Jennifer Billingsley is a retired American television and film actress.
Early years
The daughter of Army Col. Claude Augustus Billingsley, she was born in
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
[ ] and relocated often as an "Army brat", attending schools in Vienna and Chicago,
[ and graduating with honors from Fort Smith Senior High School in ]Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
. She has one sister.
Career
Billingsley's stage debut came in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
, and she debuted on Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in the musical ''Carnival!
''Carnival'' is a musical, originally produced by David Merrick on Broadway in 1961, with the book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The musical is based on the 1953 film '' Lili'', which again was based on the short stor ...
''[ ] Her film debut came as James Caan
James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Suppo ...
's girlfriend in the 1964 thriller, ''Lady in a Cage
''Lady in a Cage'' is a 1964 American psychological thriller film directed by Walter Grauman, written and produced by Luther Davis, and released by Paramount Pictures. It stars Olivia de Havilland and James Caan in his first substantial film ro ...
'', and she appeared in the romantic drama, '' The Young Lovers'' that same year. She had a recurring role on the daytime soap opera, ''General Hospital
''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...
'' and prominent roles in such films as ''The Spy with My Face
''The Spy with My Face'' is a 1965 spy-fi spy film based on ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' television series. Robert Vaughn and David McCallum reprised their roles as secret agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin respectively. THRUSH tries to steal ...
'' (1965), ''C.C. and Company
''C.C. and Company'' is a 1970 American biker film directed by Seymour Robbie. It starred Joe Namath as biker C.C. Ryder, Ann-Margret as fashion journalist Ann, and William Smith as Moon, the leader of the fictitious outlaw biker club the "Head ...
'' (1970), ''Brute Corps
''Brute Corps'' is a 1971 American exploitation film. It was the directorial debut of Jerry Jameson.
Plot
Kevin, a draft dodging pacifist and Terry, a beautiful hitchhiker, travel to Mexico and encounter a gang of mercenaries awaiting their next ...
'' (1971), ''Welcome Home, Soldier Boys
''Welcome Home, Soldier Boys'' is a 1972 American drama film directed by Richard Compton and starring Joe Don Baker, Paul Koslo, Alan Vint, Elliott Street, Jennifer Billingsley and Billy "Green" Bush. Written by Guerdon Trueblood, the film was r ...
'' (1972), '' White Lightning'' (1973), ''The Thirsty Dead'' (1974) and '' Hollywood Man'' (1976).
Billingsley's guest spots on TV included ''Cimarron Strip
''Cimarron Strip'' is an American Western television series starring Stuart Whitman as Marshal Jim Crown. The series was produced by the creators of '' Gunsmoke'', and aired on CBS from September 1967 to March 1968. Reruns of the original show ...
'', '' Naked City'', ''Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central chara ...
'', '' Route 66'', ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...
'', '' Dr. Kildare'', ''The Lieutenant
''The Lieutenant'' is an American television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. It aired on NBC on Saturday evenings in the 1963–1964 television schedule. It was produced by Arena Productions, one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most ...
'', ''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 Man from U.N.C.L.E.
''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...
'', ''Mannix
''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that ran from 1967 to 1975 on CBS. It was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller. The title character, Joe Mannix, is a private in ...
'', ''The F.B.I.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
'', ''Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to:
* ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series
* ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...
'', '' Police Story'', ''Alice
Alice may refer to:
* Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname
Literature
* Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll
* ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
'', ''Baretta
''Baretta'' is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978.
The show was a revised and milder version of a 1973–1974 ABC series, '' Toma'', starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey pol ...
'', and ''The Amazing Spider-Man
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bimonthly per ...
''.
Personal life
Billingsley married Stephen N. Gerlach, better known as musician Jesse Lee Kincaid, who played classical guitar and composed music. The union later ended in divorce.[
]
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Billingsley, Jennifer
Living people
20th-century American actresses
American musical theatre actresses
American television actresses
American film actresses
American expatriates in Austria
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American women