Charla Doherty
{{Short description|American actress (1946–1988)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Charla Doherty
| image = Charla_Doherty_in_Wagon_Train_1965.jpg
| caption = Doherty in Wagon Train, 1965
| birth_name = Charla Sue Doherty
| birth_date = {{birth date|1946|08|06}}
| birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|05|29|1946|08|06}}
| death_place = Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
| other_names =
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1962–1969
| spouse = Malcolm Charles Lamont Black (1967–1982; divorced)
| children = 1
}}
Charla Sue Doherty (August 6, 1946 – May 29, 1988)Charla Sue Doherty in California, US, Death Index 1940-1997, retrieved from [https://www.ancestry.com/ Ancestry.com] was an American film and television actress who appeared on the first season of the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives.
Early years
Charla Sue Doherty was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Charles Squires Doherty and Genevieve Recher Doherty.{{cite news |title=Ensign Doherty Wed in Indiana |work=Reno Gazette-Journal |date=February 6, 1943 |location=Reno, Nevada |page=10 |via = Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |title=Carson City Social Notes |work=Nevada State Journal |date=February 26, 1948 |location=Reno, Nevada |page=13 |via = Newspapers.com}} Seven months before her birth, Doherty's father won second prize in a contest seeking answers to the question "Why I hate Jack Benny...".{{cite news |title=Californian Winner in Benny's Contest |work=Telegraph-Forum |date=January 28, 1946 |location=Bucyrus, Ohio |page=1 |via = Newspapers.com}} The contest, sponsored by Benny's radio program, awarded $1500 to Charles Doherty, then a law student at Case Western Reserve University.{{cite news |title=A Real Benny Fan |work=St. Louis Globe Democrat |date=May 25, 1963 |location=St. Louis, Missouri |page=60 |via = Newspapers.com}} The money was used to pay for costs associated with her birth.{{cite news |title='Benny Baby' Wins Role on Program |work=The South Bend Tribune |date=April 14, 1964 |location=South Bend, Indiana |page=13 |via = Newspapers.com}} Much later, it provided a unique publicity angle for her appearance on The Jack Benny Program.
Her father moved the family in January 1948 to his home state of Nevada, where he practiced law in Reno.Charles S. Doherty in U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995, Reno Nevada City Directory 1948, retrieved from [https://www.ancestry.com/ Ancestry.com] The family then relocated to her mother's hometown of Dayton, where Doherty attended Belmont Elementary School and started dance lessons.{{cite news |title=Charla Returning to City---- She's in Movies Now! |work=The Journal Herald |date=November 19, 1963 |location=Dayton, Ohio |page=21 |via = Newspapers.com}} When she was nine, her family moved to Palos Verdes Estates, California, where she continued to study dance.{{cite news |title=Redondo Woman's Club Slates Fruit Cake Tea Tuesday |work=The Redondo Reflex |date=November 25, 1955 |location=Redondo, California |page=3 |via = Newspapers.com}} Soon after the move to California, her parents took her to Del Mar Racetrack, where she found herself sitting next to Betty Grable.{{cite news |last=Heffernan |first=Harold |title=TAIN'T SO- Hitchcock gives 'not guilty' plea |work=The Birmingham News |date=May 15, 1963 |location=Birmingham, Alabama |page=40 |via = Newspapers.com}} Doherty later said this was her favorite memory and the first time she wanted to become an actress herself.
Doherty entered Hollywood Professional School (HPS) as a sophomore during the 1960–1961 academic calendar.Charla Doherty in the U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900–1999, for the Hollywood Professional School, 1961, retrieved from [https://www.ancestry.com/ Ancestry.com] By her senior year (1962-1963) she was class treasurer and took afternoon courses at UCLA in world history and psychology through a cooperative program the two institutions had for high achieving HPS students.Charla Doherty in the U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999, for the Hollywood Professional School, 1963, retrieved from [https://www.ancestry.com/ Ancestry.com]{{cite news |title=Charla's Move From Frills to Bikini Sort of Dazzling |work=The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet |date=November 15, 1963 |location=Van Nuys, California |page=30 |via = Newspapers.com}} She graduated from HPS during June 1963.{{cite news |last=Carroll |first=Harrison |title=In Hollywood |work=Lancaster Eagle Gazette |date=June 25, 1963 |location=Lancaster, Ohio |page= |via = Newspapers.com}} She later enrolled at UCLA and worked towards a Bachelors of Arts degree in History as her acting schedule allowed.{{cite news |title=Charla Doherty Is Girl On the Go-Go |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75057338/charla-doherty/ |access-date=April 4, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News |date=June 8, 1966 |page=44|via = Newspapers.com}}
Early career
While still a junior at HPS, Doherty acquired an agent and was listed in a major casting directory as available for ingénue parts.{{cite magazine |author= |title=Ingenues |magazine=Academy Players Directory |location=Hollywood, California |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |date=1962 |issue=93 Part 1 |page=241 }} Her first television role came at age 15, on an episode of The Donna Reed Show. "The producer asked if I could dance-- when I told him I'd studied for six years, I got the job. I sure was surprised when the dancing turned out to be a Twist with Paul Petersen!"
Following her small screen debut, Doherty appeared in one-time guest roles on episodes of three more television series, before landing a supporting role on Claudia.{{cite news |last=Connolly |first=Mike |title=Mike Connolly |work=Independent Star News |date=June 2, 1963 |location=Pasadena, California |page=72 |via = Newspapers.com}} This project by Fox's TV division never made it on the air, but did bring Doherty to the attention of Fox film producers, who cast her in Take Her, She's Mine. Doherty's agent used the resulting publicity to push the story about her father winning the Jack Benny contest, which led to her appearing on that program nine months later in April 1964.{{cite news |title=Hollywood (AP) dateline |work=The Austin-American |date=May 26, 1963 |location=Austin, Texas |page=64 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Despite her agent's campaign, Doherty switched her personal representation from the Hy Sieger Agency to Contemporary Artists Ltd.{{cite magazine |author= |title=Ingenues |magazine=Academy Players Directory |location=Hollywood, California |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |date=1964 |issue=99 Part 1 |page=250 }} Doherty did episodes of eleven prime time television series during 1964–1965, before landing a recurring role on a daytime soap opera. Her journeyman status as an actress is reflected in that only one show, Wagon Train, used her on more than one episode. Veteran actors at this period in television were more typically signed for two different roles during the course of a season. Her second film, Village of the Giants (1965), was lightly regarded by critics and did not bring her much individual publicity.{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Jeanne |title=Giant Teen-agers Are Big Problems |work=The San Francisco Examiner |date=December 16, 1965 |location=San Francisco, California |page=53 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Days of Our Lives
Doherty originated the role of Julie Olson on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. She played the troubled teen from the show's first episode on November 8, 1965 until November 21, 1966, appearing on 51 episodes during that year and two weeks. The character then disappeared from the show's storyline until spring 1967 when it was recast with actress Kathy Dunn.{{cite news |title=Kathy Dunn's a Newsy Actress |work=The Herald Journal |date=April 30, 1967 |location=Logan, Utah |page=27 |via = Newspapers.com}} The circumstances leading to the recasting are not known.{{cite news |title=Television Letter Box |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=July 30, 1967 |location=St. Louis, Missouri |page=239 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Later career
An episode of The Guns of Will Sonnett, filmed during summer 1967 was her last credited television series work.{{cite news |title=Tops Today |work=The Boston Globe |date=September 24, 1967 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |page=268 |via = Newspapers.com}} She played the role of Joanna Ramsey in a made-for-television movie In the Year 2889, released in late 1969 but which may have been produced earlier.{{cite news |title=Movie Schedule This Week: Saturday |work=The Boston Globe |date=December 28, 1969 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |page=158 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Doherty's first known stage work came in January 1968, when a combined cast of eight professional and eight amateur actors performed Life with Father in Santa Barbara, California.{{cite news |last=Smith |first= Cecil |title=Pros Join Tyros on Channel City Stage |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=December 1967 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=73 |via = Newspapers.com}} The show was a project initiated by the local high school's drama teacher and students, who collected money for the insurance bond, and persuaded Actor's Equity to grant permission for pros to perform on the same stage with amateurs. Besides Doherty, the pros for the one week run included Leon Ames and Lurene Tuttle as the leads, while her then husband Malcolm Black was the director.
Malcolm Black was also the director for Doherty's next stage work, an eight week run of A Midsummer Night's Dream, produced by the Inner City Repertory (ICR) company in Los Angeles.{{cite news |last=Smith |first= Cecil |title='Dream' Cast Revealed |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=March 15, 1968 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=76 |via = Newspapers.com}} Doherty played Hermia, in a cast that included Kim Hamilton, Dana Elcar, Bonnie Bedelia, Mark Lenard, Don Pedro Colley, and Robert Ito. The production at the Cultural Center Playhouse was well-received by critics{{cite news |last=Faber |first=Charles |title=ICR 'Midsummer Night Dream' |work=Los Angeles Citizen-News |date=April 16, 1968 |location=Hollywood, California |page=6 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
At age 17, Doherty was reported to be five feet tall, weigh 89 pounds, and her IQ was reported as 183 by a newspaper columnist. She drove a burgundy-colored Ford Mustang in 1966, used three alarm clocks to wake up, and usually lunched on tomato soup and cottage cheese.
Doherty married stage director Malcolm C. Black in San Diego on June 2, 1967.Charla Sue Doherty in California, US, Marriage Index 1960-1985, retrieved from [https://www.ancestry.com/ Ancestry.com] He was 18 years her senior, had emigrated to the US from the UK as a child, and became a U.S. citizen in 1965.Malcolm Charles Lamont Black in the New York, US, Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in New York City, 1792-1989, retrieved from [https://www.ancestry.com/ Ancestry.com] They had a son, Trevor Black.{{cite news |title=Charla Doherty, 41, Television Actress |work=Newsday (Suffolk Edition) |date=May 30, 1988 |location=Melville, New York |page=163 |via = Newspapers.com}} The couple divorced in Los Angeles on March 1, 1982.Malcolm Black in California, US, Divorce Index 1966-1984, retrieved from [https://www.ancestry.com/ Ancestry.com]
Obituary discrepancies
Upon her death on May 29, 1988, at age 41, there were two informants from whom obituary articles across the nation drew. One was her publicist, Michael Druxman, whose information was picked up by the Associated Press (AP) and copied across the country. This obituary version carried the dateline of "Calabasas, Calif (AP)" and stated she had died at her own home there.{{cite news |title=Charla Doherty |work=Daily News |date=May 31, 1988 |location=New York, New York |page=252 |via = Newspapers.com}} It contained two minor inaccuracies about Doherty's career, concerning her length of time on Days of Our Lives and that she appeared on the Mannix TV series.
The other informant reported to the Los Angeles Times that Doherty had died at her mother's house in nearby Woodland Hills.{{cite news |title=Charla Doherty, 41; Actress on TV Series, Soap Opera |work=Los Angeles Times |date=May 31, 1988 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=20 |via = Newspapers.com}} This obituary had several minor inaccuracies about Doherty's career, concerning her length of time on Days of Our Lives, the number of movies she made, and that she appeared on the Ben Casey TV series. This version of the obituary was also picked up by other newspapers, with the inserted dateline of "Hollywood" and credited to the Los Angeles Times.{{cite news |title=Film and TV Actress Charla Doherty Dies |work=The News Tribune |date=May 31, 1988 |location=Tacoma, Washington |page=5 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Both informants agreed that she died of natural causes and that her survivors were her mother and son.
Filmography
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Film (by year of first release) |
scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" | Notes |
---|
1963
| Lisa Michaelson | Her first film role, in which she plays Jimmy Stewart's younger daughter{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Will |title=Shh-- I'm Not Telling |work=Star Tribune |date=November 4, 1963 |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |page=37 |via = Newspapers.com}} |
1965
| Nancy | |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0230542}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Charla}}
Category:American soap opera actresses
Category:Actresses from Cleveland
Category:Alcohol-related deaths in California
Category:20th-century American actresses