Whitney Blake
Born: 1926-02-20 in Eagle Rock, California, USA
Died: 2002-09-28
Known For: Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Whitney Blake (February 20, 1926 — September 28, 2002) was an American film and television actress, director and producer. Blake was born as Nancy Ann Whitney in 1926 in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, the first child of Martha Mae Wilkensen and Harry Whitney. Her childhood was spent traveling across the country with her family, attending 16 different schools. Attending Pasadena City College, Blake worked in small-theater groups in the Los Angeles area, and in the summer, worked at her mother's ice cream stand in MacMinneville, Oregon. After her appearance in an amateur Hollywood production of "The Women" caught the attention of talent scouts, she appeared on a number of television programs, including the syndicated Johnny Midnight, Sheriff of Cochise, and twice on Rod Cameron's State Trooper. In addition, she guest-starred on Mike Connors's Tightrope detective series, in the 1960 episode "High Bridge" of the NBC western series Overland Trail starring William Bendix and Doug McClure. She also appeared in the first episode of the syndicated western series Pony Express in the episode "The Good Samaritan". Her guest appearance in the short-lived series "The D.A.'s Man" garnered an Emmy nomination in 1959. Blake is best remembered for having portrayed Dorothy Baxter, an interior designer and the wife of George Baxter (Don DeFore), a lawyer, on the NBC sitcom Hazel (1961), starring Shirley Booth in the title role as a bossy maid. In the last season on CBS, DeFore and Blake left the series and were replaced by Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden, respectively in the roles of Steve and Barbara Baxter, the younger brother and sister-in-law of George Baxter. After Hazel ended, she guest-starred in an episode of ABC's western series The Legend of Jesse James starring Christopher Jones in the title role. In 1967 she played attorney Lee Drake on The Andy Griffith Show. As demand for her in network television and films dwindled, Blake became a hostess of a Los Angeles television talk show. After that, Blake again reinvented herself and became a film and television director, producer, and writer. Blake guest starred as "Angie" in "Incident of the Curious Street" in Series 1 Episode 13 of Rawhide, and played leading lady to James Garner in "The Day They Hanged Bret Maverick," the 1958 second season opener for Maverick. She appeared on the first episode of the long running television program Perry Mason as the defendant Evelyn Bagby (and at least one later episode), and appeared in the first film version of a Mike Hammer novel when she starred in My Gun Is Quick in the 1950s. Description above from the Wikipedia article Whitney Blake, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
2011
- Fright Flick as Kat
2007
- The Lycanthrope as Lisa
1980
1978
- The Betsy as Elizabeth Hardeman
1977
1976
- Law and Order as Mary-Ellen Crowley
1975
- One Day at a Time ... (Creator)
- Returning Home as Millie Stephenson
1974
- Strange Homecoming as Peggy Harwood
- The Stranger Who Looks Like Me as Emma Verko
1971
1970
- The Boy Who Stole the Elephant as Helen Owens
1969
- Love, American Style as Valerie
1968
- The Outsider as Judy Elliott
1967
- Mannix as Cloris Loman
1966
- Batman as Amber Forever
1965
- Laredo
- Branded
- The Legend of Jesse James as Ina Stevens
1964
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as Corinne Ackers
1962
- The Virginian as Marie Adams
1961
- The Mike Douglas Show as Self
- Hazel as Dorothy Baxter
1960
- The Andy Griffith Show as Lee Drake
- Route 66 as Laura Church
- Thriller as Jane Kimball
- Pete and Gladys
- The Aquanauts as Ruth Cheney
- The Fatal Impulse as Jane Kimball
1959
- Bonanza as Ann Samuels
- Rawhide as Angie Miller
- Adventures in Paradise as Carol Olafson
- The Deputy as Ellen Hart
- Riverboat as Martha Crane
- Destination Space as June
- Tightrope as Mrs. Belden
- -30- as Peggy Gatlin
- Pete Kelly's Blues
1958
- 77 Sunset Strip as Diana Carthwright
- The Texan
- Bronco
- Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer as Prosperity Gamble
- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse as Amy Claypool
- The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen as Nina
1957
- Perry Mason as Diana Reynolds
- Maverick as Letty French
- M Squad as Susan Spencer
- Richard Diamond, Private Detective as Laura Westly
- Alcoa Theatre as Carrie
- My Gun Is Quick as Nancy Williams
- Panic!
- Collector’s Item as Jan Hendricks
1956
- Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre as Ellie Rawlins
- State Trooper as Myrna Cabot
- Wire Service as Geraldine
1955
- Cheyenne as Lilli Bridgeman
- Gunsmoke as Dolly Varden
- The Millionaire as Linda Hudson
1954
- The Wonderful World of Disney as Helen Owens
1953
- Letter to Loretta as Stella Graham