Synopsis: Thrust Into Television

Many movie character actresses found steady work and arguably more exposure with the advent of television. 

RANDY STUART (1924-1996)

Ask any of your like-minded friends and they will readily confess they never heard of Randy Stuart (Elizabeth Shaubell). Blessed with a commanding alto voice and spunky, girl-next-door attractiveness, Stuart got her acting career started with a Twentieth Century Fox contract. Typically buried in the credits, her small roles in, Sitting Pretty (1948), I Was a Male War Bride (1949) and "the girl" in All About Eve (1950) gave her some exposure and provided significant training. In what may have been her breakout role, she played the on-screen sister to Susan Hayward in the forgettable drama, I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951). No stranger to television, she made the rounds in such anthology series as Chevron Theatre and two long-running series, The Ford Television Theatre and the Schiltz Playhouse during the early Fifties. She played the wife opposite Alan Hale, Jr. in, Biff Baker, U.S.A. (1952-54). The likable, energetic couple got caught up in trouble on their international business travels during the Cold War. It was back to the big screen for her “larger” and most famous role as the wife of Grant Williams in the 1957 Universal International’s science-fiction classic, The Incredible Shrinking Man her next to last film.

Stuart appeared for several years in television westerns, most produced by Warner Bros. for the ABC network. She had a recurring role in eighteen episodes of, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O'Brien, as his romantic interest. She guest-starred four times on Clint Walker's groundbreaking western, Cheyenne, in strong-willed characters during the show’s late years. Stuart was back into the spy business for a Cold War-themed episode of 77 Sunset Strip, followed by roles on Lawman, Bourbon Street Beat, The Roaring 20s, and two appearances on Hawaiian Eye before taking a five-year hiatus. Just as Stuart’s career was winding down, she returned in 1967-68 to play the wife of Harry Morgan's character, Officer Bill Gannon, on NBC's Dragnet. 1975 marked her final role in ABC's, Marcus Welby, M.D., starring a classic example of an actor transitioning from film to television, Robert Young.

Find out more about Stuart's career at IMBD.