Marie Mahder (December 3, 1923 – January 27, 2001), best known by her stage name Sally Mansfield, was an American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

character actress A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to be ...

; she also had a few small roles in feature films including one with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

Early career

Born in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated ...

, Mansfield was a moppet radio star in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Her father gave her the nickname "Sally". As a youth she joined the Actors Company of Chicago and the Children's Summer Theatre and studied at the Sherwood Music School. Coming to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1945, she voiced several radio roles for commercials and on soap operas and dramas. As a

chorine A chorus line is a large group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. Chorus line dancers in Broadway musicals and revues have been referred to by slang terms su ...

with the Don Arden Dancers, she performed in

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

s in New York and in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Moving to Hollywood, Mansfield met up with a talent scout for Paramount Pictures while she was in the Geller Workshop. She landed a bit part in ''Forever Female'' (1953) as the secretary of

Paul Douglas Paul Howard Douglas (March 26, 1892 – September 24, 1976) was an American politician and Georgist economist. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois for eighteen years, from 1949 to 1967. During his Senat ...

. She was a regular on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

'' Gunsmoke'' radio show in 1954. Mansfield gained attention for modeling a sweater designed by

Edith Head Edith Head (October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American costume designer who won a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design between 1949 and 1973, making her the most awarded woman in the Academy's history. Head is cons ...

, which she wore when she entertained U.S. Army troops in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

and Japan. The sweater's back was padded with heat-producing chemicals, and this then-novel idea along with Mansfield's photo was widely syndicated. She modeled a two-piece bathing suit in ''Pose! The Picture Magazine'', in March 1955.

Television career

Mansfield portrayed Connie on ''Bachelor Father'' and appeared on many popular TV shows in the 1950s and 1960s, including ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'', ''

The Donna Reed Show ''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children, Mary ...

'', '' Hazel'' and ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The ...

'', and ''The Phil Silvers Show''. She was also an accomplished dancer, performed with the

Don Arden Don Arden (born Harry Levy; 4 January 1926 – 21 July 2007) was an English music manager, agent, and businessman. He managed the careers of rock acts such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Air Supply, Small Faces, The Move, Black Sabbat ...

Dancers in

and Las Vegas, and entertained US troops in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. 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 ''Rocky Jones, Space Ranger'' is an American science fiction television serial originally broadcast in syndication from February to November 1954. The show lasted for only two seasons and, though syndicated sporadically, dropped into obscurity. ...

''. She was chosen from 300 who auditioned. Her character anticipated

Nichelle Nichols Nichelle Nichols (, born Grace Dell Nichols; December 28, 1932 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for her portrayal of Nyota Uhura in ''Star Trek'' and its film sequels. Nichols' portrayal of Uhura was g ...

' 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 Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...

during the sixth annual Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awards banquet. Executive Producer, Guy V. Thayer Jr., signed Richard Crane and Mansfield to five year contracts for ''

''. One of the contract stipulations was that the still-single Mansfield would not marry and Crane would not divorce his wife of eight years.

Death

On January 28, 2001, Mansfield died of lung cancer in

Westlake Village, California Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County on its western border with Ventura County. The City of Westlake Village incorporated in 1981 becoming the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks Westlake Vil ...

, at the age of 77.

Selected Television

References

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External links

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Sally Mansfield
at MST3Kinfo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansfield, Sally 1923 births 2001 deaths American female models American female dancers American film actresses American television actresses American radio actresses Deaths from lung cancer in California 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American dancers