Kathleen Hughes
{{Short description|American actress (1928–2025)}}
{{About|the American actress|the English historian|Kathleen Hughes (historian)}}
{{Sources|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kathleen Hughes
| image = Myrna Hansen. So This Is Paris.png
| caption = Mara Corday, Hughes, Myrna Hansen and Allison Hayes in {{film show year|So This Is Paris|1955}}
| birth_name = {{nobr|Elizabeth Margaret von Gerkan}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|11|14}}
| birth_place = Hollywood, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2025|05|19|1928|11|14}}
| death_place =
| alma_mater = Los Angeles City College
UCLA
| known_for = It Came From Outer Space
| occupation = Film, stage, television actress{{force singular}}
| years_active = 1948–1998
| spouse = {{marriage|Stanley Rubin|1954|2014|end=died}}
| children = 4
| relatives = F. Hugh Herbert (uncle)
}}
Kathleen Hughes (born Elizabeth Margaret von Gerkan; November 14, 1928 – May 19, 2025) was an American actress who appeared during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Early life
Hughes was born in Hollywood, California, on November 14, 1928.{{cite news|last1=Mason|first1=Buddy|title=Behind the Movie Sets|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5938179/the_algona_upper_des_moines/|work=The Algona Upper Des Moines|date=January 8, 1953|location=Algona, Iowa|page=42|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = July 19, 2016}} Her uncle, F. Hugh Herbert, was a playwright who authored Kiss and Tell and The Moon Is Blue.{{cite web |title=Hughes, Kathleen (1928–) |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/hughes-kathleen-1928 |website=Encyclopedia.com |publisher=Cengage |access-date=June 17, 2022}} Her desire to act was inspired by a film she saw featuring Donald O'Connor, which gave her the idea that "acting looked like fun."{{cite news|title=Kathleen Hughes is still growing up|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5937926/the_argus/|work=The Argus|date=February 22, 1970|location=Fremont, California|page=45|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = July 19, 2016}} {{Open access}} After graduating from Fairfax High School, Hughes attended Los Angeles City College and UCLA.{{cite news|last1=|first1=|title=Behind the Movie Sets|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110229535/the-los-angeles-times/|work=The Los Angeles Times|date=February 9, 1949|location=|page=7|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = September 26, 2022}}
Film
Hughes was discovered in a Little Theater production in 1948. Signed to a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox, she made 14 films for the studio.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}} She appeared in five motion pictures for Universal Studios, including the cult film It Came From Outer Space. Hughes co-starred with Edward G. Robinson in a 1953 crime drama, The Glass Web, and appeared in an adventure film that year, The Golden Blade.
Television
By 1956, Hughes was appearing in television series. She played in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1956–1957), Telephone Time (1956), The Bob Cummings Show (1958), The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, 77 Sunset Strip (1959), Hotel de Paree (1959), Tightrope! (1959), General Electric Theater (1960–1962), The Tall Man (1961), Bachelor Father (1962), Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1965), and I Dream of Jeannie (1967).
In 1962, Hughes played the role of murder victim Lita Krail in the sixth-season 1962 episode of Perry Mason, entitled "The Case of the Double-Entry Mind". She played the recurring role of Mrs. Coburn on the television series The Ghost & Mrs. Muir. She appeared on M*A*S*H as Lorraine Blake, wife of unit commander Henry Blake, in a home movie she sent to him. Hughes portrayed Mitch, a secretary, on the NBC drama Bracken's World (1969–1971).Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010. McFarland & Company, Inc.; {{ISBN|978-0-7864-6477-7}}. P. 129.
Stage
Hughes' favorite stage role was in the play The Seven Year Itch.
Personal life and death
On July 25, 1954, Hughes married Stanley Rubin, the producer of Bracken's World, at the home of her uncle.{{cite news|title=Kathleen Hughes Weds|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5938071/newport_daily_news/|work=Newport Daily News|agency=Associated Press|date=July 26, 1954|location=Newport, Rhode Island|page=7|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = July 19, 2016 }} {{Open access}} The couple had one daughter and three sons. The marriage lasted 59 years, until Rubin died on March 2, 2014, at the age of 96.{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-stanley-rubin-20140305-story.html#axzz2v2GSbf15 | title=Stanley Rubin dies at 96; prolific writer-producer of TV and film | first=Bob | last=Pool | work=Los Angeles Times | date=March 4, 2014 | accessdate=August 27, 2020}}
Hughes died on May 19, 2025, at the age of 96.{{cite web|url=https://extratv.com/2025/05/20/kathleen-hughes-scream-it-came-outer-space-obituary/|title=Kathleen Hughes, Iconic Scream Queen of 'It Came from Outer Space,' Dies at 96|work=Extra|date=20 May 2025|access-date=20 May 2025}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Year
!style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Title !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Role !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Notes |
|---|
| rowspan=3|1949
|Rhoda Adams | |
| Mr. Belvedere Goes to College
|Kay Nelson | |
| It Happens Every Spring
|Sarah | |
| rowspan=3|1950
|Secretary | |
| Mister 880
|Secretary | |
| I'll Get By
|Secretary | |
| rowspan=2|1951
|Jenny Barker | |
| I'll See You in My Dreams
|Nurse | |
| rowspan=2|1952
|Tracy Norman | |
| Sally and Saint Anne
|Lois Foran | |
| rowspan=4|1953
|Jane | |
| The Golden Blade
|Bakhamra | |
| Thy Neighbor's Wife
|Anushka | |
| The Glass Web
|Paula Ranier | |
| 1954
|Clare | |
| 1955
|Julia Thompson | |
| rowspan=2|1956
|Valerie Craig | |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents
|Marian Koster |Season 2 Episode 11: "The Better Bargain" |
| 1957
|Ann Nash |Season 2 Episode 29: "Vicious Circle" |
| 1958
|Linda | |
| 1966
|Bit part | |
| 1967
|White House Tourist | |
| 1971
|Elaine Rich | |
| 1972
|Party Guest | |
| 1974
|School Nurse | |
| 1990
|Mother Superior | |
| 1998
|Woman in curlers | |
| 2017
|Swamp Women Kissing Booth |Matilda |Short film |
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite news | location=Florence, South Carolina | work=The Morning News | url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/67377319/ | title=Kathleen Hughes Says She Is Still Growing Up | date=April 11, 1970 | page=11}}
- {{cite news | location=Newport, Rhode Island | work=The Newport Daily News | url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/57333023/ | title=Kathleen Hughes First Feminine Sensation Created By 3D | date=July 9, 1953 | page=9}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0400722}}
- {{cite web|title=Kathleen Hughes Interview − Pt 1|date=November 3, 2012|publisher=NoirCitySF|website=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JDEKn3sSmM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/3JDEKn3sSmM |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}
- {{cite web|title=Kathleen Hughes Interview − Pt 2|date=November 3, 2012|publisher=NoirCitySF|website=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyKGDmm5n1A |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/tyKGDmm5n1A |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}
- {{cite web|title=It Came from Outer Space − Alan K. Rode interviews Kathleen Hughes|date=October 15, 2017|publisher=Alan K. Rode|website=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkuXnuvCdZM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/kkuXnuvCdZM |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Kathleen}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses