Early life
Ashley was born Elizabeth Ann Cole in Ocala, Florida, to music teacher Arthur Kingman Cole and the former Lucille Ayer. She grew up inCareer
Ashley won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for ''Take Her, She's Mine'', then later starred as Corie in the original Broadway production of Neil Simon's '' Barefoot in the Park'' (1963) and, later, as Maggie in a Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' '' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (1974). She received Tony nominations for both performances. She appeared on Broadway as Dr. Livingstone in '' Agnes of God'' (1982) and was a replacement in the role of Mattie Fae during the original Broadway run of '' August: Osage County''. She has been featured in major motion pictures over five decades, including early roles in ''The Carpetbaggers'' (1964), '' Ship of Fools'' (1965), and '' The Third Day'' (1965). Her other film credits include '' The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker'' (1971), '' Rancho Deluxe'' (1975), '' Coma'' (1978), '' Paternity'' (1981), '' Dragnet'' (1987), and '' Vampire's Kiss'' (1989), and she starred as the villain in the controversial film '' Windows'' (1980). She first appeared with Burt Reynolds in a 1969 season episode of '' Love, American Style'', then later in the movie ''Paternity'' in 1981, as a guest star in his television series '' B.L. Stryker'' in 1989, and finally as a cast member in his final television series, '' Evening Shade'', from 1990 to 1994 as Aunt Frieda Evans. Ashley had the role of Kate in ''Sandburg's Lincoln'', a six-part dramatization that ran on NBC in the mid-1970s. Her other television appearances include the 1987 miniseries '' The Two Mrs. Grenvilles'', and guest roles in '' Ben Casey''; '' Route 66''; '' Sam Benedict''; '' Stoney Burke''; '' The Six Million Dollar Man''; '' Family''; '' Miami Vice''; '' Caroline in the City''; '' Mission: Impossible''; '' Murder, She Wrote''; '' Dave's World''; '' Law & Order''; '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''; '' Touched by an Angel''; '' The Larry Sanders Show''; '' Homicide: Life on the Street''; '' Russian Doll''; and '' Better Things''. She was featured in 14 episodes of the HBO series '' Treme'' as Aunt Mimi.Book
Ashley's autobiography ''Actress: Postcards from the Road'' was published in a hardcover edition on June 1, 1978, by M. Evans & Co (now part of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group). A paperback publication followed on October 12, 1979, through Fawcett Publications.Personal life
Ashley is thrice married and divorced. Her first and second husbands were actors James Farentino and George Peppard. The latter was her leading man in her first movie, ''The Carpetbaggers'' (1964). The couple had a son, Christian. Her divorce from Peppard is rumored to have caused the cancellation of his television series '' Banacek''. According to an unconfirmed story, he quit the show to prevent her from receiving a larger percentage of his earnings as part of their divorce settlement. ''Filmink'' called the account of Peppard in Ashley's memoirs "fascinating – paying tribute to his talent, charisma and kindness, as well as his violent, abusive, alcoholic nature." At 25, Ashley retired from acting "to make a home for my husband, see that he had his dinner on time, realize myself as a woman." She resumed her career four years later. She dated writer Tom McGuane and credits their liaison with reawakening a sexuality that she put to good use when she portrayed Maggie in ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' in 1974.Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
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