Felicia Farr (born Olive Dines; October 4, 1932) is a American former actress and model

Early years

Farr was born in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

. She attended

Erasmus Hall High School Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Ac ...

and studied sociology at Penn State.

Career

Farr began modeling lingerie at age 15. In 1955, she told a wire-service reporter: "I was under age and over-developed ... The agency claimed I was 19 because a state law required underage lingerie models to be chaperoned". Cliff Robertson Felicia Farr 1958

She appeared in several modeling photo shoots and advertisements during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1955, she signed a seven-year contract with

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. Her earliest screen appearances date from the mid-1950s. They include three westerns directed by

Delmer Daves Delmer Lawrence Daves (July 24, 1904 – August 17, 1977) was an American screenwriter, film director and film producer. He worked in many genres, including film noir and warfare, but he is best known for his Western movies, especially '' Broke ...

: '' Jubal'' (1956) and '' 3:10 to Yuma'' (1957), both starring

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-offi ...

, and '' The Last Wagon'' (1956), starring

Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death'' (1947) ...

. Farr's later film appearances include the bawdy

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Hol ...

farce '' Kiss Me, Stupid'' (1964) with Dean Martin and

Ray Walston Herman Raymond Walston (November 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American actor and comedian, well known as the title character on ''My Favorite Martian''. His other major film, television, and stage roles included Luther Billis (''South Paci ...

as her husband (a role originally intended for Jack Lemmon); Walter Matthau's daughter-in-law in ''

Kotch ''Kotch'' is a 1971 American comedy-drama film directed by Jack Lemmon and starring Walter Matthau, Deborah Winters, Felicia Farr, Charles Aidman, and Ellen Geer. Adapted by John Paxton from Katharine Topkins' 1965 novel of the same name, the ...

'' (1971) (Lemmon's only film as director); and the

Don Siegel Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer. Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut ...

bank-heist caper ''

Charley Varrick ''Charley Varrick'' (a.k.a.''The Last of the Independents'' and ''Kill Charley Varrick'') is a 1973 American neo-noir crime film directed by Don Siegel and starring Walter Matthau, Andrew Robinson, Joe Don Baker and John Vernon. ''Charley Varric ...

'' (1973) with Matthau. She had more than 30 TV appearances on '' The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'', '' Bonanza'', ''

Ben Casey ''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaff ...

'', '' Burke's Law'', ''

Harry O ''Harry O'', sometimes spelled ''Harry-O'', is an American Detective fiction, private detective series that aired for two seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1974 to 1976. The series starred David Janssen, and Jerry Thorpe was exec ...

'', and many others.

Personal life

On September 2, 1949, Dines married actor

Lee Farr Lee Farr (born Leon Farb; April 10, 1927 – March 23, 2017) was an American actor best known for his starring role as Lt. Jimmy Conway in the television series '' The Detectives'' during the 1950s and 1960s. Early years Farr was born Leon Far ...

, a marriage which produced a daughter, Denise Farr, who later became the wife of actor Don Gordon. Farr's second husband was actor Jack Lemmon; they married in 1962 while Lemmon was filming the comedy '' Irma La Douce'' in Paris. They remained married until his death in 2001. During her marriage to Jack Lemmon, Farr gave birth to a daughter, Courtney, in 1966. She is also the stepmother of Lemmon's son, actor and author Chris Lemmon, from his first marriage.

Filmography

Selected television appearances

* ''Wayfarers'' (1960) * '' Naked City'' (1960) * '' Wagon Train'' (1961) * '' Target: The Corruptors!'' (1961) * ''

'' (1962) * '' The Defenders'' (1962) * '' Bonanza'' (1963) – Episode: "Marie, My Love" as Marie DeMarigny * '' The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' (1964) * '' Burke's Law'' (1964) * ''

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre ''Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre'' is an American anthology series, sponsored by Chrysler Corporation, which ran on NBC from 1963 through 1967. The show was hosted by Bob Hope, but it had a variety of formats, including musical, dramatic ...

'' (1965) * '' Run for Your Life'' (1967) * '' It Takes a Thief'' (1970) * ''

Awake and Sing! ''Awake and Sing!'' is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935. Summary and characters The play is set in The Bronx borough of New York City, New York, in 1933. It con ...

'' (1972)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farr, Felicia 1932 births Living people Actresses from New York (state) American film actresses American television actresses Jewish American actresses People from Westchester County, New York 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women Lemmon family