Joan Tompkins
Encyclopedia
Joan Tompkins, legally known as Joan Swenson (July 9, 1915–January 29, 2005) was an American
actress of television
, film
, radio
, and stage, who co-founded with her husband, Karl Swenson
, an acting company in Beverly Hills
, California
. In the 1962-1963 television
season, Tompkins played legal secretary Trudy Wagner in twenty-eight episodes of Edmond O'Brien
's NBC
legal drama Sam Benedict
, co-starring Richard Rust
. From 1967-1970, she guest starred nine times as Lorraine Miller in Fred MacMurray
's CBS
situation comedy
, My Three Sons
, with her last appearance in the episode "St. Louis Blues" on December 19, 1970.
According to the Social Security Death Index
, Tompkins, listed as Joan Swenson at death, was living in New York
when she procured her Social Security number
, probably in the late 1930s. In 1938, at the age of twenty-three, she joined Henry Fonda
in performing plays in White Plains
, New York. Thereafter, she performed on radio
in the soap opera
role of Nora Drake on This Is Nora Drake, which ran on CBS radio until 1959. She appeared on Broadway
in New York City
in stage productions of Pride and Prejudice
and My Sister Eileen
. During her radio performances, she met Karl Swenson, who portrayed the Scandinavia
n Lars Hanson on Michael Landon
's Little House on the Prairie
NBC television series. Tompkins herself guest starred twice on Little House. The couple married sometime after Swenson and his first wife, the former Virginia Hanscom (1908–2003), divorce
d. They were living in southern California by 1957.
in The Christine Jorgensen Story
(1970), who gives the world's first transexual, George Jorgensen, the name "Christine", after her deceased daughter and George's cousin.
She appeared as Miss Musto in the comedy
film Popi
, starring Alan Arkin
and Rita Moreno
. In the story line, Popi, a poor Puerto Rican
widower living in Harlem, New York
, hatches a bizarre plot to get his two sons, who will claim to be Cuba
n shipwrecked off the Florida
coast so that they will be adopted by wealthy parents who learn of their plight from the expected press coverage.
Tompkins appeared as Judge Beth Weaver in Zigzag
, an American film based on the British
picture False Witness. George Kennedy
plays an insurance investigator dying from a brain tumor
. He confesses to a murder he did not commit to collect the reward money. During his murder trial, he collapses and is rushed to the hospital. After he undergoes surgery, he emerges healed. He then faces the task of denying he is a killer but merely a liar.
Tompkins appeared as Grandma Dennison in the 1970 comedy I Love My Wife
, about a bored adulterous
surgeon
starring Elliott Gould
, with Brenda Vaccaro
as his pregnant wife, based on a musical of the same name. Angel Tompkins
appears in the film as Gould's mistress, with Dabney Coleman
cast as her husband.
's Kraft Television Theater. Four years later, she appeared as Sarah Sheldon in the 1958 episode “The Spy” of the Goodyear Theatre
. That same year, she portrayed a woman named “Patience” in NBC's western
series The Californians
. Subsequent appearances were on the situation comedies
, The Donna Reed Show
, and Bachelor Father. In 1960, she played Martha in “The Twisted Root” of the syndicated
series, The Brothers Brannagan
.
In 1960, she also appeared in three Warner Brothers/ABC
series, Maverick
, as Mary Burch in the episode “Bullet for the Teacher”; Hawaiian Eye
, as a tourist in “Man in a Rage”, and The Roaring Twenties
, as Celia Morton in “Layoff Charley”. In 1960-1961, she appeared twice on Boris Karloff
's Thriller, starring Boris Karloff
. She also guest starred as Cora Summers on Gardner McKay
's Adventures in Paradise
.
Tompkins appeared twice on David Janssen
's The Fugitive
. In the 1967 episode Dr. Richard Kimble, using the alias
"Douglas Beckett", is hired as a chauffeur
for a wealthy family, with Tompkins playing the mother, Madge Glenn. Her daughter Joanne Glenn, portrayed by Katherine Crawford, is involved with the pool maintenance man, Dan Holt, played by Mark Goddard
, formerly of Lost in Space
and Many Happy Returns
. Madge tries to break up her daughter's romance, and then Holt discovers the identity of Dr. Kimble and blackmail
s him to provide cover so that Holt can continue to see Joanne without the family finding out about the ongoing relationship. Pete Duel
, prior to Alias Smith and Jones
, played a young socialite in the 1967 episode.
She also appeared in the 1967 episode "There goes the Ballgame" as Rose.
She is also fondly remembered by fans of classic television as the mother to Don Grady's TV wife Tina Cole on My Three Sons
playing the recurring role of Lorraine Miller. She played the part nine times during the period 1967-71.
Her other television roles include:
and as a woman physician
in The Night the City Screamed, another television film.
After World War II
, Tompkins became a foster parent for a war orphan, a handicapped Polish
youth named Tomek Machcinski, who became a photographer, known as the “Man of a million faces”. In 1994, their story was portrayed in a documentary
. After Karl Swenson's death in 1978, Tompkins organized a group to help prospective writers improve their narratives and to obtain publication of their works. She resided in Dana Point
in Orange County
, California, at the time of her death at the age of eighty-nine. She was survived by four stepsons from Swenson's first marriage. One is named "Steven".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, and stage, who co-founded with her husband, Karl Swenson
Karl Swenson
Karl Swenson was an American theatre, radio, film, and television actor.-Biography:Born in Brooklyn, New York of Swedish parentage, Swenson made several appearances with Pierre-Luc Michaud on Broadway in the 1930s and 40s, including the title role in Arthur Miller's first production, The Man Who...
, an acting company in Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In the 1962-1963 television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
season, Tompkins played legal secretary Trudy Wagner in twenty-eight episodes of Edmond O'Brien
Edmond O'Brien
Edmond O'Brien was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A. and his Oscar winning role in The Barefoot Contessa...
's NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
legal drama Sam Benedict
Sam Benedict
Sam Benedict is an American legal drama that aired on NBC from September 1962 to March 1963. The series was created and executive produced by E. Jack Neuman....
, co-starring Richard Rust
Richard Rust
Richard Rust was an American actor of stage, television, and film born in Boston, Massachusetts, probably best remembered for his role as a young lawyer in NBC's Sam Benedict series. Rust's mother died when he was five, and his father was an officer in the United States Navy...
. From 1967-1970, she guest starred nine times as Lorraine Miller in Fred MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
's CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
, My Three Sons
My Three Sons
My Three Sons is an American situation comedy. The series ran from 1960 to 1965 on ABC, and moved to CBS until its end on August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of a widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas , raising his three sons.The series was a cornerstone of the CBS...
, with her last appearance in the episode "St. Louis Blues" on December 19, 1970.
According to the Social Security Death Index
Social Security Death Index
The Social Security Death Index is a database of death records created from the United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File Extract. Most persons who have died since 1962 who had a Social Security Number and whose death has been reported to the Social Security Administration...
, Tompkins, listed as Joan Swenson at death, was living in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
when she procured her Social Security number
Social Security number
In the United States, a Social Security number is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents under section 205 of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration, an independent...
, probably in the late 1930s. In 1938, at the age of twenty-three, she joined Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
in performing plays in White Plains
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about east of the Hudson River and northwest of Long Island Sound...
, New York. Thereafter, she performed on radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
in the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
role of Nora Drake on This Is Nora Drake, which ran on CBS radio until 1959. She appeared on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in stage productions of Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England...
and My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen originated as a series of short stories by Ruth McKenney that eventually evolved into a book, a play, a musical, a radio play , two films, and a CBS television series in the 1960-1961 season....
. During her radio performances, she met Karl Swenson, who portrayed the Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n Lars Hanson on Michael Landon
Michael Landon
Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He is widely known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza , Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie , and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven...
's Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
NBC television series. Tompkins herself guest starred twice on Little House. The couple married sometime after Swenson and his first wife, the former Virginia Hanscom (1908–2003), divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d. They were living in southern California by 1957.
Film roles
Tompkins's film roles included that of Aunt Thora from DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in The Christine Jorgensen Story
The Christine Jorgensen Story
The Christine Jorgensen Story is a 1970 fictionalized biographical movie about transgendered Christine Jorgensen. While the overall premise of the film is accurate, many of the details are fictionalized for the continuity of the film. It was directed by Irving Rapper and based on Christine...
(1970), who gives the world's first transexual, George Jorgensen, the name "Christine", after her deceased daughter and George's cousin.
She appeared as Miss Musto in the comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film Popi
Popi
Popi is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Hiller. The screenplay by Tina Pine and Lester Pine focuses on a Puerto Rican widower struggling to raise his two young sons in the New York City neighborhood known as Spanish Harlem.-Plot:...
, starring Alan Arkin
Alan Arkin
Alan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marley & Me, and...
and Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award....
. In the story line, Popi, a poor Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
widower living in Harlem, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, hatches a bizarre plot to get his two sons, who will claim to be Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n shipwrecked off the Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
coast so that they will be adopted by wealthy parents who learn of their plight from the expected press coverage.
Tompkins appeared as Judge Beth Weaver in Zigzag
Zigzag
A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular....
, an American film based on the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
picture False Witness. George Kennedy
George Kennedy
George Harris Kennedy, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke , airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s and...
plays an insurance investigator dying from a brain tumor
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
. He confesses to a murder he did not commit to collect the reward money. During his murder trial, he collapses and is rushed to the hospital. After he undergoes surgery, he emerges healed. He then faces the task of denying he is a killer but merely a liar.
Tompkins appeared as Grandma Dennison in the 1970 comedy I Love My Wife
I Love My Wife
I Love My Wife is a musical with a book and lyrics by Michael Stewart and music by Cy Coleman, based on a play by Luis Rego.A satire of the sexual revolution of the 1970s, the musical takes place on Christmas Eve in suburban Trenton, New Jersey, where two married couples who have been close friends...
, about a bored adulterous
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
starring Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...
, with Brenda Vaccaro
Brenda Vaccaro
Brenda Buell Vaccaro is an American stage, television and film actress.-Early life:Vaccaro was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian American parents Christine M. and Mario A. Vaccaro , both of whom were pioneers in Italian cuisine...
as his pregnant wife, based on a musical of the same name. Angel Tompkins
Angel Tompkins
Angel Tompkins is an American actress and Golden Globe nominee, who appeared in several films and television shows.-Career:...
appears in the film as Gould's mistress, with Dabney Coleman
Dabney Coleman
Dabney Wharton Coleman is an American actor, best known for his roles in 9 to 5, WarGames, You've Got Mail, Sworn to Silence, The Beverly Hillbillies and as the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess and Recess: School's Out.-Early life:Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary...
cast as her husband.
Television appearances
Tompkins first appeared on television in 1954 at the age of thirty-nine in the segment “Guest in the House” of NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Kraft Television Theater. Four years later, she appeared as Sarah Sheldon in the 1958 episode “The Spy” of the Goodyear Theatre
Goodyear Theatre
Goodyear Theatre is a 30-minute dramatic television anthology series telecast on NBC from 1957 to 1960 for a total of 55 episodes. The live show was derected by Don Taylor, Arthur Hiller and James Sheldon...
. That same year, she portrayed a woman named “Patience” in NBC's western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series The Californians
The Californians (TV series)
The Californians is a 54-episode half-hour Western television series, set in the San Francisco gold rush of the 1850s, which aired on NBC from September 24, 1957, to May 26, 1959...
. Subsequent appearances were on the situation comedies
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
, The Donna Reed Show
The Donna Reed Show
The Donna Reed Show is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the upper middle class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz appears as her pediatrician husband Alex, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children Mary and Jeff. The show originally aired on ABC at 10 pm from September...
, and Bachelor Father. In 1960, she played Martha in “The Twisted Root” of the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
series, The Brothers Brannagan
The Brothers Brannagan
The Brothers Brannagan is an American crime drama television series that aired in syndication from September 24, 1960, and July 15, 1961.-Synopsis:...
.
In 1960, she also appeared in three Warner Brothers/ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
series, Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
, as Mary Burch in the episode “Bullet for the Teacher”; Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
, as a tourist in “Man in a Rage”, and The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties (TV series)
The Roaring 20s is an American drama series that aired on the ABC network beginning on October 15, 1960, and ending on September 21, 1962.-Synopsis:...
, as Celia Morton in “Layoff Charley”. In 1960-1961, she appeared twice on Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
's Thriller, starring Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
. She also guest starred as Cora Summers on Gardner McKay
Gardner McKay
George Cadogan Gardner McKay was an American actor, artist, and author.-Biography:Born in New York City, McKay graduated from Cornell University, where he majored in art. He became a Hollywood heart throb in the 1950s and 1960s. He landed the lead role in Adventures in Paradise, based loosely on...
's Adventures in Paradise
Adventures in Paradise
Adventures in Paradise is an American television series which ran on ABC from 1959 until 1962. It starred Gardner McKay as Adam Troy, the captain of the schooner Tiki III which sailed the South Pacific looking for passengers and adventure. The show was created by James Michener...
.
Tompkins appeared twice on David Janssen
David Janssen
David Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive , the starring role in the 1950s hit detective series Richard Diamond, Private Detective , and as Harry Orwell on Harry O.In 1996 TV Guide...
's The Fugitive
The Fugitive (TV series)
The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
. In the 1967 episode Dr. Richard Kimble, using the alias
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Douglas Beckett", is hired as a chauffeur
Chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...
for a wealthy family, with Tompkins playing the mother, Madge Glenn. Her daughter Joanne Glenn, portrayed by Katherine Crawford, is involved with the pool maintenance man, Dan Holt, played by Mark Goddard
Mark Goddard
Mark Goddard is an American film actor who has starred in a number of television programs. He portrayed Major Don West, the space adversary of Dr. Zachary Smith in the cult 1960s CBS series, Lost in Space, and Detective Sgt...
, formerly of Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
and Many Happy Returns
Many Happy Returns (TV series)
Many Happy Returns is a situation comedy television series that ran on CBS for twenty-six episodes, from September 21, 1964 to April 12, 1965, under the sponsorship of General Foods.-Cast:The show starred character actor John McGiver...
. Madge tries to break up her daughter's romance, and then Holt discovers the identity of Dr. Kimble and blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
s him to provide cover so that Holt can continue to see Joanne without the family finding out about the ongoing relationship. Pete Duel
Pete Duel
Pete Duel was an American actor, best known for his role in the television series Alias Smith and Jones.-Early life:Peter Ellstrom Deuel was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in nearby Penfield....
, prior to Alias Smith and Jones
Alias Smith and Jones
Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from 1971 to 1973. It stars Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, a pair of Western cousin outlaws trying to reform...
, played a young socialite in the 1967 episode.
She also appeared in the 1967 episode "There goes the Ballgame" as Rose.
She is also fondly remembered by fans of classic television as the mother to Don Grady's TV wife Tina Cole on My Three Sons
My Three Sons
My Three Sons is an American situation comedy. The series ran from 1960 to 1965 on ABC, and moved to CBS until its end on August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of a widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas , raising his three sons.The series was a cornerstone of the CBS...
playing the recurring role of Lorraine Miller. She played the part nine times during the period 1967-71.
Her other television roles include:
- HazelHazel (TV series)Hazel is a Screen Gems television series about a fictional live-in maid named Hazel Burke and her employers, the Baxters. The five-season, 154-episode series aired in primetime from September 1961 until April 1966...
as Florence Gurney in "Hazel and the Gardener" (1962) - The New BreedThe New Breed (TV series)The New Breed is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from October 3, 1961 to June 5, 1962, with thirty-six episodes.-Synopsis:...
as Mrs. Marsh in "How Proud the Guilty" (1962) - Bus StopBus Stop (TV series)Bus Stop is a 26-episode drama which aired on ABC from October 1, 1961, until March 25, 1962, starring Marilyn Maxwell as Grace Sherwood, the owner of a bus station and diner in the fictitious town of Sunrise in the Colorado Rockies...
, twice as Sarah Jenkins in "The Runaways" (1961) and "I Kiss Your Shadow" (1962) - The Danny Thomas ShowThe Danny Thomas ShowThe Danny Thomas Show is an American sitcom which ran from 1953-1957 on ABC and from 1957-1964 on CBS...
, two episodes (1959 and 1962) - The LieutenantThe LieutenantThe 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 successful in-house production companies of the 1960s. Situated...
, two episodes (1963–1964) - Route 66Route 66 (TV series)Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America. The show ran weekly on CBS from 1960 to 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod...
, as Mrs. Thomas in “Between Hello and Goodbye” (1962) - The Travels of Jaimie McPheetersThe Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV series)The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters is a 26-episode western television series based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Robert Lewis Taylor. The show aired in the 1963-1964 television season and was produced by MGM Television....
as Martha Pollux in “The Day of the Wizard” (1964) - The Eleventh HourThe Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.-Series premise:...
, three episodes, including the two-parter, “Does My Mother Have to Know?”, in the role of Aggie Britt (1964) - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.The show renders the title as Gomer Pyle - USMC. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy...
as Mrs. Harper in "A Date for the Colonel's Daughter" (1964) - Perry MasonPerry Mason (TV series)Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
, three episodes (1962–1964) - Dr. KildareDr. KildareDr. James Kildare is a fictional character, the primary character in a series of American theatrical films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, an early 1950s radio series, a 1960s television series of the same name and a comic book based on the TV show, and a short-lived 1970s television series...
, three episodes (1962–1965) - Slattery's PeopleSlattery's PeopleSlattery's People is a 1964-1965 American television series about local politics starring Richard Crenna as title character James Slattery, a state legislator, co-starring Ed Asner and Tol Avery, and featuring Carroll O'Connor and Warren Oates in a couple of episodes each. James E. Moser was...
, as Dorothy Ralston in “Question, What Time Is the Next Bandwagon?” (1965) - The Farmer's DaughterThe Farmer's Daughter (TV series)The Farmer's Daughter is an American situation comedy series that was produced by Screen Gems Television and aired on ABC from September 20, 1963 to April 22, 1966. It was sponsored by Lark cigarettes and Clairol for whom the two leading stars often appeared at show's end promoting the products...
in "Katie's Castle" (1965) - MannixMannixMannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...
as Mrs. Dover in “Turn Every Stone” (1967) - Mission: ImpossibleMission: ImpossibleMission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
as Miss Putnam in "The Seal" (1967) - Occasional WifeOccasional WifeOccasional Wife is an American sitcom that aired on NBC on September 13, 1966, and ran until May 9, 1967 . It was originally on NBC's Tuesday night schedule; in the Eastern Time Zone it aired from 8:30-9:00 p.m...
as Mrs. Brahms in "Pilot" and "No Cookie for Dessert" (1966) - I Dream of JeannieI Dream of JeannieI Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
as General's wife in "Invisible House for Sale" (1968) - BewitchedBewitchedBewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
as Harriet Walters in "Once in a Vial" (1968) - The Brady BunchThe Brady BunchThe Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
as Mrs. Tyler in “The Honeymoon” (1969) which was that show's premiere episode - LassieLassie (1954 TV series)Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973...
, in two episodes, including the role of Mrs. Davis in the 1964 episode “The Little Christmas Tree” and as Katherine in the 1971 segment entitled “The Awakening” - GriffGriff (TV series)Griff is a 13-episode ABC crime drama starring Lorne Greene and Ben Murphy, which aired from September 29, 1973, to January 4, 1974. Nine months after the expiration of his nearly 14-year role as Ponderosa Ranch patriarch Ben Cartwright on NBC's Bonanza western series, the Canadian native Greene...
, as Ruth in “Elephant in a Cage” (1973) - Owen Marshall: Counselor at LawOwen Marshall: Counselor at LawOwen Marshall, Counselor at Law is an American legal drama, jointly created by David Victor and former law professor Jerry McNeely, that starred actor Arthur Hill. The series was broadcast on ABC from 1971 to 1974...
, three episodes, including two as a judgeJudgeA judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
(1973–1974) - Barnaby JonesBarnaby JonesBarnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...
, three episodes, including role of Judge Edith Royce in “Voice in the Night” (1976) - The WaltonsThe WaltonsThe Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
, as Mrs. Herbert in "The Achievement" (1977), the final appearance of Richard ThomasRichard Thomas (actor)Richard Earl Thomas is an American actor, best known for his role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama The Waltons.- Early life :Thomas was born Richard Earl Thomas in New York,...
in the series and the episode in which John-Boy Walton he obtains publication of his first novelNovelA novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century.... - Emergency!Emergency!Emergency! is an American television series that combines the medical drama and action-adventure genres. It was produced by Mark VII Limited and distributed by Universal Studios...
as Maggie Trigg in “The Most Deadly Passage” (1978), made into a television movieTelevision movieA television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
the following year
Last years
Tompkins's last roles were in 1980, as Grandma Wells in the episode “Generations” of ABC’s Eight Is EnoughEight Is Enough
Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series which ran on ABC from March 15, 1977 until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled after syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book with the same name...
and as a woman physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
in The Night the City Screamed, another television film.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Tompkins became a foster parent for a war orphan, a handicapped Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
youth named Tomek Machcinski, who became a photographer, known as the “Man of a million faces”. In 1994, their story was portrayed in a documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
. After Karl Swenson's death in 1978, Tompkins organized a group to help prospective writers improve their narratives and to obtain publication of their works. She resided in Dana Point
Dana Point, California
-Climate:Dana Point enjoys a mild climate where temperatures tend to average around the 60's. The warmest month of the year is August with an average temperature of 79 degrees Fahrenheit. The coldest month is December with an average minimum temperature of 44 degrees Fahrenheit.-2010:The 2010...
in Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, California, at the time of her death at the age of eighty-nine. She was survived by four stepsons from Swenson's first marriage. One is named "Steven".