Beverly Joanne Linville[citation needed] (January 15, 1928 – June 20, 2021) was an American actress. She later taught at the Stella Adler Academy, Los Angeles.[1] She is best known as a Romulan Commander on Star Trek: The Original Series.
Joanne Linville | |
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Born | Beverly Joanne Linville (1928-01-15)January 15, 1928 Bakersfield, California, U.S. |
Died | June 20, 2021(2021-06-20) (aged 93) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1950–2005, 2016 |
Spouse | |
Children | 2, including Christopher Rydell |
Linville was born in Bakersfield, California, on January 15, 1928.[2] She attended high school in Long Beach, California, and worked as an oral surgeon's assistant before studying acting. While she studied with Stella Adler, she danced professionally to pay her tuition.[3]
Linville's motion-picture credits include The Goddess (1958), Scorpio (1973), Gable and Lombard (1976), A Star Is Born (1976), The Seduction (1982), and James Dean (2001).
In 1959, Linville appeared on the CBS daytime drama The Guiding Light as Amy Sinclair, a runaway drug addict whose daughter was nearly taken from her as part of an illegal adoption scam ring. Linville starred in two television presentations of One Step Beyond— as Aunt Mina in the episode "The Dead Part of the House" (1959) and as Karen Wadsworth in the episode "A Moment of Hate" (1960).
In 1961, she starred in the Twilight Zone episode "The Passersby".[4]
In 1968, she guest-starred as a Romulan commander in Star Trek[5] episode "The Enterprise Incident". In this episode she falls for Spock after taking him aboard her spaceship for violating Romulan territory. Although, as a Vulcan, Spock does not fall for her charms and uses this as a ploy. This role earned Linville cult status, and remains her best-known performance.[6]
Her other television appearances include Decoy, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Have Gun Will Travel, Coronado 9, Checkmate, Adventures in Paradise, Empire, Gunsmoke (three episodes), Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, Gunsmoke, Route 66, The Eleventh Hour, I Spy, Bonanza, The Fugitive, The F.B.I. (two episodes), The Invaders (two episodes), Felony Squad, Hawaii Five-O (three episodes), Kojak, Columbo: Candidate for Crime, The Streets of San Francisco (two episodes), Barnaby Jones, Switch, Charlie's Angels, CHIPS, Mrs. Columbo, Dynasty, and L.A. Law.
She appeared in the made-for-TV movies House on Greenapple Road (and the resulting series Dan August) (1970), Secrets (1977), The Critical List (1978), The Users (1978), and The Right of the People (1986).[7] Linville played the mother of Janine Turner's character in Behind the Screen.[8] Linville and George Grizzard starred in "I Kiss Your Shadow", the final episode of the television series Bus Stop.
Linville portrayed Valeria in the Broadway production Daughter of Silence (1961).[9] Linville played gossip columnist Hedda Hopper in the television movie James Dean (2001), and Rydell directed the film and also played Jack L. Warner.
Linville retired from acting in the 1980s to concentrate on teaching.[6] She wrote Joanne Linville's Seven Steps to an Acting Craft, which was published in 2011 by Cameron and Company.[citation needed]
She taught "The Power of Language" course at the Stella Adler Academy in Los Angeles in 1985.[5] One of her students was Mark Ruffalo, who wrote that she "does not theorise about great acting. She is great acting".[6]
Linville was married to actor/director Mark Rydell from 1962 until their divorce in 1973. Linville had two children with Rydell: Amy and Christopher, both actors.[6]
Linville was also an amateur tennis player, and appeared at charity events where people were invited to pay $100 to challenge her in a game.[6]
Linville died on June 20, 2021, aged 93.[10]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1950 | Copper Canyon | Showgirl | Uncredited |
1958 | The Goddess | Joanna | |
1973 | Scorpio | Sarah Cross | |
1976 | Gable and Lombard | Ria Gable | |
A Star Is Born | Freddie | ||
1982 | The Seduction | Dr. Weston | |
2005 | Beyond Lovely | Voice over | Short film |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1954-58 | Studio One | Various roles | 6 episodes |
1956 | The Kaiser Aluminum Hour | Gwyneth | Episode: "Gwyneth" |
1957 | The Alcoa Hour | Daisy Sage | Episode: "The Animal Kingdom" |
Decoy | Molly Orchid | Episode: "Stranglehold" | |
Robert Montgomery Presents | — | Episode: "Return Visit" | |
1958 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Millie Manners | Episode: "The Safe Place" |
Kraft Television Theatre | Pat Colson | Episode: "Killer's Choice" | |
The United States Steel Hour | Martha Purvis | Episode: "Old Marshals Never Die" | |
Suspicion | Lois | Episode: "Someone Is After Me" | |
1959 | Guiding Light | Amy Sinclair | |
The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen | — | Episode: "Bury Me Deep" | |
The Third Man | Marguerite | Episode: "Confessions of an Honest Man" | |
Playhouse 90 | June | Episode: "In Lonely Expectation" | |
The DuPont Show of the Month | Antonia | Episode: "I, Don Quixote" | |
Deadline | Peg Joyce | Episode: "Charm Boy" | |
1960 | Hotel de Paree | Jennifer Wheatley | Episode: "Sundance and the Barren Soil" |
1961 | Gunsmoke | Beulah Parker | Episode: "Old Yellow Boots" |
Our American Heritage | Alice Hathaway Roosevelt | Episode: "The Invincible Teddy" | |
The Twilight Zone | Lavinia | Episode: "The Passerby" | |
1962 | Bus Stop | Donna Gibson | Episode: "I Kiss Your Shadow" |
1963 | The Dick Powell Show | Aura Tomlin | Episode: "Everybody Loves Sweeney" |
1966 | Bonanza | Maggie Dowling | Episode: "The Bridegroom" |
1968 | Star Trek | Romulan Commander | Episode: "The Enterprise Incident" |
1969 | Judd, for the Defense | Paula Miles | 2 episodes |
1970 | House on Greenapple Road | Connie Durstine | TV Movie |
1970 | Hawaii Five-0 | Camilla Carver | Kiss the Queen Goodbye |
1973 | Columbo | Vickie Hayward | Episode: "Candidate for Crime" |
1973 | The Streets of San Francisco | Rosemary | Episode: "Before I Die" |
1974 | Martha Howard | Episode: "One Chance to Live" | |
1979 | Barnaby Jones | Mimi Nettleson Chiles | 2 episodes |
Charlie's Angels | Maggie Brill | Episode: "Angels Go Truckin" | |
Mrs. Columbo | Paula | Episode: "Falling Star" | |
1981 | Behind the Screen | Zina Willow | Episode: "Pilot" |
1982-83 | Dynasty | Claire Maynard | 2 episodes |
1986 | The Right of the People | Rosalind | TV Movie |
1988 | L.A. Law | Rona Samuels | Episode: "Romancing the Drone" |
1989 | From the Dead of Night | Dr. Ann Morgan | TV Movie |
2001 | James Dean | Hedda Hopper | TV Movie |
2016 | Starship Excelsior | The Delegate | Episode: "Tomorrow's Excelsior" |
General | |
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National libraries | |
Other |
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