Lisa Gaye
Lisa Gaye | |
---|---|
Born | Leslie Gaye Griffin March 6, 1935 Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
Died | July 14, 2016 Houston, Texas, U.S. | (aged 81)
Years active | 1954-1970 |
Spouse |
Bently C. Ware
(m. 1955; died 1977) |
Children | 1 daughter |
Relatives |
|
Leslie Gaye Griffin[1] (March 6, 1935 – July 14, 2016), better known as Lisa Gaye, was an American actress, singer, and dancer.[2]
Early years
Gaye was born in Denver, Colorado to Frank Henry Griffin, a painter, and Margaret Allen Griffin (née Gibson), an actress.
The Griffin family moved from Denver to Los Angeles, California, in the 1930s to be close to the developing film industry. Her mother was determined that Gaye and her siblings make their careers in show business. Her siblings, Judith (Teala Loring), Debralee (Debra Paget), and Frank (Ruell Shayne), all entered the business as either cast or crew.[3]
Career
Gaye made her first professional film appearance at the age of 7. At 17, she signed a seven-year contract with Universal Studios and was enrolled in the studio's professional school for actors and actresses.[4]
She began her acting career with two uncredited cameos in 1953–54. Her first starring role was in Drums Across the River (1954).[5] She appeared in 13 films between 1954 and 1967.
Television
Among Gaye's television appearances were three episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show in 1956, 13 episodes of The Bob Cummings Show as Colette Dubois, five episodes each of the ABC/Warner Brothers detective series, Hawaiian Eye and 77 Sunset Strip, two episodes of another ABC-WB series, Bourbon Street Beat, seven episodes of CBS's Perry Mason, and eleven episodes of the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days.
She appears in one episode of Zorro in the 1957 season (Episode 13, Constance). She appeared in Have Gun - Will Travel in 1957 as Helen in "Helen of Abajinian", and as Nancy in "Gun Shy" (along with Dan Blocker), and in the Science Fiction Theatre episode "Gravity Zero" as Elisabeth. She made a single appearance in the 1959 episode "The Peace Offering" of the syndicated western series, Pony Express, starring Grant Sullivan. Among her seven appearances on Perry Mason, Gaye played Rita Magovern who Mason exposed as the murderer of her husband Karl in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Traveling Treasure." Also in 1961, Gaye appeared as a Spanish woman tied up in a revolution against the United States in the an episode of the Maverick TV Series titled State of Siege. She also appeared in several episodes of the Bat Masterson TV series. In two 1959 episodes; in "Sharpshooter", she played Laurie LaRue, the stage assistant and wife of stage sharpshooter, Danny Dowling. She also appeared in the 1959 episode "Buffalo Kill" as Susan. In the 1961 episode of Bat Masterson, "The Fatal Garment", she portrayed Elena, a Mexican Cantina owner.
In 1959, she was cast as June Webster in the episode "Law West of the Pecos" of the ABC/WB western series, Colt .45, with Wayde Preston. Frank Ferguson played Judge Roy Bean, justice of the peace in Langtry, Texas. Douglas Kennedy was cast as Jay Brisco.[6][7] In 1965, she was cast opposite Jesse Pearson in the episode "The Rider" of the syndicated western series, Death Valley Days. In the story line, Gaye as the widowed Faith Turner puts up a sign seeking a husband for herself and a father for her son. Pearson, as mail rider Jim Barnes, tries to help her find a suitable mate.[8] In another Death Valley Days episode in 1968, Gaye played the gambler-turned-Sunday school-teacher Lottie Deno in the episode, "Lottie's Legacy". In the dramatization, Lottie falls in love with the Reverend Peter Green (John Clarke), who does not know the details of her past.[9]
Family
Gaye was married in 1955 to Bently C. Ware; the marriage ended with his death in 1977; the couple had one daughter, Janelle.[10]
Death
Gaye died in Houston, Texas, on July 14, 2016. She was survived by a daughter, a sister, and a brother.[10]
Selected filmography
- The Glenn Miller Story (1954) - Bobbysoxer (uncredited)
- Yankee Pasha (1954) - Harem Girl (uncredited)
- Drums Across the River (1954) - Jennie
- Magnificent Obsession (1954) - Switchboard Girl (uncredited)
- Ain't Misbehavin' (1955) - Chorine (uncredited)
- Rock Around the Clock (1956) - Lisa Johns
- Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956) - June Fitzdingle
- Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957) - Ana Martelli
- Sweethearts (1957)
- Night of Evil (1962) - Dixie Ann Dikes
- La cara del terror (1962) - Norma Borden
- Castle of Evil (1966) - Carrol Harris
- The Violent Ones (1967) - Dolores
Other television credits
- Annie Oakley (1956) - Vera Barker[11]
- The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1956) - Carol Rogers / Felicia Norris / Mary Brewster
- The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956-1957) - Maria Miro / Jeanne Brasseaur[12]
- Have Gun – Will Travel (1957-1958) - Nancy Warren / Helen Abajinian
- The Walter Winchell File (1958) - Doris Carter
- Tombstone Territory (1958-1959) - Nancy Cooley / Miss Lizette
- How to Marry a Millionaire (1958-1959) - Gwen Kirby
- Perry Mason (1958-1966) - Laraine Keely / Pamela Blair / Joyce Hadley / Alyssa Laban / Rita Magovern / Lola Bronson / Juror
- Sea Hunt (1959) - Ann Barry / June Leeds / Philana / Louise Wiley / Blaze Green
- Bat Masterson (1959-1961) - Elena / Susan Carver / Lori Dowling / Lori La Rue
- Men Into Space (1960) - Joyce Lynn
- Wanted: Dead or Alive (1960) - Susan Marno
- Cheyenne (1960) - Francie Scott / Jenny Beaumont
- Rawhide (1960) - Odette Laurier
- Death Valley Days (1960-1969) - Lisa Tracy / Lottie Deno / Mystic Maude / Rosie Winters / Gypsy / Faith Turner / Lena / Tacilia - Healing Woman / Delores / Raquel / Yvonne Benet
- 77 Sunset Strip, The Desert Spa Caper (09/29/1961) - Janet Hubbell
- Maverick (1961) - Soledad Lozaro
- Wagon Train (1961) - Alma Mendez
- Tales of Wells Fargo (1961) - Sunset / Michelle Bovarde
- Laramie (1962) - Winona
- The Wild Wild West (1966-1967) - Lana Benson / Lorelei
- The Time Tunnel (1967) - Ahza
- Get Smart (1967) - Miss Smith
- I Dream of Jeannie (1968) - Daisy Lou
- The Flying Nun (1969) - Rosita / Elena
- The Mod Squad (1970) - Yolanda (final appearance)
References
- ^ Profile of Lisa Gaye, debra-paget.com, accessed August 12, 2016.
- ^ "Lisa Gaye, Actress and Dancer in 'Rock Around the Clock,' Dies at 81". Retrieved July 20, 2016.
- ^ ""When You Wish Upon a Star, or It's a Star-Spangled Life: Family Cast"". Archived from the original on October 26, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Lisa Gaye Proves Star In Theory". The Indiana Gazette. May 25, 1954. p. 3. Retrieved September 26, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Adventure Hit On Grand Bill Colorful Saga". Terre Haute Tribune. July 25, 1954. p. 31. Retrieved September 26, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ ""Law West of the Pecos" on Colt .45, June 7, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
- ^ "Colt .45". ctva.biz. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
- ^ "The Rider on Death Valley Days". Internet Movie Data Base. October 7, 1965. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
- ^ "Lottie's Legacy on Death Valley Days". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ a b Lentz, Harris III (September 2016). "Lisa Gaye, 81". Classic Images (495): 57.
- ^ Annie Oakley 1956 - Season 3 Episode 7 'Annie and the Lacemaker' as Vera Barker
- ^ Jim Bowie Ent. 1956 - Episode 'Trapline'