Fern Aline Waller (née Eggen, 7 November 1919 – 2 February 1996), known as Aline Towne, was an American

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, best remembered for her lead roles in 1950s

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

serials, such as '' Radar Men from the Moon''.

Early life and career

Born Fern Aline Eggen in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

and raised in

Charles City, Iowa Charles City is a city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Iowa, United States. Charles City is a significant commercial and transportation center for the area. U.S. Route 18 in Iowa, U.S. Routes 18 and U.S. Route 218, 218, Iowa Highway 14, ...

,Mayer, Geoff (2017).
Encyclopedia of American Film Serials
'. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company. p. 278. ."United States Census, 1930", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMJW-1JS : Sun Jul 14 18:19:28 UTC 2024), Entry for Oscar E Eggen and Gertrude Eggen, 1930. Towne was the daughter of Gertrude N. Jennings and

Norwegian American Norwegian Americans () are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 milli ...

design engineer A design engineer is an engineer focused on the engineering design process in any of the various engineering disciplines (including civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, textiles, aerospace, nuclear, manufacturing, systems, and struct ...

Oscar Edward Eggen. She attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

, becoming a member of the

Kappa Kappa Gamma Kappa Kappa Gamma (), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, Monmouth, Illinois, United States. It has a membership of more than ...

sorority and graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1942. Towne was a Powers model. Towne appeared in dozens of roles on television, in series such as ''

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a 1938 short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a 1940 full-length novel, '' Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with anot ...

'', ''

Leave It to Beaver ''Leave It to Beaver'' is an American television sitcom that follows the misadventures of a suburban boy, his family and his friends. It starred Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers. CBS first broadcast the show ...

'', ''

Sea Hunt ''Sea Hunt'' is an American action adventure television series that aired in syndication from 1958 to 1961 and was popular for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced. It stars Lloyd Bridges ...

'', ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...

'', '' Maverick'', ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

'', ''Tales of Wells Fargo'', and ''

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 Pediatrics, pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage childr ...

''. In 1952 she played Lara,

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

's mother in the first episode of '' the Adventures of Superman''. She also had a small speaking role (billed as Fern Eggen) in White Heat (1949).Erickson, Glenn. "I Am Cody Jarrett, Destroyer of Worlds", in Silver, Alain; Ursini, James, eds. (2007).
The Gangster Film Reader
'. Pompton Plains, NJ: Limelight Editions. pp. 141–142. . "Field agent Hank Fallon began as a womanizing playboy and a devil-may-care man of action, similar to the later James Bond. When he goes undercover as Vic Pardo to become Cody's criminal apprentice, Fallon is assigned a fake 'Mrs Pardo,' a curvaceous female treasury agent named Margaret Baxter. Margaret visits Fallon in prison and carries messages back to Evans. Early drafts implied that the two agents are carrying on an affair. By the final script, Fallon's skirt chasing is reduced to a few smiles and a raised eyebrows. As deftly played by Edmond O'Brien, Hank is more happy-go-lucky than daredevil, and his prison visits with Margaret (Fern Eggen) are mild parodies of domesticity. They chat about divorce while arranging for Cody's police-monitored prison breakout."

Personal life and death

Towne was married to Bill Waller. She died in

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1996.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Aline Towne
at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

1919 births 1996 deaths Actresses from Saint Paul, Minnesota American television actresses American film actresses Film serial actresses Kappa Kappa Gamma People from Charles City, Iowa University of Iowa alumni 20th-century American actresses {{US-film-actor-1910s-stub