Synopsis: Thrust Into Television

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

ANTHONY CARUSO (1916-2003)

The American character actor appeared in more than one hundred films, usually playing villains, gangsters, Native Americans, or a variety of ethnic characters. He made his film debut in 1940 and was often uncredited throughout the decade. Caruso's fortunes changed overnight after playing mobster Louis Ciavelli in The Asphalt Jungle (1950). By the mid-1950s, television became his medium, working steadily throughout the 1960s and 1970s on numerous popular series in Westerns, police dramas and comedies, where he often parodied a gangster persona. Caruso's face became very familiar. In the fantasy world of Hollywood, Caruso's life was 180 degrees from his many tough-guy roles. His passion for gardening and cooking, along with his wife of sixty-three years, continued after retirement from acting in 1990.

Discover more about Carsuso's career at IMBD.

Never Pigeonholed

Madlyn Rhue (Madeline Roche 1935-2003) was an American film and television actress. She created her stage name by adapting the title of the film 13 Rue Madeleine (1947). Though well known for her television work, from the 1950s to the 1980s, she appeared in some twenty films, including Operation Petticoat, The Ladies Man, A Majority of One, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and Stand Up and Be Counted. She was never pigeonholed. On the contrary, she was somewhat of a chameleon in front of the camera depending on the role, costume, or studio wig.

Rhue guest-starred in dozens of television series, including the westerns Cheyenne, Bonanza, Have Gun–Will Travel, and The Rebel. Her modern-day appearances brought her notoriety in such classics as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Route 66, The Untouchables, Perry Mason, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and The Fugitive. Rhue had regular roles in Bracken's World (1969–70) and Executive Suite (1976–77). It was at this time she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, though she continued her role on Days of Our Lives. But by 1985, she was unable to move about without a wheelchair. She was offered intermittent roles that did not require her to walk or stand, sometimes incorporating the wheelchair as part of the character. Angela Lansbury created a recurring role for her on her hit show, Murder, She Wrote, considered her last television appearance.

Beyond an Ingénue

 

Jacqueline Sue Browne (1930-2003) known professionally as either Kathie or Cathy Browne, began her career with an appearance in one episode of the film series Big Town, 1955. Her films were few but noticeable in her brief role in the movie, Murder by Contract, 1958, as a secretary and a for-hire party girl. The following year she did City of Fear. Both films starred Vince Edwards. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress was nearly typecast in ingénue parts, which kept her a very busy television actress in the Sixties and Seventies in numerous westerns, dramas, and comedies. Her first marriage was to actor, Sherwood Price, from 1953 to 1961. She appeared in four episodes of Perry Mason, 77 Sunset Strip, and Bonanza as the prospective bride of Pernell Roberts character. Star Trek fans will know her as Deela (above) in the episode, Wink of An Eye, 1966. She guest-starred with her second husband, Darren McGavin on his series, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and in The Rockford Files for Pastoria Prime Pick, 1975, as a blackmailing mayor of a crooked town. Her last professional appearance before retiring was for a two-part episode of The Love Boat, 1980. Browne and McGavin's thirty-four-year marriage lasted until her death.

Reel Character Series

 

Ellen Drew (Esther Loretta Ray 1914-2003) was an American lead and supporting actress with a high-voltage contagious smile. The B-movie actress got noticed by actor William Demarest, who eventually helped her get into films. She started her career as Terry Ray, unfortunately, the same name as a male actor. She "won the toss" however and for the next twenty-five features, that was her professional name. She officially became Ellen Drew under her 1938 Paramount Pictures contract, thanks to the aforementioned Demarest. After a string of forgettable films, she moved to RKO in 1944 and co-starred in a few notable films such as Johnny O'Clock (1947), The Man from Colorado (1948), The Crooked Way (1949), and as a Technicolor blonde in the likable, Man in The Saddle (1951), looking more like a mashup of Celeste Holm and Betty Grable. Interesting but totally forgotten, she played Margaret Anderson in the television pilot episode of Father Knows Best (1954). Her television career was brief, mostly starring in the popular anthology series of the 1950s before retiring in 1961.