Joan Taylor

Joan Taylor (August 18, 1929 – March 4, 2012) was an American television and film actress.

Personal life

Taylor was born Rose Marie Emma in Geneva, Illinois. Her father, Joseph Emma, from Sicily, was a prop man in Hollywood in the 1920s. After his daughter's birth he became the manager of the Deerpath movie theatre in Lake Forest, Illinois, where Joan was brought up. Her mother, Amelia Berky, was from Austria, and was a vaudeville singing-dancing star in the 1920s.

Taylor married Leonard Freeman, later the creator of ''Hawaii Five-O'', in 1953. The couple had three daughters. After her contract for ''The Rifleman'' ran out, she retired from acting to raise her children.

When Freeman died in January 1974, following heart surgery, Taylor began managing Leonard Freeman Productions and the business of ''Hawaii Five-O'' under the name Rose Freeman. She attended at least one ''Hawaii Five-O'' convention to talk to fans.

With her children older, she found herself writing, including co-author credit for the comedy '' Fools Rush In'' starring Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek. She remarried, to television producer-director Walter Grauman in 1976; the couple divorced in 1980.

Career

Taylor's career began at the Pasadena Playhouse. She met Freeman there when both were involved with putting on '' Here Comes Mr. Jordan''. In the early 1950s, she was chosen by Paramount Pictures as a member of the studio's "Golden Circle", described as a "group consisting of a dozen unusually talented young actors for whom Paramount held high hopes." Her first film was ''Fighting Man of the Plains'', starring Randolph Scott. Her producer had also insured the 19-year-old's legs for $100,000 against injury.

Her television career consisted of guest appearances on popular shows, in only one or two episodes. However, she had a successful recurring role in eighteen episodes of ''The Rifleman'', starring Chuck Connors from 1960-1962.

Death

Taylor died of natural causes March 4, 2012, in Santa Monica, California.

She was survived by three daughters, two brothers and six grandchildren.

Selected filmography

Television

* ''Mike Hammer'' as Diane Baxter / (2 episodes, 1958)
* ''Zane Grey Theater'' as Rose Bailey (1 episode, 1958)
* ''Yancy Derringer'' as Lavinia Lake (1 episode, 1958)
* ''Peter Gunn'' as Liz Taylor (1 episode, 1958)
* ''Wagon Train'' as Bright Star (1 episode "A Man Called Horse", 1958)
* '' Gunsmoke'' as Anna Wheat (1 episode, 1959)
* ''21 Beacon Street'' as Ruth (2 episodes, 1959)
* '' Men into Space'' as Carol Gordon (1 episode, 1959)
* '' The Texan'' as Rita Maynor (1 episode, 1959)
* '' The Millionaire'' as Mary Ann Wilson (1 episode, 1959)
* '' Colt .45'' as Dr. Ellen McGraw (1 episode, 1959)
* '' Lock Up'' as Lauren Bodret (1 episode, 1960)
* ''The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor'' as Myrna Fontaine (1 episode, 1961)
* '' Rawhide'' as Paibada (1 episode, 1961)
* ''My Three Sons'' as Muriel Stewart (1 episode, 1961)
* ''Bronco'' as Lorain (1 episode, 1962)
* ''The Dick Powell Show'' (1 episode, 1962)
* ''The Rifleman'' as Milly Scott (18 episodes, 1960–1962)
* ''77 Sunset Strip'' as Beth Collins (1 episode, 1963)

Feature films

* ''Fighting Man of the Plains'' (1949) as Evelyn Slocum
* ''On Dangerous Ground'' (1952) as Hazel (uncredited)
* '' The Savage'' (1952) as Luta
* '' Off Limits'' (1953) as Helen
* '' War Paint'' (1953) as Wanima
* ''Rose Marie'' (1954) as Wanda
* '' Apache Woman'' (1955) as Anne LeBeau
* ''Fort Yuma'' (1955) as Francesca
* '' Earth vs. the Flying Saucers'' (1956) as Carol Marvin
* '' Girls in Prison'' (1956) as Anne Carson
* '' War Drums'' (1957) as Riva
* ''20 Million Miles to Earth'' (1957) as Marisa Leonardo
* ''Omar Khayyam'' (1957) as Yaffa

References

External links

*
*
*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Joan
1929 births
2012 deaths
Actresses from Chicago
Writers from Chicago
Screenwriters from Illinois
American film actresses
American people of Austrian descent
American writers of Italian descent
American television actresses
People from Geneva, Illinois
People from Lake Forest, Illinois
Western (genre) television actors
21st-century American women