Sally Mansfield

Marie Mahder (December 3, 1923 – January 28, 2001), better known by her stage name Sally Mansfield, was an American television character actress; she also had a few small roles in feature films including one with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

Television career
Mansfield portrayed Connie on Bachelor Father and appeared on many popular TV shows in the 1950s and 1960s, including Death Valley Days, The Donna Reed Show, Hazel and The Andy Griffith Show, and The Phil Silvers Show. She was also an accomplished dancer, performed with the Don Arden Dancers in New York City and Las Vegas, and entertained US troops in Korea.

She is perhaps best remembered, however, for her 1954 role as spaceship navigator Vena Ray on the syndicated science fiction show Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. She was chosen from 300 who auditioned. Her character anticipated Nichelle Nichols' much more famous role as a female spaceship bridge officer on the 1960s television series Star Trek. The same year Mansfield carried the Miss Emmy torch at the Palladium during the sixth annual Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awards banquet.

Executive Producer, Guy V. Thayer Jr., signed Richard Crane and Mansfield to five year contracts for Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. One of the contract stipulations was that the still-single Mansfield would not marry and Crane would not divorce his wife of eight years.

Death
Mansfield died of lung cancer in Westlake Village, California on January 28, 2001, at the age of 77. She is interred in Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles.