One of the most versatile actresses, Janice Rule was born in Norwood,
Ohio, on August 15, 1931. Janice made her screen debut in the
star-studded movie
Goodbye, My Fancy (1951). She
played the rival for
James Stewart's affections, and
was driven away by witch
Kim Novak, in
Bell Book and Candle (1958),
a pre-
Bewitched (1964) comedy.
Janice appeared in the first season of the ground-breaking science
fiction series
The Twilight Zone (1959)
playing "Helen Foley" (named after
Rod Serling's favorite teacher). In 1961,
Janice married
Ben Gazzara and they had one
daughter,
Elizabeth Gazzara
(they divorced in 1979). After marrying, Janice took off a few years
from movie acting, then returned to the silver screen and gave her best
performances. In a change of pace role, she was the party girl in
The Chase (1966); and Janice showed a
real flair for comedy as "Matt Helm"'s partner in
The Ambushers (1967) with
Dean Martin. She did a wonderful job
realistically portraying a frontier woman in
Welcome to Hard Times (1967),
and received acclaim for her performance as a disturbed artist in
3 Women (1977). The last movie Janice
appeared in was
American Flyers (1985), and her
last TV appearance was in the science fiction genre,
The Ray Bradbury Theater (1985)
in 1992. From science fiction, to comedy, to portraying loose women, to
playing strong women - Janice Rule covered the whole spectrum of human
emotion and life.
The Ray Bradbury Theater(1985)as Anna (age 60)
Murder, She Wrote(1984)as Margaret Stone
Spenser: For Hire(1985)as Mrs. Bennett
Rainy Day Friends(1985)as Elaine
American Flyers(1985)as Mrs. Sommers
Starlift(1951)
The Joey Bishop Show(1967)as Self
House Party(1952)as Self
Here's Hollywood(1960)as Self
The Garry Moore Show(1958)as Self
Compression(1995)as Self
10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards(2004)as Self - In Memoriam
Dan August: The Jealousy Factor(1980)as Thelma Venable
Kraft Mystery Theater(1961)as Karen Evans
