Jeanne Bates

Jeanne Bates (May 21, 1918 – November 28, 2007) was an American radio, film and television actress. After performing in radio serials, she signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1942 which began her career in films both in bit parts and larger roles in a series of horror films and noirs, including The Return of the Vampire (1943) and Shadows in the Night (1946).

Jeanne Bates
Born(1918-05-21)May 21, 1918
DiedNovember 28, 2007(2007-11-28) (aged 89)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1943–2002
Spouse(s)
Lew X. Lansworth
(m. 1943; died 1981)

In her later career, Bates would collaborate with David Lynch on his films Eraserhead (1977) and Mulholland Drive (2001), the latter of which was her last film credit before her death in 2007.

Career

Bates was born in Berkeley, California in 1918.[1][2] She began her acting career while attending San Mateo Junior College, with roles on radio soap operas produced in San Francisco. Bates had the lead role, and supplied the signature scream, on the radio mystery series Whodunit. Following the war, the show was revived under the name "Murder Will Out."[3] In 1943, she married the writer of Whodunit, Lew X. Lansworth (1904–1981). Bates also appeared in radio's "Gunsmoke", including the 12/13/1952 episode "Post Martin" and the 10/23/1960 episode "Newsma'am".

She also had her film debut in 1943, in a Boston Blackie mystery, The Chance of a Lifetime. She played Bela Lugosi's first victim in The Return of the Vampire (1943),[2] Diana Palmer in The Phantom (1943),[2] and she had a minor role in Death of a Salesman (1951).

Bates worked steadily in television beginning in the 1950s, including an appearance on the syndicated western series The Range Rider, and thereafter on episodes of NBC's Buckskin, Riverboat, and Peter Gunn, as well as the crime drama Sheriff of Cochise, and the aviation adventure series Sky King and Whirlybirds. She also appeared in a 1956 episode of The Lone Ranger entitled "Cross of Santo Domingo".

In the series premiere, "The Ferris Wheel" (September 23, 1958), of the syndicated television series, Rescue 8, starring Jim Davis and Lang Jeffries, Bates played a woman recently released from a mental institution who is trapped at the top of a Ferris wheel with her young daughter, portrayed by Gina Gillespie. Rand Brooks guest stars in the episode as Tom Hickey.[4] That year she made three appearances on Perry Mason, most notably as Jean Strague in "The Case of the Buried Clock".

In 1960, she was cast as Mrs. Grandsoir in the episode "Mrs. Viner Vanishes" of the ABC/Warner Brothers crime drama Bourbon Street Beat, starring Andrew Duggan. She is more remembered for having portrayed Nurse Wills on the ABC medical drama Ben Casey, from 1961 to 1966. She appeared with John Payne in various roles in five episodes of his NBC western series The Restless Gun, and also guest starred as Mrs. Wayne in the Rawhide episode "Incident of the Tinkers Dam".

Bates, who also taught acting, also appeared in films such as The Strangler (1964), Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came (1970), and David Lynch's Eraserhead (1977) as Mrs. X.[5] In July 1982, she appeared on Broadway as Mrs. Bixby in a production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.[6] Her last roles were small parts in Die Hard 2 (1990), Grand Canyon (1991), Dream Lover (1994) and Mulholland Drive (2001).

Personal life

Bates married Lew X. Lansworth in 1943[7] and was married to him until his death in 1981.

Death

She died of breast cancer at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.[8]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1943The Chance of a LifetimeMary Watson
1943The Return of the VampireMiss NorcuttUncredited
1943There's Something About a SoldierPhyllisUncredited
1943The PhantomDiana PalmerFilm serial
1944The Racket ManPhyllis Lake
1944Sundown ValleySidney Hawkins
1944Hey, RookieChief W.A.C.Uncredited
1944The Black ParachuteOlga
1944She's a Soldier Too"Red" BurnsUncredited
1944Shadows in the NightAdele Carter
1944The Soul of a Monster Anne WinsonAlso known as Death Walks Alone[9]
1944It's MurderMrs. Tom BlairShort film
1944Sergeant MikeTerry Arno
1945Tonight and Every NightW.A.C. WomanUncredited
1946The Mask of DiijonVictoria
1951The Living Christ SeriesMary, Sister of LazarusMiniseries
1951Trouble In-LawsMrs. HerbertShort film
1951Death of a SalesmanMotherUncredited
1952PaulaAttending NurseUncredited
1954SabakaDurga
1955GunsmokeMrs. NolanSmoking Out The Nolan’s
1955GunsmokeMrs. WyattNight Incident
1956Tension at Table RockMrs. BriceUncredited
1957Trooper HookAnn Weaver
1957Back from the DeadAgnes
1958Blood ArrowAlmee
1959Hi, Grandma!Television film
1960Vice RaidMarilynUncredited
1961The Twilight ZoneEthel HollisIt's a Good Life - [10]Season 3 Episode 8
1964The StranglerClara Thomas
1969Mannix, TV serie, S2-Episode 10 "Night Out Of Time" "Melinda Webber
1970Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody CameMrs. Flanders
1976GusNurse
1977EraserheadMrs. X
1977Poco... Little Dog LostMrs. John Ashmore
1986Touch and GoWoman at the Morgue
1989From the Dead of NightNurseTelevision film
1990Die Hard 2Older Woman (Northeast Plane)
1990Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: InitiationKatherine
1991MomEmily Dwyer
1991Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of BlueMrs. Felt
1991Grand CanyonMrs. Menken
1994Dream LoverJeanne
2001Mulholland DriveIrene

References

Notes

  1. "California Birth Index, 1905-1995," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VLBG-LTZ : 27 November 2014), Jeanne Bates, 21 May 1918; citing Alameda, California, United States, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento.
  2. Weaver 2003, p. 52.
  3. https://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=wyu-ah08229.xml
  4. ""The Ferris Wheel" on Rescue 8, September 23, 1958". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  5. Paszylk 2009, p. 146.
  6. Dietz 2016, p. 143.
  7. Weaver 2010, p. 52.
  8. Variety Staff (February 1, 2008). "Actress Jeanne Bates dies at 89". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  9. Blottner 2015, p. 210.
  10. Wikipedia

Sources

  • Blottner, Gene (2015). Columbia Noir: A Complete Filmography, 1940-1962. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-78647-014-3.
  • Dietz, Dan (2016). The Complete Book of 1980s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-1-44226-091-7.
  • Paszylk, Bartlomiej (2009). The Pleasure and Pain of Cult Horror Films: An Historical Survey. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-78643-695-8.
  • Weaver, Tom (2003). Double Feature Creature Attack: A Monster Merger of Two More Volumes of Classic Interviews. McFarland Classics. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-78641-366-9.
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