Melinda Plowman
{{short description|American actress}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Melinda Plowman
| image = Melinda Plowman still for "Chicago Calling" brightened (tighter crop).jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Plowman in 1951
| birth_name = Melinda Ann Plowman
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1941|05|13}}
| birth_place = Abilene, Texas, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| other_names = Melinda Ann Casey
Melinda Casey
| occupation = Actress, assistant director
| yearsactive = 1949 − 1996
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- Philip Casey
- Robert Ballew
}}
| children = 2
}}
Melinda Ann Plowman (born May 13, 1941), also known as Melinda Ann Casey and Melinda Casey, is an American actress and associate director. She began her acting career at age 6 and appeared in feature films and television episodes through the 1960s. In the 1970s, she became a member of the Directors Guild of America and worked as an associate director through the 1990s.
Early life
Melinda Ann Plowman was born on May 13, 1941, in Abilene, Texas.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58844783/abilene-reporter-news/|title=Six New Arrivals At Hospitals Here|newspaper=Abilene Reporter-News|date=May 13, 1941|page=14|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=September 14, 2020|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914191217/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58844783/abilene-reporter-news/|url-status=live}}{{open access}} Her parents, Homer Lee Plowman and Lura Frances Slaughter, had met and married in Abilene in 1934.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58414473/obituary-for-frances-slaughter-plowman/|title=Frances Slaughter Plowman|newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram|date=January 11, 2017|page=A16|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914191218/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58414473/obituary-for-frances-slaughter-plowman/|url-status=live}}{{open access}} She has one younger sister. Her second birthday party, hosted by her mother and grandmother, was reported in the Abilene Reporter-News.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58410142/abilene-reporter-news/|title=Melinda Plowman Honored on Birthday|newspaper=Abilene Reporter-News|date=May 16, 1943|page=35|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914191217/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58410142/abilene-reporter-news/|url-status=live}}{{open access}}
The family moved to Los Angeles in 1942.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58411422/lubbock-evening-journal/|title=Melinda Plowman, Young Starlet, Visits In City|first=Billie|last=Harter|newspaper=Lubbock Evening Journal|date=August 27, 1957|page=4|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914191246/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58411422/lubbock-evening-journal/|url-status=live}}{{open access}} Plowman was enrolled in a dance school at age 3. She was "discovered" at the age of 6 through the dancing school and was cast in a bit part in the 1949 film Little Women.
Career
=Acting=
Plowman acted in Hollywood films in the 1950s but primarily worked in television.{{sfn|Boggs|2013|p=181}} She appeared in seven NBC Matinee Theater episodes, as well as episodes of Ford Theatre, The Loretta Young Show, and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. She was one of the original Mouseketeers on The Mickey Mouse Club.{{sfn|Woolery|1985|p=478}}{{sfn|Bowles|1976|p=137}}{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58417580/the-times/|title=Times TV Log|newspaper=San Mateo Times|date=March 13, 1957|page=23|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914191218/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58417580/the-times/|url-status=live}}{{open access}}
Her parents preferred to maintain her status as a freelance actor rather than a studio contract player.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51730330/abilene-reporter-news/|title=Teenager Vacations From Career as Well as School|newspaper=Abilene Reporter-News|date=August 28, 1957|page=48|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914191301/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51730330/abilene-reporter-news/|url-status=live}}{{open access}} Her mother accompanied her on the set. When she wasn't working, Plowman attended a public elementary school and, later, San Marino High School in San Marino, California. During film shoots, she had a private tutor on the set.
Plowman landed her first leading role at the age of 25 in the 1966 horror film Billy the Kid Versus Dracula.{{sfn|Boggs|2013|p=181}}
=Directing=
In the 1970s, she joined the Directors Guild of America, listing herself as an associate director under the name Melinda Ann Casey.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=svE5AAAAMAAJ&q=melinda|title=Directory of Members|publisher=Directors Guild of America|year=1976|pages=56, 399|access-date=September 1, 2020|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914191248/https://books.google.com/books?id=svE5AAAAMAAJ&dq=melinda&redir_esc=y|url-status=live}} She continued working on film crews through the 1990s.
Personal life
Plowman married Phil Casey, a talent manager, in Las Vegas in August 1967.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58416649/evening-herald/|title=Behind the Scenes|first=Harrison|last=Carroll|author-link=Harrison Carroll|newspaper=Shenandoah Evening Herald|date=August 30, 1967|page=16|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914191251/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58416649/evening-herald/|url-status=live}}{{open access}} They had one son. Plowman later married Robert Ballew, with whom she has a daughter. In 1971, her parents moved back to Fort Worth. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
Filmography (as an actress)
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4SiXAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA181|title=Billy the Kid on Film, 1911-2012|first=Johnny D.|last=Boggs|year=2013|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476603353}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bTAbAQAAIAAJ&q=melinda+plowman|title=Forever Hold Your Banner High!: The Story of the Mickey Mouse Club and what Happened to the Mouseketeers|first=Jerry G.|last=Bowles|year=1976|publisher=Doubleday|isbn= 9780385116220}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YX_daEhlnbsC&pg=PA478|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|edition=2nd|first=Vincent|last=Terrace|year=2014|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786486410}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=koqFAAAAIAAJ&q=melinda+plowman|title=Children's Television, Part II: The First Thirty-five Years, 1946-1981|first=George W.|last=Woolery|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=1985|isbn=9780810816510}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0143490|Melinda Plowman}}
- {{TCMDb name}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plowman, Melinda}}
Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses