Biography
An attractive, composed woman who worked as a model after placing third in the 1948 Miss America contest, she broke into films in 1951. Although her first leads were in modest films, her earnest, outdoorsy heroines suited her well for "The Rose Bowl Story" (1952) and Jacques Tourneur's stylish "Wichita" (1955). She also kept busy in TV anthologies, where she first worked with the directors who helmed her most important films. John Ford …
Latest Tv Credits
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Career Milestones
1991 | Played role of Nancy Landon on several episodes of the long-running CBS mystery series, "Murder, She Wrote" | |
1989 | Played a leading role in the stage play, "The Immigrant: A Hamilton County Album", presented at the LaMirada Civic Theater in California | |
1980 | First TV miniseries, "Roughnecks" | |
1974 | Last of six films for Walt Disney in which she had the female lead, "The Castaway Cowby", co-starring James Garner | |
1967 | Played female lead of Ellen Wedloe in the TV pilot for the CBS adventure series, "Gentle Ben", opposite Dennis Weaver; role was taken by Beth Brickell, however, when it became a series | |
1964 | Starred with Barbara Rush, David McCallum and Cedric Hardwicke in "The Forms of Things Unknown", an episode of the cult sci-fi series, "The Outer Limits", also intended as a pilot for a spinoff program, "The Unknown"; the show's producers became embroiled in conflict with ABC and the new series never materialized | |
1964 | First TV-movie, "The Hanged Man" | |
1964 | Played female lead in "A Tiger Walks", the first of six Disney films she made over the next eight years, and the first of three directed by Norman Tokar; starred opposite Brian Keith in the first two films | |
1962 | Second and last feature directed by Ford, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" | |
1960 | Last feature with Hitchcock, "Psycho" | |
1959 | Was a panel regular on the TV quiz show, "Stump the Stars" | |
1959 | First non-US feature film, the British-made "Beyond This Place" (US release title "Web of Evidence"), in which she co-starred opposite Van Johnson | |
1958 | Was cast in Hitchcock's "Vertigo" but had to withdraw due to pregnancy | |
1956 | Put under personal contract to Alfred Hitchcock; made a first film with him, "The Wrong Man", in which she starred opposite Henry Fonda | |
1955 | First worked with John Ford on an episode of the TV anthology series, "Screen Directors Playhouse" entitled "Rookie of the Year", which he directed | |
1955 | First worked with Alfred Hitchcock on an episode of the TV anthology series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" entitled "Revenge", which he also directed | |
1952 | Played first female lead in films in the sports picture, "The Rose Bowl Story", a low-budgeter made by Monogram Pictures | |
1951 | Film debut in "Two Tickets to Broadway" | |
| Worked as a model for a time after her beauty contest success | ||
1948 | Won third place in the Miss America Pageant | |