Bethel Leslie

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Bethel Leslie
Leslie in A Rage to Live (1965)
Born
Jane Bethel Leslie

(1929-08-03)August 3, 1929
New York City, U.S.
DiedNovember 28, 1999(1999-11-28) (aged 70)
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, screenwriter
Years active1949–1999
Spouse
Andrew McCullough
​
​
(m. 1953; div. 1964)​
Children1 daughter

Jane Bethel Leslie (August 3, 1929 – November 28, 1999) was an American actress and screenwriter.[citation needed] In her career spanning half a century, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurel Award in 1964, a Tony Award in 1986, and a CableACE Award in 1988.

Early years[edit]

Jane Bethel Leslie was born in New York, New York. Her parents were a lawyer, Warren Leslie,[1] and Jane Leslie,[1] a newspaperwoman.[2] Bethel was a student at Brearley School in New York City.[3] She had a brother, writer Warren Leslie.[4]

While a 13-year-old student at Brearley School, Leslie was discovered by George Abbott,[2] who cast her in the play Snafu[5] in 1944. In a 1965 newspaper article, Leslie described herself as "a 'quick study' -- able to learn my lines rather fast."[6]

Stage[edit]

Over the next four decades she appeared in a number of Broadway productions, including Goodbye, My Fancy (1948), The Time of the Cuckoo (1952), Inherit the Wind (1955), Catch Me If You Can (1965), and Long Day's Journey Into Night (1986).[citation needed] In 1950, Leslie was cast as Cornelia Otis Skinner in The Girls, a television series based on the author's Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. She departed the show after two months to appear with Helen Hayes in the play The Wisteria Trees, adapted from Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard by Joshua Logan.[citation needed]

Television[edit]

Leslie began working in television in the 1940s[5] and frequently was a guest on the many anthology series popular in the early to mid-1950s, such as Studio One and Playhouse 90. She appeared with Ronald W. Reagan and Stafford Repp in the 1960 episode "The Way Home" of CBS's The DuPont Show with June Allyson. Later, she was one of the repertory of actors starring in The Richard Boone Show (1963-1964).[7]

Leslie made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, and was featured as Perry's client in all three episodes. In 1958, she played Janet Morris in "The Case of the Fugitive Nurse" and Evelyn Girard in "The Case of the Purple Woman". In 1960 she played Sylvia Sutton in "The Case of the Wayward Wife". In 1962, she portrayed the part of Martha Hastings in the episode, "The Long Count", on CBS's Rawhide. She guest-starred in many western television series, including The Texan,[8] Mackenzie's Raiders (as Lucinda Cabot in "The Lucinda Cabot Affair"), The Man from Blackhawk, Riverboat, Wanted: Dead or Alive (episode "Secret Ballot"), Trackdown, Bat Masterson, The Rifleman, Gunsmoke, Maverick, Pony Express, Stagecoach West, Bonanza, The Wild Wild West, Have Gun - Will Travel, and Wagon Train.[citation needed]

Her other credits were on drama series, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Richard Diamond, Private Detective and The Fugitive, both starring David Janssen; The Eleventh Hour, The Lloyd Bridges Show, Mannix, Route 66 (episodes "The Layout at Glen Canyon" and "City of Wheels"), Straightaway, Bus Stop, Target: The Corruptors!, The Investigators, The Man and the Challenge, Adventures in Paradise, Ben Casey, One Step Beyond, Thriller, Empire, and The High Chaparral. She became a regular on the NBC soap, The Doctors, when she took over the role of "Maggie Powers" after Ann Williams left the part. Leslie was also featured in the 1964 episode "The Fluellen Family" in the NBC western Daniel Boone. She had recurring roles on Another World and All My Children and was featured in the television adaptations of In Cold Blood and Saint Maybe.[citation needed]

Writing[edit]

Leslie was the head writer for The Secret Storm in 1970. She also scripted episodes for Gunsmoke, Bracken's World, Barnaby Jones, McCloud, The New Land, Matt Helm, and Falcon Crest. In 1970, producer Howard Christie referred to Leslie as "a good actress who has turned into a fine scriptwriter."[9]

Film[edit]

Leslie's debut in feature films came in 1964 in Captain Newman, M.D..[10] Her feature film credits include A Rage to Live (1965), The Molly Maguires (1970), with Sean Connery, Dr. Cook's Garden (1971), Old Boyfriends (1979), Ironweed (1987), Message in a Bottle (1999) and Uninvited (1999).

Year Title Role Notes
1959 The Rabbit Trap Abby Colt
1963 Captain Newman, M.D. Mrs. Helene Winston
1965 A Rage to Live Amy Hollister
1970 The Molly Maguires Mrs. Kehoe
1971 Dr. Cook's Garden Essie Bullitt TV movie
1979 Old Boyfriends Mrs. Van Til
1979 Beyond Death's Door
1987 Ironweed Librarian
1999 Message in a Bottle Marta
1999 Uninvited Mrs. Wentworth (final film role)

Partial Television Appearances[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1958 Perry Mason Janet Morris Season 1 Episode 22 "The Case of the Fugitive Nurse"
1958 Perry Mason Evelyn Girard Season 2 Episode 9 "The Case of the Purple Woman"
1958 Maverick Janet Kilmer Episode "The Thirty Ninth Star"
1959 Wanted Dead or Alive Carol Easter Episode "Secret Ballot"
1959 Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond Mrs. Barrett Episode "The Riddle" (broadcast 16/6/'59)
1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Mabel Graves Season 6 Episode 11: "The Man with Two Faces"
1960 Perry Mason Sylvia Sutton Season 3 Episode 13 "The Case of the Wayward Wife"
1960 Wagon Train Greta Halstadt Season 3 Episode 25: "The Joshua Gilliam Story"
1961 The Rifleman Tess Miller Season 3 Episode 31: "Stopover"
1961 Wagon Train Helen Martin Season 4 Episode 35: "The Janet Hale Story"
1962 Bonanza Ann Grant Season 3 Episode 22: "The Jackknife"
1962 Rawhide Martha Hastings Season 4 Episode 13: "The Long Count"
1962 Gunsmoke Rose Ellen Season 7 Episode 29: "The Summons"
1963 Have Gun - Will Travel Kim Sing and Jin Ho Season 6 Episode 29: "The Lady of the Fifth Moon"
1963 Daniel Boone Zerelda Fluellen Season 1 Episode 4: "The Family Fluellen"
1963 - 1964 The Richard Boone Show Multiple Characters 25 Episodes
1964 Gunsmoke Elsa Poe Season 10 Episode 12: "Innocence"
1965 Wagon Train Mary Lee McIntosh Season 8 Episode 20: "The Miss Mary Lee McIntosh Story"
1965 - 1968 The Doctors Dr. Maggie Van Alen 116 Episodes
1970 Gunsmoke Writer 1 Episode - Season 16 Episode 4

"Sam McTavish M.D."

1970 The Virginian Writer 1 Episode - Season 8 Episode 16

"Nightmare"

1970 - 1971 The Secret Storm Head Writer/Writer 1 Episode - Head Writer 3 Episodes - Writer
1974 McCloud Writer 1 Episode - Season 5 Episode 2

"The Gang That Stole Manhattan"

1977 Barnaby Jones Writer 1 Episode - Season 5 Episode 11

"Sister of Death"

1982 Falcon Crest Writer 1 Episode - Season 1 Episode 10

"Victims"

1991 - 1992 All My Children Claudia Conner 13 Episodes
1994 One Life To Live Ethel Crawford
1996 As The World Turns Joan Episode dated 10 June 1996

Awards and recognition[edit]

Leslie was a regular on NBC's The Richard Boone Show, which garnered her an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her work in the episode "Statement of Fact."[1] Media critic John Crosby wrote about Leslie's work in that anthology series, "During the season Bethel played everything from a seductive ax murderess to a dumb gangster's moll, to an Irish scrub woman, through a whole series of witchy mothers."[2]

A poll of media critics and editors named her Most Promising New Talent in Radio Television Daily's 1963 All-American Favorites—Television.[11]

Leslie's 1986 Broadway portrayal of a drug-addicted mother in Long Day's Journey into Night brought her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress.[12]

Family[edit]

Leslie was married to director Andrew McCullough.[3] They had one child, daughter Leslie McCullough.[13][10]

Death[edit]

Bethel Leslie died of cancer at 70 in her Manhattan apartment.[4]

Radio appearances[edit]

Year Program Episode/source
1952 Theatre Guild on the Air The Wisteria Tree[14]
1952 Grand Central Station It Makes a Difference[15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Heimer, Mel (January 20, 1969). "Bethel's a Jacqueline of All Trades". The Daily Notes. The Daily Notes. p. 9. Retrieved May 28, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ a b c Crosby, John (June 26, 1964). "Bethel Gets Chance To Show She's Sexy". The Manhattan Mercury. The Manhattan Mercury. p. 5. Retrieved May 28, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ a b Misurell, Ed (January 8, 1966). "'Soaps' Had a Solution for This Star". The Kane Republican. The Kane Republican. p. 8. Retrieved May 28, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ a b McKinley, Jesse (November 30, 1999). "Bethel Leslie, 70, an Actress In Theater, Television and Films". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  5. ^ a b Kramer, Carol (March 25, 1969). "Variety's Spice of Her Acting Life". Chicago Tribune. p. Section 2 - Page 15. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  6. ^ Lowry, Cynthia (December 26, 1965). "Quiet Changes Take Place In Daytime Soap Operas". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. p. 82. Retrieved May 28, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 893. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  8. ^ "The Texan". Classic Television Archive. Archived from the original on April 8, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  9. ^ Browning, Norma Lee (January 18, 1970). "Joan Shines As 'Old' Pro On Virginian". Chicago Tribune. p. 2 - Section 10. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  10. ^ a b McKinley, Jesse (December 2, 1999). "Stage, screen actress Bethel Leslie dies at 70". Wilmington Morning Star. p. 4B. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  11. ^ Alicoate, Chas. A., Ed. (1964). Yearbook of Radio & Television. Radio Television Daily. P. 31.
  12. ^ "Tony-Nominated Actress Bethel Leslie, 70, is Dead". Playbill. November 30, 1999. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  13. ^ Blinn, Johna (February 23, 1969). "Try Bethel Leslie's Boeuf Bourguignon". The San Bernardino County Sun. The San Bernardino County Sun. p. 41. Retrieved May 28, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  14. ^ "Leslie, Bethel". radioGOLDINdex. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  15. ^ Kirby, Walter (March 2, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. The Decatur Daily Review. p. 42. Retrieved May 28, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon

External links[edit]

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