Kathie Browne

[SanteeFats]

[Findcandor]

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While watching a 1975 episode of The Rockford Files ("2 Into 5.56 Won't Go"), the hero faced a corrupt town, and while in jail this lady — the town's mayor, visiting to threaten the hero with more charges — walked in:



Well, who have we got here? ... is what I thought. Then after the scene revealed more of the lady...





She didn't seem as special, frankly, but there must have been some reason why my "whozzat that lady?" antenna got an erection. To be fair, she was forty-five years old here (birth year on IMDb is 1930, but on that other unreliable "Wiki" site, the year is 1929, making her forty-six), yet it was easy to see Kathie Browne was one grade-A "babe" in her day.



This thread may not be the best determinant (begun in 2011 by Member "BB4e4," but notice he's on Post #3; before Kathie got her VEF thread, she made other appearances elsewhere, I guess, that got incorporated here. The first time was in 2009, as you may see with Post #1), since the thread is woefully brief, but now that my curiosity got aroused, please join me as we get to check more of the lady out.




She got going with screen acting in 1955, although her career heated up after 1957 where the fresh-faced lass was getting hired right and left (mostly on television, as you may see on her filmography). Most seem to know the actress from her role in Star Trek:




Her IMDb bio states, "One of her most famous acting role was as the prospective bride of 'Adam Cartwright', during the 1963-64 season of Bonanza (1959). She had appeared on the series twice before, as different characters, in 1961 and 1962, but was cast as the pretty widow, Laura Dayton, in 1963, appearing in 4 episodes broadcast between December 8, 1963 and May 17, 1964, which was the penultimate show of the season. Laura was supposed to marry Adam and ride off with him into the sunset as Pernell Roberts was unhappy with the show and threatening to leave."


Tune in here to view the full TV Guide cover.

It's her part in 1963's "A Walk by the Sea" that provides great potential for those of VEF, as she played "Bikini-clad Bele" (I guess the IMDb contributor misspelled "belle"), but curiously, nothing appears to be known about this project.




The Brass Bottle (1964) served as a rare movie role; the fluffy film is about Tony Randall having access to the services of a genie (Burl Ives) but Randall keeps telling him to go away. The love interest is played by Barbara Eden, who would go on to play a genie in the role she is most remembered for.



BB4e4, who has sadly waved bye-bye to VEF some nine years ago, put up a 2011 post where the Brass Bottle photos had died, and that's what made me consider offering these views. He had also provided a link for the clip, which has survived; that's what I used. I later noticed Member "Scotpens" offered his own screen caps in 2018's Post #10, although a couple of his photos have dropped dead as well.


...............
The Ithaca Journal, Sept. 4, 1965; the second image was added in a later EDIT,
and the article is from the May 3, 1964 Detroit News TV Magazine, an incomplete
copy of which sells for seventeen bucks on Ebay. That one discusses how our lady's
part from Bonanza was being written out. More on that, if you are interested.

In 1965, she was cast as a girlfriend of the hero (Richard Crenna) of Slattery's People, a short-lived series about an elected representative who tries to make a difference. (She was only on board for four episodes, or one-ninth of the show's output.) The series may have been ahead of its time, focusing on social interest matters. The first article above, while discussing her role, called the actress "a tall, slender, wide-eyed blonde, who looks like a walking strawberry shortcake." (I don't what that means, but I like it.) She also was described as "one of Hollywood's genuine charm girls."




She played a "gorgeous blonde" character who hooks up with a dull fellow who takes on a new personality once he dons a wig and goatee in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour's "Wally the Beard" (1965); naturally, this life improvement comes at a cost.






Kathie played a KAOS agent in Get Smart's "The Not-So-Great Escape: Part 1" from 1969, while working behind an airline's counter. She received top billing in the end credits, but her character's name was, simply, "Girl."




Kathie was pretty as a picture in 1970's Love American Style episode of "Love and the King"; photo also features Leslie McRay, Herb Edelman and Ron Masak. (I don't know who Leslie McRay is, but she sure looked hot in the shot above; lt appears she has largely been ignored on the forum, although there is this one post with photos of her from Coffy.)



With husband Darren McGavin at a local opening for A Chorus Line,
July 9, 1976. In the second photo, the couple were seen at a 1988 event.

After her first marriage was over, she married Darren McGavin in 1969 (and stayed married to him until her death in 2003. "Natural causes" reportedly did the breast cancer survivor in). They formed a production company; her husband directed her in Happy Mother's Day, Love George (1973), which seems to have disappointed horror film fans as it is said to have concentrated on character and suspense rather than gore. This photo is from the Cinemorgue site that celebrates how film & TV characters meet their grisly ends:




She appeared as the main female character in the very last episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1975), which famously starred McGavin:




Kathie is said to have "complained of being stuck in sweet ingenue roles," precipitating her retirement; she last appeared in a 1980 two-parter of The Love Boat. (Was she still getting "ingenue" roles while pushing fifty?)













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