Irene Champlin (born Irene Parsons; March 16, 1931 – July 10, 1990) was an American

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. ...

Biography

She was born in Waurika, Oklahoma. Her most prominent role was as Dale Arden in the 1954–1955 syndicated television series ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' ...

''. Her portrayal of Arden has been praised for breaking from the typical

damsel in distress The damsel in distress is a narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has been kidnapped or placed in other peril. The "damsel" is often portrayed as beautiful, popular, and of high social status; she is usually depicted ...

of the earlier comic strip and film serials to present the character as a trained

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

and a "quick thinker who often saved Dr. Zarkov">Hans_Zarkov.html" ;"title="lash and Hans Zarkov">Dr. Zarkovfrom perishing." In addition to her role as Arden, Champlin had lead roles in the stage productions ''Calculated Risk'' and ''For Crying Out Loud'' and played the female lead in the motion picture ''Resistance''. Her other television appearances included ''The Perry Como Show'', ''The United States Steel Hour'', and ''The Guiding Light''.

Personal life

Champlin was married to Paul L. Field, once chairman and chief executive of Essex Communications Corp., a cable-television company in Greenwich, Connecticut. They had two daughters, Alicia Field Taylor and Christiane Field. She died in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

, in 1990 following an extended illness.

References

External links

* 1931 births 1990 deaths People from Waurika, Oklahoma 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Oklahoma American film actresses American television actresses American stage actresses {{US-screen-actor-1930s-stub