Elen Willard is a retired American character actress who worked exclusively in various American network dramatic

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, ...

series from 1960 to 1966. Her very first aired performance was a supporting role in a 1960 episode of the short-lived CBS

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

series, '' Markham'', which starred Ray Milland. Successively, over a six-year period, Willard portrayed twenty-four characters in twenty different dramatic television series consisting of various featured guest star and supporting performances, including most notably '' Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond'', '' Outlaws'', '' Perry Mason'', ''

Ben Casey ''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama television series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member ...

'', '' Dr. Kildare'', '' Combat!'', ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'', '' Whispering Smith'', and '' Have Gun - Will Travel''. During just a mere collective five minutes of screen time, Willard may be best-known for her captivating, standout portrayal of the character Ione Sykes in the gothic-themed western episode of the science fiction/fantasy/horror anthology series ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' entitled " The Grave", written, and directed by noted screenwriter, and director Montgomery Pittman. During the final two years of Willard's career she guest starred in four separate episodes of the ABC/

Quinn Martin Quinn Martin (born Irwin Martin Cohn; May 22, 1922 – September 5, 1987) was an American television producer. He had at least one television series running in prime time every year for 21 straight years (from 1959 to 1980). Martin is a memb ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

based series '' Twelve O'Clock High''. Willard's last broadcast appearance was as a character that figured prominently in a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

-themed episode of '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' entitled "The Jingle Bells Affair" which was initially aired December 23, 1966. Actor Earl Holliman, who guest starred opposite her in the second of her four appearances in ''Twelve O'Clock High'', said in an interview for a book on that series published in 2005 that he had "... heard she had quit acting because it was such an emotionally painful experience for her."Allen T. Duffin and Paul Matheis, ''The 12 O'Clock High Logbook'' ( Boalsburg, Pennsylvania: BearManor Media, 2005), p. 222.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willard, Elen Living people American television actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people)