Newmar, Julie (1935—)

American actress . Born Julia Chalane Newmeyer on August 16, 1935, in Los Angeles, California; daughter of Donald Newmeyer (a professor and former professional football player) and Helen Jesmar (an actress); studied at the University of California in Los Angeles.

Selected filmography:

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954); Li'l Abner (1959); The Rookie (1959); The Marriage-Go-Round (1960); For Love or Money (1963); Mackenna's Gold (1969); The Maltese Bippy (1969); Up Your Teddy Bear (1970); Hysterical (1983); Evils of the Night (1986); Body Beat (Dance Academy, It., 1988); Nudity Required (1990); Ghosts Can't Do It (1991); (cameo as herself) To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995).

Born in 1935 in Los Angeles, California, to a mother who had been in the Ziegfeld Follies and a father who had played for the Chicago Bears, Julie Newmar studied piano and dance as a child and first appeared in films as a dancer. After making her screen acting debut in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), she appeared on Broadway in Silk Stockings, a musical based on the movie Ninotchka with a score by Cole Porter. Newmar won a Tony Award as Best Supporting Actress in her next Broadway play, Marriage-Go-Round, and later reprised the role on screen (1960). Tall, attractive, and well built, she had by that time attracted attention as a pinup girl. She has appeared in movies, on stage, and on television since the 1960s, gaining particular fame, and a cult following, for her guest role as Catwoman on the "Batman" television show (a part later played by Eartha Kitt ) and her role as the beautiful robot on the 1960s series "My Living Doll," which ran for one season. In 1995, she made a cameo appearance in the movie To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.

Lisa Frick , freelance writer, Columbia, Missouri