | Barbara | Season 1 Episode 22: "We Got Each Other" |
| Batman | Sophia Starr | 2 episodes | |
| 1966–1969 | Family Affair | Nedra Wolcott / Lois Mason | 2 episodes |
| 1969 | The High Chaparral | Countess Maria Kettenden von München | Season 2 Episode 20: "Once on a Day in Spring" |
References
External links
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