![CurseOfTheUndead1959](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/CurseOfTheUndead1959.jpg)
Kathleen Crowley (born Betty Jane Crowley; December 26, 1929 – April 23, 2017)
was an American actress. She appeared more than 100 times in movies and television series in the 1950s and 1960s, almost always as a leading lady.
Biography
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
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
in 1946. On August 7, 1949, the 19-year-old Crowley won the title of
Miss New Jersey
The Miss New Jersey competition is an annual pageant held to select the representative for the state of New Jersey in the Miss America pageant.
Two Miss New Jersey winners have gone on to hold the title of Miss America: Bette Cooper who won in ...
at a contest held at
Asbury Park, New Jersey. As the winner, she entered the
Miss America pageant held in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 10, 1949, and finished in seventh place. At the time, she was working as a bookkeeper.
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.
In February 1951, she appeared with
Conrad Nagel
John Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 – February 24, 1970) was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1940 and ...
in ''A Star Is Born'' on ''
Robert Montgomery Presents
''Robert Montgomery Presents'' is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950, until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its eight-year run, and the title was altered to feature the ...
''. 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
''Downhill Racer'' is a 1969 American sports drama film starring Robert Redford, Gene Hackman and Camilla Sparv, and was the directorial debut of Michael Ritchie. Written by James Salter, based on the 1963 novel ''The Downhill Racers'' by Oakle ...
'' with
Robert Redford. She made three guest appearances on ''
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...
'', 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.
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
''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was o ...
'' (1958-1964) beginning with that series’ episode titled “Lovely Lady Pity Me,” based on a novel by series creator
Roy Huggins
Roy Huggins (July 18, 1914 – April 3, 2002) was an American novelist and an influential writer/creator and producer of character-driven television series, including ''Maverick'', '' The Fugitive'', ''Hunter'', and ''The Rockford Files''. He ...
. In the episode "Strange Bedfellows," she appeared as Martizza Vedar, a character purposely similar to
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor (, ; born Sári Gábor ; February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016) was a Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were actresses Eva and Magda Gabor.
Gabor competed in the 1933 Miss Hungary pageant, where she ...
due to their extremely close physical resemblance. For the episode "The Desert Spa Caper," Crowley portrayed alcoholic actress Claire Dickens.
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
''Yancy Derringer'' is an American action/ adventure series that was broadcast on CBS from 1958 to 1959, with Jock Mahoney (1919–1989) in the title role. The show was produced by Derringer Productions and filmed in Hollywood by Desilu Produ ...
'' with
Jock Mahoney
Jacques Joseph O'Mahoney (February 7, 1919 – December 14, 1989), known professionally as Jock Mahoney, was an American actor and stuntman. He starred in two Action/Adventure television series, ''The Range Rider'' and ''Yancy Derringer''. He ...
, ''
Bourbon Street Beat'' with
Andrew Duggan
Andrew Duggan (December 28, 1923 – May 15, 1988) was an American character actor. His work includes 185 screen credits between 1949 and 1987 for roles in both film and television, as well a number more on stage.
Background
Duggan was born in ...
, ''
Surfside 6
''Surfside 6'' is an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered on a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and featured Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield II; Van Williams as Kenny Madison (a character recyc ...
'' with
Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue (born Merle Johnson Jr., January 27, 1936 – September 2, 2001) was an American film and television actor and singer. He was a popular sex symbol in the 1950s and 1960s.
Biography Early years
Born in New York City, Donahue was ...
, ''
Hawaiian Eye'' with
Connie Stevens
Connie Stevens (born Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingolia; August 8, 1938) is an American actress and singer. Born in Brooklyn, New York City to musician parents, Stevens was raised there until age 12, when she was sent to live with family friends in r ...
, ''
77 Sunset Strip
''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was o ...
'' with
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (November 30, 1918 – May 2, 2014) was an American actor known for his starring roles in the television series ''77 Sunset Strip'' and ''The F.B.I.'' He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the se ...
, ''
Bat Masterson
Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was born to ...
'' with
Gene Barry
Gene Barry (born Eugene Klass, June 14, 1919 – December 9, 2009) was an American stage, screen, and television actor and singer. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films '' The Atomic City'' (1952) and ''The War of The Worl ...
, an anthology series ''
Fireside Theater
''Fireside Theatre'' (also known as ''Jane Wyman Presents'') is an American anthology drama series that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. Productions were low-budget and often based ...
'', another anthology series ''
The Americans
''The Americans'' is an American period spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg that aired on the FX television network for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also serve as showrunners a ...
'', ''
Bonanza'', ''
Colt .45'', ''
Bronco
A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock.
The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for rod ...
'' with
Ty Hardin
Ty Hardin (born Orison Whipple Hungerford Jr.; January 1, 1930August 3, 2017) was an American actor best known as the star of the 1958 to 1962 ABC/ Warner Bros. Western television series ''Bronco''.
Early life
Hardin was born in New York City ...
, ''
Branded'' with
Chuck Connors
Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have p ...
, ''
Redigo'', ''
Climax!
''Climax!'' (later known as ''Climax Mystery Theater'') is an American television anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS progra ...
'', ''
My Three Sons
''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seasons. ''My Three Sons'' chroni ...
'' with
Fred MacMurray, ''
The Donna Reed Show
''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children, Mary ...
'', ''
Checkmate'' with
Sebastian Cabot and
Doug McClure
Douglas Osborne McClure (May 11, 1935February 5, 1995) was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s. He is best known for his role as the cowboy Trampas during the entire run from 1962 to 1971 o ...
, ''
Route 66'', ''
Thriller'' with
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...
, ''
Batman'' with
Adam West, ''
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
'', ''
Family Affair
''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attempte ...
'' with
Brian Keith
Brian Keith (born Robert Alba Keith, November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997) was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family film '' The Parent T ...
, ''
Rawhide'' with
Clint Eastwood, ''
The Virginian'' with
Doug McClure
Douglas Osborne McClure (May 11, 1935February 5, 1995) was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s. He is best known for his role as the cowboy Trampas during the entire run from 1962 to 1971 o ...
, ''
The High Chaparral
''The High Chaparral'' television series, which was broadcast on NBC from 1967 to 1971, is an American Western action adventure drama set in the 1870s. It stars Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell. The series was made by Xanadu Productions ...
'', ''
The Restless Gun
''The Restless Gun'' is an American Western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Civil War. A skilled gunfighter, Bonner is a ...
'' with
John Payne, ''
Tales of Wells Fargo'' with
Dale Robertson
Dayle Lymoine Robertson (July 14, 1923February 27, 2013) was an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the roving investigator Jim Hardie in the television series ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' and railroad owner Ben ...
, ''
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture.
He first appeared in 1933 in ...
'', and ''
The Adventures of Champion
''The Adventures of Champion'' is an American adventure serial radio drama directed by William Burch about screen cowboy Gene Autry's horse Champion. Each 15-minute episode was broadcast weekday afternoons on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 194 ...
''. 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
Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to:
History
* Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick
Aviation
* AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design
* General Aviation Design Burea ...
'' (1957-1962). She was the only actress in the series whom
James Garner
James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy ...
lauded for her acting ability in depth and at length in his memoir ''The Garner Files''. 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.
Death
She died at age 87 on April 23, 2017, at her home in Green Bank, New Jersey. She was survived by her husband, son and a granddaughter.
Selected filmography
*''
The Silver Whip'' (1953)
*''
The Farmer Takes a Wife'' (1953)
*''
Target Earth'' (1954)
*''
City of Shadows'' (1955)
*''
Westward Ho the Wagons!
''Westward Ho the Wagons!'' is a 1956 American Western film starring Fess Parker and Kathleen Crowley and produced by Walt Disney Productions. Based on Mary Jane Carr's novel ''Children of the Covered Wagon'', the film was produced by Bill Wal ...
'' (1956)
*''
Female Jungle
''Female Jungle'' is a 1955 black-and-white film noir directed by Bruno VeSota and starring Kathleen Crowley, Lawrence Tierney, John Carradine and Jayne Mansfield. The production was Mansfield's first film, as well as the only American Interna ...
'' (1956)
*''
The Quiet Gun'' (1957)
*''
The Phantom Stagecoach
''The Phantom Stagecoach'' is a 1957 American Western film directed by Ray Nazarro and starring William Bishop, Kathleen Crowley, Richard Webb, Hugh Sanders, John Doucette, and Frank Ferguson. The film was released by Columbia Pictures on Ap ...
'' (1957)
*''
Wagon Train
''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...
'' ('The Mark Hanford Story') (1958)
*''
The Restless Gun
''The Restless Gun'' is an American Western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Civil War. A skilled gunfighter, Bonner is a ...
'' (1958) Episode "Woman From Sacramento"
*''
The Flame Barrier'' (1958)
*''
The Rebel Set
''The Rebel Set'' is a 1959 American crime drama film in black and white directed by Gene Fowler Jr. It was later featured and riffed on ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' in Season 4.
Plot summary
Mr. Tucker (Platt), proprietor of a Los Angel ...
'' (1959)
*''
Curse of the Undead'' (1959)
*''
FBI Code 98
''FBI Code 98'' is a 1962 crime drama directed by Leslie H. Martinson and produced by Warner Bros. Originally intended as television pilot, the film was instead released theatrically in the United Kingdom in 1962, and in the United States in 1963. ...
'' (1962)
*''
Showdown
A showdown is a duel. The term may also refer to:
Places
* Showdown Ski Area, in Montana, United States
Books
* ''Showdown'' (Amado novel), a 1984 novel by Jorge Amado
* ''Showdown'' (Dekker novel), a 2006 novel by Ted Dekker
* ''Showdown'' ( ...
'' (1963)
*''
Downhill Racer
''Downhill Racer'' is a 1969 American sports drama film starring Robert Redford, Gene Hackman and Camilla Sparv, and was the directorial debut of Michael Ritchie. Written by James Salter, based on the 1963 novel ''The Downhill Racers'' by Oakle ...
'' (1969)
*''
The Lawyer
''The Lawyer'' is a legal business information product for law firm leaders, commercial lawyers, barristers
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. The ...
'' (1970)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowley, Kathleen
1929 births
2017 deaths
Miss America 1940s delegates
Actresses from New Jersey
American film actresses
American television actresses
People from Washington Township, Burlington County, New Jersey
People from Egg Harbor City, New Jersey
Western (genre) television actors
Western (genre) film actresses
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American women