Megan D'Ewes Timothy (born June 21, 1943) is a Rhodesian-American actress, singer, and writer.
Background
The daughter of an architect,
[''The Tennessean'' Sunday, March 19, 196]
Page 5 ''Club Singer Defends Native Rhodesia, Rips British''
/ref> Timothy was born in Rhodesia
Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
(now Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
) in 1943. At the age of 16, she began working for the '' Victoria Times'' and later pursued a career as a horse trainer.
In 1964, at the age of 21, Timothy relocated to California.[''The Southern Herald'' April 6, 200]
Page 1 Author's Ride of Meaning by Coyette Stuart
/ref>[''Chicago Tribune'' May 19, 199]
Wild Ride Overseas, Solo Adventurer Is Turning 60 On Biking Odyssey - By Carol Bidwell, Los Angeles Daily News
/ref>[''Hildalgo County Herald'' Friday March 107, 200]
Author treks across nation promoting literacy
/ref> She initially worked as a switchboard operator
In the early days of telephony, companies used manual telephone switchboards, and switchboard operators connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks. They were gradually phased out and replaced by automated syste ...
[''Wild Beyond Belief!: Interviews with Exploitation Filmmakers of the 1960s and 1970s'' By Brian Albrigh]
Page 202 - 204 The Girl From Thunder Strip, Megan Timothy
/ref> and later as a waitress at the Playboy Club
The Playboy Club was initially a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room, and a Club ...
.North Hollywood, Los Angeles
North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ...
. She successfully operated the establishment until the 1990s. In 1999, Timothy decided to undertake a solo bicycle journey spanning approximately 12,000 miles. She sold her North Hollywood home, car, and several possessions in preparation for the journey. Her travels took her across Western Europe and parts of Africa.
Hiking
Timothy spent one year bicycling solo through 23 European nations, including Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
and Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. Timothy circumnavigated the U.S. by bicycle. Timothy drifted down the Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
on a homemade craft and canoed down the Amazon, as well as hiked the Macchu Picchu trail in Peru. Timothy also hiked the Camino de Santiago
The Camino de Santiago (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tra ...
from Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
to Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
, and Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, twice. During Timothy's youthful days as a vocalist, she made a trip to Viet Nam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's fifteenth-most populous coun ...
with the USO. Timothy lived in England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
, Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, and now Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
State.
Film career
In 1967, Timothy made her debut with a credited film role in the Russ Meyer
Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American filmmaker. He was primarily known for writing and directing a successful series of sexploitation films featuring campy humor, sly satire and large-breasted women, wh ...
film '' Good Morning... and Goodbye!''. The following year she appeared in ''Hell's Chosen Few'', her first of three films directed by David L. Hewitt
David L. Hewitt (born August 12, 1939) is a film director and producer. Among the films he has directed are '' The Wizard of Mars'', '' Monsters Crash the Pajama Party'' (both 1965), '' Journey to the Center of Time'' (1967), '' The Mighty Gorga ...
. Her second collaboration with Hewitt was '' The Mighty Gorga'' in which she portrayed April Adams, a trapper on a mission to locate a 50-foot gorilla. Timothy's final film with Hewitt was '' The Girls from Thunder Strip,'' which centered on three bootlegging sisters who confront a gang of bikers.
Filmography
Music
During the 1960s, Timothy showcased her folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
talents at various coffee houses and also participated in a USO tour to entertain troops in Vietnam.Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
.
Around 2010, several years after experiencing a stroke, Timothy decided to receive vocal coaching. She received guidance from Michael Rivers. Despite facing challenges due to her brain injury, Timothy released her first CD album four years later. In 2014, she unveiled the album "''As I Wander: Songs of Christmas''," which featured the vocals of Dan Cobb, the singer-guitarist/producer Rivers, and cellist Marlene Moore.
Recordings
* ''As I Wander: Songs of Christmas''
Stroke
After the death of her mother and the loss of her belongings in a fire, Timothy experienced a stroke in September 2003, at the age of 63. The stroke was a result of an arteriovenous malformation
An arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is an abnormal connection between arteries and veins, bypassing the capillary system. Usually congenital, this vascular anomaly is widely known because of its occurrence in the central nervous system (usually ...
and led to severe aphasia
Aphasia, also known as dysphasia, is an impairment in a person's ability to comprehend or formulate language because of dysfunction in specific brain regions. The major causes are stroke and head trauma; prevalence is hard to determine, but aph ...
, rendering her unable to speak. With no family or financial means to support herself, she became a ward of the state and was temporarily housed in a rehabilitation facility for two weeks.[Jon Caswell]
"Let Me Die Laughing"
'Stroke Connection'', September/October 2007, p. 20, Cover Story. Prior to the stroke, Timothy did not have medical coverage, but she later became enrolled in a California Medicaid program.[''Long Term Rehabilitation for Stroke and TBI: Building a Community'' By Beverly Gree]
ACUTE REHABILITATION--WHO DOES WHAT?, ''Vocational Therapists'' ...
/ref> A documentary titled "''Chicken''," which chronicled her stroke and journey, was screened at the Fontaine Auditorium of Samuel Merritt University
Samuel Merritt University (SMU) is a private university focused on health sciences with its main campus in Oakland, California, and other facilities in Sacramento, San Mateo and Fresno. It was an affiliate of the Sutter Health Network and Al ...
in Oakland on August 4, 2010.[Laurel Zien, Stroke awareness and special outreach event with Megan Timothy], ''The Examiner'' July 28, 2010.]
Publications
References
External links
*
''Out of Africa'' April 2000 article page 24 - Saddle-sore Megan’s 10,000-mile odyssey
Youtube: Megan Timothy
California Library Literacy Services - 26-07-07: Interview with Megan Timothy, Part 1
California Library Literacy Services - 26-07-07: Interview with Megan Timothy, Part 2, Q&A
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timothy, Megan
1943 births
Living people
American folk singers
White Rhodesian people
Rhodesian writers
Rhodesian singers
Rhodesian emigrants to the United States