Carla Balenda

Carla Balenda (born Sally Bliss; November 22, 1925) is an American former film and television actress. With a career spanning from the 1940s to the 1960s, she is one of the last surviving actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Early life
Carla Balenda was born as Sally Bliss in Carthage, New York, on November 22, 1925. She attended high school in Baldwin, Long Island, and participated in summer stock theatre.

Career
Balenda had contracts with RKO Pictures and Columbia Pictures, but a 1954 newspaper article noted, "she didn't really hit her stride until she was chosen to be Mickey Rooney's TV love." After being billed as Sally Bliss in "a few minor roles in RKO productions," she changed her name to Carla Balenda. She explained: "Sally Bliss was just too cute. And I'm not cute at all. That name would type me, probably in ingenue roles -- and I'm not the type." On television, Balenda portrayed Pat in The Mickey Rooney Show (1954–1955) and Betty Leonard on The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu (1955–1956).

Personal life
In 1944, Balenda married her high school sweetheart, John Martin, who was a pilot during World War II. They stayed together for fifteen years, having two boys from the union before divorcing in 1959. She married secondly, in 1965, to William Rutter, until his death in 2012.

Television

 * The Mickey Rooney Show: Hey, Mulligan (1954–55)
 * The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu (1956)
 * Perry Mason (1962)
 * Wagon Train (1963)
 * Lassie (1958–63)