Sally Mansfield
{{Short description|American actress (1923–2001)}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sally Mansfield
| image = Sally Mansfield in Crash of the Moons (1954).jpg
| caption = Mansfield in Crash of Moons (1954)
| birth_name = Marie Mahder
| birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1923|12|03}}
| birth_place = Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|2001|01|28|1923|12|03}}
| death_place = Westlake Village, California, U.S.
| resting_place = Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1953–1965
| notable_works = Rocky Jones, Space Ranger
}}
Marie Mahder (December 3, 1923 – January 28, 2001), better known by her stage name Sally Mansfield, was an American television character actress; she also had a few small roles in feature films including one with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
Television career
Mansfield portrayed Connie on Bachelor Father{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Tim |last2=Marsh |first2=Earle F. |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present |date=24 June 2009 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-48320-1 |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&q=%22Sally+Mansfield%22+actress&pg=PA96 |accessdate=August 21, 2020 |language=en}} and appeared on many popular TV shows in the 1950s and 1960s, including Death Valley Days, The Donna Reed Show, Hazel, The Andy Griffith Show, and The Phil Silvers Show. She was also an accomplished dancer, performed with the Don Arden Dancers in New York City and Las Vegas, and entertained US troops in Korea.{{Citation needed |date=June 2023}}
She is perhaps best remembered, however, for her 1954 role as spaceship navigator Vena Ray on the syndicated science fiction show Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=905|edition=2nd}} She was chosen from 300 who auditioned. Her character anticipated Nichelle Nichols' much more famous role as a female spaceship bridge officer on the 1960s television series Star Trek. The same year Mansfield carried the Miss Emmy torch at the Palladium during the sixth annual Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awards banquet.{{Citation needed |date=June 2023}}
Executive Producer, Guy V. Thayer Jr., signed Richard Crane and Mansfield to five-year contracts for Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. One of the contract stipulations was that the still-single Mansfield would not marry and Crane would not divorce his wife of eight years.{{Citation needed |date=June 2023}}
Death
Mansfield died of lung cancer in Westlake Village, California on January 28, 2001, at the age of 77.{{cite news |title=Sally Mansfield; Early TV Actress |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57745892/sally-mansfield/ |accessdate=August 21, 2020 |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=March 1, 2001 |page=83|via = Newspapers.com}} She is interred in Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles.Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Selected television roles
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |
| scope="col"|Year
!scope="col"|Title !scope="col"|Role !scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1953
| Dodie Trumbull | Season 2, Episode 2, "Little Washington" |
| 1953
| Death Valley Days | Wilhelmina Cannon | Episode, "Sego Lilies" |
| 1961
| Connie | Episode "The Law and Kelly Gregg" |
| 1962
| Bachelor Father | Connie | Episode "Kelly the Yes Man" |
| 1962
| Bachelor Father | Connie | Episode "Kelly's Engagement" |
References
{{reflist}}
- {{cite news| publisher=Austin Daily Herald |title=Hollywood Daily Herald |date=October 19, 1953 |page=15}}
- {{cite news| publisher=Humboldt Standard |title=Sweater Warmer |date=January 29, 1953 |page=6}}
- {{cite news| publisher=Humboldt Standard |title=Difficult Rules |date=October 31, 1953 |page=5}}
- {{cite news| work=Los Angeles Times |title=Movieland Briefs |date=October 15, 1952 |page=B8}}
- {{cite news| work=Los Angeles Times |title=TV Radio |date=February 11, 1954 |page=30}}
- {{cite news| publisher=Oakland Tribune |title=Attention to Little Things Keeps Busy Star Glamorous |date=September 9, 1954 |page=42}}
- {{cite news| publisher=Pose |title=Sally Mansfield |date=March 1955 |page=53}}
- {{cite news| publisher=Syracuse Herald-American |title=Hollywood Close-Ups |date=February 7, 1954 |page=102}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0543821}}
- [http://www.mst3kinfo.com/rolodex/Mansfield.html Sally Mansfield] at MST3Kinfo.com
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansfield, Sally}}
Category:American female models
Category:American female dancers
Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:American radio actresses
Category:Deaths from lung cancer in California