The title of this piece is a quote attributed to me, which I have used at various times along my Comfort TV journey when struck by the appearance of an actress of exceptional beauty, whose name at that time was not known to me until the episode’s credits rolled.
Since then, I’ve come to recognize all of them immediately and even seek out other shows in which they appeared. None are household names, but for those who grew up in this era or now spend more time with the classics than whatever stuff is streaming now, they are sure to make a borderline episode worth watching and push a good one into the ‘great’ category.
Pamela Tiffin
Look for her in: “The Girl from Little Egypt” (The Fugitive)
Viewers had to wait months into this show’s first season before finding out what really happened the night Richard Kimble’s wife was murdered. That story is told in this pivotal (and fan favorite) episode that was made even more memorable by the appearance of Pamela Tiffin as the title character.
She plays Ruthie Norton, a stewardess who unwittingly hooks up with a married man. When she learns the truth she flees from the rat in her car and sideswipes Kimble, who was walking on the side of the road. She takes him in after the accident, even after he reveals his identity while still groggy. David Janssen had chemistry with everyone, but Ruthie does not (somewhat surprisingly) become one of his one-episode romances. They connect as two lonely people sharing each other’s burdens, and part platonically toward an uncertain future.
After that, watch: Tiffin made less than a handful of TV appearances, working more steadily in films both in the US and Italy. So, if you’d like to see more of her check out her bikini dance on a diving board (just for the choreography, of course) in the Paul Newman film Harper (1966).
Nina Shipman
Look for her in “The Student Nurse” (The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet)
Most of the young actresses who appeared as dates for David or Ricky were already known to me when I discovered and belatedly fell in love with this series: Roberta Shore, Linda Evans, Cheryl Holdridge, Tuesday Weld…but Nina Shipman was a new face and certainly a remarkable one.
“The Student Nurse” is my favorite of her four series appearances. She plays…well, you probably figured that out already. Ricky visits a friend in the hospital, takes one look at her, and braves a flu shot to get her name and a date. Shipman is utterly charming in the episode, with a more poised and mature quality than most of the girlfriend characters on this series.
After that, watch: “The County Clerk” (The Andy Griffith Show)
Shipman wears nurse’s whites again in this episode, which introduced Jack Dodson as Mayberry mama’s boy Howard Sprague.
Brenda Benét
Look for her in “Is There a Doctor In the House?” (Hogan’s Heroes)
I’ve thought more than once about doing an entire blog entry on Brenda Benét, but every time I try the sadness that overshadowed her later life compels me to abandon the idea in search of less traumatic topics.
As lovely as she appears in photos I’ve yet to see one that does her justice. On TV her features light up a screen in ways even the medium’s most celebrated beauties rarely achieve. The episode I’ve singled out above only features Benét in two short scenes, and in one of them she’s wearing male POW clothes, her hair covered under Sgt. Carter’s USAF cap. But if it was possible to freeze-frame a show in 1968, I’m sure she would have caused a lot of male viewers to grab the remote.
After that, watch: “Charlie’s Cherubs” (Fantasy Island)
Ten years after appearing on Hogan’s Heroes, Benét was if anything even more captivating as one of three secretaries visiting Mr. Roarke’s Island, wishing to become Charlie’s Angels for a weekend.
Irene Tsu
Look for her in “Robbie and the Slave Girl” (My Three Sons)
Irene Tsu is always easy to spot in a classic TV episode, not just because of her stunning good looks, but also because there were not many Asian actresses making regular appearances on 1960s television.
She played her share of stereotypical roles, as is this My Three Sons episode – after Robbie saves her from being hit by a car, she tells him that, because of an old Chinese custom, she is now his slave for life. Or is she just saying that to get closer to Robbie?
Tsu is utterly adorable here, especially in a scene when, without saying a word, she helps Robbie get to the front of a line of boys waiting for a drinking fountain. That clip among others can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCXk2kStu88
After that, watch: “San Francisco Cop” (The Smith Family)
Six years after her My Three Sons episode, Tsu could still play a youthful teenager, in this case a free-spirited girl who runs away from her conservative family and takes a job as a go-go dancer in a seedy nightclub. It’s a performance far removed from the demure student she played on My Three Sons, a testament to her talent and versatility.
Joi Lansing
Look for her in “Jed Throws a Wingding” (The Beverly Hillbillies)
She was television’s version of Jayne Mansfield, with platinum blond hair and the kind of voluptuous figure you’d rarely see outside of a comic book panel drawn by Rob Liefeld.
Such striking features could overshadow her other talents, such as deft comic timing and a fine singing voice, but Lansing displayed both in six episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, beginning with season one’s “Jed Throws a Wingding.”
She played Gladys Flatt, wife of Lester Flatt (the bluegrass duo of Flatt and Scruggs play themselves). The joke was that both members of the duo had married gorgeous women, while on the rebound from their true love Pearl, played by Bea Benaderet.
Lansing is the only actress on this list to merit a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
After that, watch: “Mrs. Superman” (The Adventures of Superman)
I’m tempted to send you back to Ozzie & Harriet as Lansing appeared in 12 episodes, always as a different character, and usually in one scene – just long enough to fluster one of the Nelson men. Ozzie clearly enjoyed having her around. But let’s go instead with her performance as a policewoman who goes undercover at Superman’s wife to help catch a gang of elusive bank robbers. Lois Lane wasn’t too happy about that, but George Reeves’ smile did seem a little wider in this episode.
Michele Carey
Look for her in “The Brothers” (Mission: Impossible)
After Barbara Bain left Mission: Impossible, the IMF team recruited a rotating coterie of female agents to take her place, including Lee Meriwether, Julie Gregg and Jessica Walter. But to me the most memorable from such an eminent field is Michele Carey, who had Bain’s cool, aristocratic allure and grace under pressure.
In “The Brothers” her job is to distract a dictator while the team restores the rightful ruler to the throne, which they accomplish through a tainted bottle of cognac and a fake kidney transplant (hey, you try summarizing one of this show’s labyrinthine plots). From the moment she enters her victim’s room in a dazzling white dress, he can’t take his eyes off her. Neither can we.
After that, watch: “The Night of the Feathered Fury” (The Wild, Wild West)
Drawing one’s attention away from Victor Buono’s delightfully scenery-chewing performance as the evil Count Manzeppi would seem a nearly impossible task. But as Gerta, the Count’s former ally (or is she still an accomplice?) Carey is once again stunning.
Diane McBain
Look for her in “Fraternity of Fear” (77 Sunset Boulevard)
If Joi Lansing was classic TV’s Jayne Mansfield, then Diane McBain was TV’s Grace Kelly, a regal blonde with the kind of classic features sculptors dream of immortalizing in marble.
The best way to make her acquaintance would likely be in Surfside 6, the series that launched her career – but that show remains locked in a vault somewhere. So let’s leave that Miami-set series for the west coast, where McBain appeared in nine episodes of 77 Sunset Strip. In “Fraternity of Fear” she plays a co-ed who catches Jeff’s eye while he investigates the hazing death of a college student.
After that, watch: “The Thirteenth Hat” (Batman)
As hat check girl Lisa, accomplice of The Mad Hatter, McBain ascends to the top of rogues gallery molls on this series, surpassing such stiff competition as Sherry Jackson and Jill St. John.
Which almost-famous TV faces were unforgettable to you upon first glance?
I remember Michele Carey as the female interest for Elvis Presley in "Live a Little, Love a Little", where she played an eccentric neighbor of his at their beachfront residences.
ReplyDeleteJoi Lansing first appeared in the 1950s on "The Bob Cummings Show/Love That Bob" where she portrayed one of Bob Collins' many fashion models. She was certainly the most noticeable due to her stunning figure. The show's producer Paul Henning later cast her in "The Beverly Hillbillies".
ReplyDeleteAnother name that you can add to this list of women would be E. J. Peaker. She appeared on a few late '60s/early '70s show like "The Odd Couple" and "Love American Style" but never found a hit show to call her own so that audiences can fall in love with her beauty, charm, and talent. Maybe it was because people had a hard time remembering her name.
SURFSIDE SIX was streaming for awhile on WB Instant several years back. Enjoyed it, Diane McBain and Margarita Sierra (died way, way too young, RIP) were fun. McBain's earliest appearances were on MAVERICK, "A Fellow's Brother" is a particularly good one.
ReplyDeleteBest place to see Joi Lansing IMO is THE BOB CUMMINGS SHOW/LOVE THAT BOB, which is also the best place to see Lisa Gaye. Lansing was in over two dozen episodes. I have two of her best, Bob Batches It and The Models Revolt up on my YouTube channel. Joi is also in a good MAVERICK, Seed of Deception, with Adele Mara. And LOVE THAT BOB probably had over a couple dozen more of those unforgettable faces over its 1955-59 run.
As for favorites of mine, in addition to the aforementioned Lisa Gaye, Marie Gomez (HIGH CHAPARRAL most often, but also appeared on HONDO, DOBIE GILLIS, WILD WILD WEST among others) of course.