Karen Steele
Encyclopedia
Karen Steele was an American
actress and model
with over 60 roles in film and television. Her most famous roles include starring as Virginia in Marty
, as Mrs Lane in Ride Lonesome
and as Eve McHuron in the Star Trek
episode "Mudd's Women".
, to Percy Davis Steele, a Bostonian of English descent and a career Marine who in 1956 was named assistant administrator of the Marshall Islands
.
Her mother was the former Ruth Covey Merritt, a Californian of French and Danish heritage. Childhood in the Hawaiian Islands brought Steele into contact with the Japanese and Polynesian languages as well as English.
She attended the University of Hawaii
and studied acting at Rollins College
in Florida
for a year. After that, she found work as a cover girl and model.
Steele earned her first money by spearing baby sharks in the private cove on the estate of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton
.
Her first critically acclaimed film was Marty
(1955). She played Virginia and got the part because the director, Delbert Mann
, confused her with an actress from New York who he and writer Paddy Chayevsky had intended to play it.
Her character in "Survival of the Fattest", a 1965 episode of Get Smart
, was named Mary 'Jack' Armstrong, said to be "the strongest female enemy agent in the world". This is a reference to Jack Armstrong, the clean-cut fictional hero of Jack Armstrong the All American Boy, an adventure series broadcast on radio from 1933 to 1951.
Like many actresses
, as she got older she turned to TV commercials for income. She also became involved in charitable causes and community service. In early 1970 she went on a handshake tour of service hospitals in the South Pacific. She turned down a series that would have brought her $78,000 in order to make the trip and in the process lost her agent.
, and married Dr. Maurice Boyd Ruland, a psychiatrist at the Mohave Mental Health Clinic. They were married until she died, aged 57, at the Kingman Regional Medical Center in Kingman, Arizona
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress and model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
with over 60 roles in film and television. Her most famous roles include starring as Virginia in Marty
Marty (film)
Marty is a 1955 American film directed by Delbert Mann. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky, expanding upon his 1953 teleplay of the same name. The film stars Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. The film enjoyed international success, winning the 1955 Academy Award for Best Picture and...
, as Mrs Lane in Ride Lonesome
Ride Lonesome
Ride Lonesome is a a 1959 Eastmancolor film; one of Budd Boetticher's "Ranown" westerns starring Randolph Scott and part of a series of films that began with Seven Men from Now...
and as Eve McHuron in the Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
episode "Mudd's Women".
Early life
Karen Steele was born in Honolulu, HawaiiHonolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
, to Percy Davis Steele, a Bostonian of English descent and a career Marine who in 1956 was named assistant administrator of the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
.
Her mother was the former Ruth Covey Merritt, a Californian of French and Danish heritage. Childhood in the Hawaiian Islands brought Steele into contact with the Japanese and Polynesian languages as well as English.
She attended the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
and studied acting at Rollins College
Rollins College
Rollins College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Winter Park, Florida , along the shores of Lake Virginia....
in 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...
for a year. After that, she found work as a cover girl and model.
Steele earned her first money by spearing baby sharks in the private cove on the estate of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton
Barbara Hutton
Barbara Woolworth Hutton was an American socialite dubbed by the media as the "Poor Little Rich Girl" because of her troubled life...
.
Career
Steele's first acting job was in a radio play titled Let George Do It. She subsequently appeared in the 1953 films The Clown (in an uncredited role) and Man Crazy (as Marge). The following year she landed the role of Millie Darrow in "So False and So Fair" on the television anthology Studio 57.Her first critically acclaimed film was Marty
Marty (film)
Marty is a 1955 American film directed by Delbert Mann. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky, expanding upon his 1953 teleplay of the same name. The film stars Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. The film enjoyed international success, winning the 1955 Academy Award for Best Picture and...
(1955). She played Virginia and got the part because the director, Delbert Mann
Delbert Mann
Delbert Martin Mann, Jr. was an American television and film director. He won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Marty...
, confused her with an actress from New York who he and writer Paddy Chayevsky had intended to play it.
Her character in "Survival of the Fattest", a 1965 episode of Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
, was named Mary 'Jack' Armstrong, said to be "the strongest female enemy agent in the world". This is a reference to Jack Armstrong, the clean-cut fictional hero of Jack Armstrong the All American Boy, an adventure series broadcast on radio from 1933 to 1951.
Like many actresses
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, as she got older she turned to TV commercials for income. She also became involved in charitable causes and community service. In early 1970 she went on a handshake tour of service hospitals in the South Pacific. She turned down a series that would have brought her $78,000 in order to make the trip and in the process lost her agent.
Personal life
In later life she settled in Golden Valley, ArizonaGolden Valley, Arizona
Golden Valley is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. The population was 4,515 at the 2000 census.-Name:...
, and married Dr. Maurice Boyd Ruland, a psychiatrist at the Mohave Mental Health Clinic. They were married until she died, aged 57, at the Kingman Regional Medical Center in Kingman, Arizona
Kingman, Arizona
Kingman is located in a desert climate on the edge of the Mojave Desert, but its higher elevation and location between the Colorado Plateau and the Lower Colorado River Valley tempers summer high temperatures and contributes to winter cold and rare snowfall. Summer daytime highs reach above 90 °F ...
.
Filmography
- The Clown (1953) (uncredited) as Blonde
- Man Crazy (1953) as Marge
- MartyMarty (film)Marty is a 1955 American film directed by Delbert Mann. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky, expanding upon his 1953 teleplay of the same name. The film stars Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. The film enjoyed international success, winning the 1955 Academy Award for Best Picture and...
(1955) as Virginia - Toward the UnknownToward the UnknownToward the Unknown is a 1956 movie about the dawn of supersonic flight filmed on location at Edwards Air Force Base. Starring William Holden, Lloyd Nolan and Virginia Leith, the film features the screen debut of James Garner. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and written by Beirne Lay, Jr...
(1956) (uncredited) as Polly Craven - The Sharkfighters (1956) as Martha Staves
- Decision at SundownDecision at SundownDecision at Sundown is a 1957 western directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Randolph Scott.One of seven Boetticher/Scott western collaborations that also includes Seven Men from Now, The Tall T, Buchanan Rides Alone, Westbound, Ride Lonesome and Comanche Station.-Plot synopsis:Bart Allison ...
(1957) as Lucy Summerton - Bailout at 43,000 (1957) as Carol Peterson
- Ride LonesomeRide LonesomeRide Lonesome is a a 1959 Eastmancolor film; one of Budd Boetticher's "Ranown" westerns starring Randolph Scott and part of a series of films that began with Seven Men from Now...
(1959) as Mrs. Lane - Westbound (1959) as Jeanie Miller (Rod's wife)
- The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960) as Alice Shiffer
- 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) as Bambi
- McGhee (1965) (TV) as Ann Dorsey
- Cyborg 2087Cyborg 2087Cyborg 2087 is a 1966 science fiction film starring Michael Rennie, Karen Steele, Wendell Corey and Warren Stevens.-Plot:Garth , a cyborg from the future, travels back in time to 1966 to prevent Professor Sigmund Marx from revealing his new discovery, an idea that will make mind control possible...
(1966) as Dr. Sharon Mason - Death of a Salesman (1966) (TV) as Letta
- Braddock (1968) (TV) as Louise Tratner
- The Happy EndingThe Happy EndingThe Happy Ending is a 1969 film written and directed by Richard Brooks, which tells the story of a repressed housewife who longs for liberation from her marriage...
(1969) as Divorcee - A Boy... a Girl (1969) as Elizabeth
- The Trap on Cougar Mountain (1972)
Television credits
- Studio 57 .... Millie Darrow (1 episode, 1954)
- Hallmark Hall of FameHallmark Hall of FameHallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
.... Nurse (1 episode, 1955) - Medic (1 episode, 1955)
- Stage 7 .... Mary (1 episode, 1955)
- Climax! .... Gloria / Lee Rogers (2 episodes, 1955–1957)
- The Ford Television Theatre .... Lorraine (1 episode, 1956)
- Dragnet (1 episode, 1956)
- Lux Video TheatreLux Video TheatreLux Video Theatre, is a weekly television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays....
(1 episode, 1956) - The Millionaire .... Rita (2 episodes, 1956–1958)
- Conflict (1 episode, 1957)
- Wagon TrainWagon TrainWagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
.... Sarah Dawson (1 episode, 1957) - MaverickMaverick (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...
.... Molly Gleason / Myra (2 episodes, 1957–1959) - Jefferson Drum .... Madame Faro (1 episode, 1958) Star
- 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...
.... Doris Stephanak / Carina Wileen (2 episodes, 1958–1965) - Schlitz Playhouse of StarsSchlitz Playhouse of StarsSchlitz Playhouse of Stars, is a weekly CBS anthology television series, was telecast on Friday nights from 1951 until 1959. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by Schlitz beer...
(1 episode, 1959) - Northwest Passage .... Mary Clark (1 episode, 1959)
- Bat MastersonBat Masterson (TV series)Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry and the half-hour black and white shows ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961...
.... Elsa Dorn (1 episode, 1959) - Hawaiian EyeHawaiian EyeHawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
.... Marian Summers (1 episode, 1959) - 77 Sunset Strip77 Sunset Strip77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
.... Candy Varga ... (3 episodes, 1959–1960) - Bourbon Street BeatBourbon Street BeatBourbon Street Beat is a private detective series which aired on the ABC network from 1959-1960 and featured Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, Richard Long as Rex Randolph, Van Williams as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell as Melody Lee Mercer, the secretary at the New Orleans detective agency in which...
.... Barbara Komack (1 episode, 1960) - LawmanLawman (tv series)Lawman is an American Western television series originally telecast from 1958 to 1962 starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop and featuring Peter Brown as Deputy Marshal Johnny McKay on the ABC Television Network. The series was set in Laramie, Wyoming during the mid to late 1870s. Warner Bros....
.... Laura Soldano (1 episode, 1960) - The Deputy .... Julie Grant (1 episode, 1960)
- Tightrope .... Maria Braden (1 episode, 1960)
- The AlaskansThe AlaskansThe Alaskans is a 1959 television series set in the port of Skagway, Alaska during the 1890s. The show features Roger Moore as "Silky Harris" and Jeff York as "Reno McKee", a pair of adventurers intent on swindling travelers bound for the Yukon Territories during the height of the Klondike Gold...
.... Ellen Chambers (3 episodes, 1960) - RiverboatRiverboat (TV series)Riverboat is a western television series starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds that was broadcast on the NBC television network from September 13, 1959 until January 2, 1961....
.... Sue Parker (1 episode, 1960) - The Roaring 20's .... Mae Dailey (1 episode, 1961)
- DanteDANTEDelivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
(1 episode, 1961) - Target: The Corruptors .... Marie Kleberg (1 episode, 1961)
- BroncoBronco (TV series)Bronco is a Western series on ABC from 1958 through 1962. It was shown by the BBC in the United Kingdom. The program starred Ty Hardin as Bronco Layne, a former Confederate officer who wandered the Old West, meeting such well-known individuals as Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid, Jesse James,...
.... Vicky (1 episode, 1961) - Surfside 6Surfside 6Surfside 6 was an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered around a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and featured Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield, II; Van Williams as Kenny Madison ; and Lee Patterson as Dave Thorne...
.... Jean Pappas / Sylvia Morton (2 episodes, 1961–1962) - LaramieLaramie (TV series)Laramie is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1959 to 1963. Laramie was a Revue Studios production which originally starred John Smith as Slim Sherman, Robert Fuller as Jess Harper, Hoagy Carmichael as Jonesy and Robert Crawford, Jr...
.... Linda James ... (2 episodes, 1961–1962) - BonanzaBonanzaBonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
.... Sylvia Ann Goshen (1 episode, 1961) - Follow the SunFollow the SunFollow the Sun is a 1951 biographical film of the life of golf legend Ben Hogan. It starred Glenn Ford as Hogan and Anne Baxter as his wife. Many golfers and sports figures of the day appeared in the movie.-Plot summary:...
.... Doris #2 (1 episode, 1962) - Alcoa Premiere .... Sabina (1 episode, 1962)
- Naked CityNaked City (TV series)Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic "semi-documentary" format....
.... Grace Harvey (1 episode, 1962) - RawhideRawhide (TV series)Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
.... Dolly LeMoyne (1 episode, 1962) - EmpireEmpire (1962 TV series)Empire, an hour-long Western television series set on a 1960s ranch in New Mexico, starred Richard Egan , Terry Moore , and Ryan O'Neal . It ran on NBC for a season between September 25, 1962, and May 14, 1963...
.... Kate Callahan (1 episode, 1963) - 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...
.... Rita Noll (3 episodes, 1964) - Get SmartGet SmartGet Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
.... Mary 'Jack' Armstrong (1 episode, 1965) - A Man Called ShenandoahA Man Called ShenandoahA Man Called Shenandoah is a Western series that aired on ABC-TV from 1965 to 1966 by MGM Television.-Synopsis:The series starred Robert Horton as a man who was found shot and left for dead on the trail and is revived...
.... Naomi (1 episode, 1965) - Voyage to the Bottom of the SeaVoyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a 1960s American science fiction television series based on the 1961 film of the same name. Both were created by Irwin Allen, which enabled the movie's sets, costumes, props, special effects models, and sometimes footage, to be used in the production of the...
.... Cara Sloane (1 episode, 1965) - The Long, Hot SummerThe Long, Hot SummerThe Long, Hot Summer is a 1958 film directed by Martin Ritt, starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Lee Remick, Angela Lansbury and Orson Welles...
.... Willow Sterne (2 episodes, 1965) - Branded .... Lorrie Heller (1 episode, 1965)
- Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler TheatreBob Hope Presents the Chrysler TheatreBob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre is an anthology television series, sponsored by Chrysler Corporation, which ran on NBC from 1963 through 1967...
.... Fran Perez (1 episode, 1965) - The Wackiest Ship in the Army .... Smitty (1 episode, 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...
(1 episode, 1966) - Star TrekStar Trek: The Original SeriesStar Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
.... Eve McHuron (1 episode, 1966) - FlipperFlipper (1964 TV series)Flipper, from Ivan Tors Films in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, is an American television program first broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the companion animal of Porter Ricks, Chief Warden at fictional Coral Key Park...
.... Fran Whitman (2 episodes, 1967) - Felony SquadFelony SquadFelony Squad is a half-hour television crime drama originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 12, 1966 to January 31, 1969, a span encompassing seventy-three episodes.-Overview:...
.... Nina Barnes (2 episodes, 1967) - T.H.E. Cat .... Crystal Pierson (1 episode, 1967)
- Hogan's HeroesHogan's HeroesHogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to March 28, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Bob Crane had the starring role as Colonel Robert E...
.... Lady Valerie Stanford (1 episode, 1969) - 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...
.... Sheila (1 episode, 1970)