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Julie Newmar: Catwoman & Beyond
Tell me I'm beautiful, it's nothing. Tell me I'm intellectual - I know it. Tell me I'm funny and it's the greatest compliment in the world anyone could give me. – Julie Newmar
Julie Newmar, who turns 80 today, is widely remembered for her role as Cat Woman on the iconic television series, Batman. Film buffs know her as Dorcas, one of the seven beautiful brides in the 1954 classic, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. A brief stint as a gold-painted exotic dancer in Serpent of the Nile (1954) is usually overlooked by Newmar's biographers, who prefer to list Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as her screen debut. In actuality, Newmar appeared in a total of nine motion-pictures prior to the musical... her first as a chorus girl named 'Julie' in She's Working Her Way Through College (1952).
A lifelong student of ballet, Newmar was accepted as a dancer by the Los Angeles Opera Company at age 15, and soon became prima ballerina. Always ambitious, she studied philosophy and French at UCLA, before leaving to try her luck in films. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers tells the story of Adam, the eldest of seven brothers, who goes to town to get a wife. He convinces Milly to marry him that same day. They return to his backwoods home. Only then does she discover he has six brothers -- all living in his cabin. Milly sets out to reform the uncouth siblings, who are anxious to get wives of their own. Then, after reading about the Roman capture of the Sabine women, Adam develops an inspired solution to his brothers' loneliness. The movie took 48 days to film, both in CinemaScope and the standard screen ratio of the day (both versions are available on the 2004 DVD release). Many of the actors' singing voices were dubbed in this movie: Matt Mattox's singing was dubbed by Bill Lee, Nancy Kilgas's singing was dubbed by Marie Greene, and Julie Newmar's singing was dubbed by Betty Allen.
Newmar had first appeared on Broadway in 1955 in Silk Stockings which starred Hildegarde Neff and Don Ameche. She also appeared in the 1961 play, The Marriage-Go-Round, which starred Charles Boyer and Claudette Colbert. Newmar developed the role of the Swedish vixen and won a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress. She later appeared on stage with Joel Grey in the national tour of Stop the World - I Want to Get Off and as 'Lola' in Damn Yankees! and 'Irma' in Irma La Douce.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Julie Newmar made the transition to television and began appearing on The Phil Silvers Show, Adventures in Paradise, and played the Devil in an episode of The Twilight Zone. In 1962, Newmar appeared twice as motorcycle-riding, free-spirited heiress Vicki Russell on Route 66, filmed in Tucson, Arizona ('How Much a Pound is Albatross') and in Tennessee ('Give the Old Cat a Tender Mouse'). In 1964, Newmar signed for the role of Rhoda Miller, an extremely sexy young woman living with womanizing Air Force shrink Bob McDonald (played by Bob Cummings). What Bob knows and the rest of the world does not is that Rhoda's real name is AAF709, and she is actually a sophisticated (yet naive) robot. Bob's job is to teach Rhoda how to be a 'perfect' woman, and keep her identity secret from the world -- especially from lecherous neighbor Peter. When actor Bob Cummings left the series in early 1965, his character was written out of the series, and Peter was given the duty of taking care of Rhoda.
Robert Cummings walked off the show several episodes prior to the end of production of the first and only season. Although a rumor exists that he and Julie Newmar did not get along, Newmar and the show's producer dispute this on the 2012 DVD release. For years, most episodes of the series were thought to be lost, except for six episodes that survived in collector hands. Many reports have it that Jack Chertok threw away the elements; not so as CBS was entrusted with the 35mm masters. In fact, all of the episodes existed until their 35mm masters were destroyed in the Northridge Earthquake of 1994. The 2012 DVD release features 12 episodes that have been obtained from various sources and the remaining 14 episodes are now being highly sought after.
Fans of F Troop recall Julie Newmar in the title role of the classic 'Yellow Bird' episode. A white woman raised by Indians, Yellow Bird, starts to take after the Captain. On a first season episode of The Monkees, 'Monkees Get Out More Dirt,' all four of the Monkees fall in love with the same girl, April Conquest (played by Newmar), of the local laundromat. Each one of them tries to woo her by feigning interest in things she likes: Davy paints pop-art, Mickey performs ballet, Peter plays chamber music while Mike rides a bike. In the fourth season episode of Get Smart, 'The Laser Blaster,' Newmar played the role of Ingrid. When Maxwell Smart is sent to Hong Kong to pick up a secret weapon and all they give him is a blazer. This blazer is special since it contains a laser and Max doesn't know it.
As Catwoman in the TV Series Batman (1967)
Star Trek fans remember Newmar in the role of Eleen in the episode 'Friday's Child.' The Federation is in competition with the Klingons for an alliance with the inhabitants of Capella IV. The Capellans are a warrior tribe and there is dissension among them as to who to sign the mining rights treaty with. McCoy is familiar with their customs having once spent several months there. When a Capellan, who clearly favors the Klingons, stages a coup, Kirk, Spock and McCoy flee with the now dead leader's wife (Newmar), who is about to give birth.
In 1966, Julie Newmar was offered the role of Cat Woman on Batman and almost overnight she became a pop icon. Newmar had not ever heard of 'Cat Woman' before she auditioned for the role. The Cat Woman is one Batman's earliest comic book adversaries, initially appearing in Batman #1 (Spring 1940), and became the best-known and most frequently seen Batman villain. Suzanne Pleshette was one of the original choices to play Cat Woman before Julie Newmar landed the role.
'I had lived in New York at the time on Beekman Place,' Newmar later recalled. 'I remember it was a weekend, Friday or Saturday, and my brother had come down from Harvard with five or six of his friends, and we were all sitting around the sofa, just chatting away, when the phone rang. I got up and answered it, and it was this agent or someone in Hollywood, who said, 'Miss Newmar, would you like to play Cat Woman on the Batman series? They are casting it out here.' I was insulted because he said, 'It starts Monday.' I said, 'What is this?' That's how television is done: they never know what they are doing until yesterday. Well, my brother leaped off the sofa. I mean he physically levitated and said, 'Batman! That's the favorite show at Harvard. We all quit our classes and quit our studies and run into the TV room and watch this show.' I said, 'They want me to play Cat Woman.' He said, 'Do it!' So, I said, 'OK, I'll do it.'
Due to her role in Mackenna's Gold she was unable to play Cat Woman in the third series so Eartha Kitt took over. Some of ABC's southern affiliates objected to the casting of Kitt, but Charles B. Fitzsimons' said he and the show's other producers didn't care about the issue. Newmar appeared in several low-budget films during the next two decades and guest-starred on television, appearing on The Love Boat, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Hart to Hart, CHiPs, Fantasy Island, Columbo and The Bionic Woman. She was seen in George Michael's video clip Too Funky in 1992, and appeared as herself in a 1996 episode of Melrose Place.
Julie Newmar is scheduled to appear at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in September.
Martin Grams Jr. is the author of numerous books about old-time radio, television and motion-pictures. His latest book, DUFFY'S TAVERN: A History of the Radio and Television Program, is due for publication in late 2013.
Julie Newmar, who turns 80 today, is widely remembered for her role as Cat Woman on the iconic television series, Batman. Film buffs know her as Dorcas, one of the seven beautiful brides in the 1954 classic, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. A brief stint as a gold-painted exotic dancer in Serpent of the Nile (1954) is usually overlooked by Newmar's biographers, who prefer to list Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as her screen debut. In actuality, Newmar appeared in a total of nine motion-pictures prior to the musical... her first as a chorus girl named 'Julie' in She's Working Her Way Through College (1952).
A lifelong student of ballet, Newmar was accepted as a dancer by the Los Angeles Opera Company at age 15, and soon became prima ballerina. Always ambitious, she studied philosophy and French at UCLA, before leaving to try her luck in films. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers tells the story of Adam, the eldest of seven brothers, who goes to town to get a wife. He convinces Milly to marry him that same day. They return to his backwoods home. Only then does she discover he has six brothers -- all living in his cabin. Milly sets out to reform the uncouth siblings, who are anxious to get wives of their own. Then, after reading about the Roman capture of the Sabine women, Adam develops an inspired solution to his brothers' loneliness. The movie took 48 days to film, both in CinemaScope and the standard screen ratio of the day (both versions are available on the 2004 DVD release). Many of the actors' singing voices were dubbed in this movie: Matt Mattox's singing was dubbed by Bill Lee, Nancy Kilgas's singing was dubbed by Marie Greene, and Julie Newmar's singing was dubbed by Betty Allen.
Newmar had first appeared on Broadway in 1955 in Silk Stockings which starred Hildegarde Neff and Don Ameche. She also appeared in the 1961 play, The Marriage-Go-Round, which starred Charles Boyer and Claudette Colbert. Newmar developed the role of the Swedish vixen and won a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress. She later appeared on stage with Joel Grey in the national tour of Stop the World - I Want to Get Off and as 'Lola' in Damn Yankees! and 'Irma' in Irma La Douce.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Julie Newmar made the transition to television and began appearing on The Phil Silvers Show, Adventures in Paradise, and played the Devil in an episode of The Twilight Zone. In 1962, Newmar appeared twice as motorcycle-riding, free-spirited heiress Vicki Russell on Route 66, filmed in Tucson, Arizona ('How Much a Pound is Albatross') and in Tennessee ('Give the Old Cat a Tender Mouse'). In 1964, Newmar signed for the role of Rhoda Miller, an extremely sexy young woman living with womanizing Air Force shrink Bob McDonald (played by Bob Cummings). What Bob knows and the rest of the world does not is that Rhoda's real name is AAF709, and she is actually a sophisticated (yet naive) robot. Bob's job is to teach Rhoda how to be a 'perfect' woman, and keep her identity secret from the world -- especially from lecherous neighbor Peter. When actor Bob Cummings left the series in early 1965, his character was written out of the series, and Peter was given the duty of taking care of Rhoda.
Robert Cummings walked off the show several episodes prior to the end of production of the first and only season. Although a rumor exists that he and Julie Newmar did not get along, Newmar and the show's producer dispute this on the 2012 DVD release. For years, most episodes of the series were thought to be lost, except for six episodes that survived in collector hands. Many reports have it that Jack Chertok threw away the elements; not so as CBS was entrusted with the 35mm masters. In fact, all of the episodes existed until their 35mm masters were destroyed in the Northridge Earthquake of 1994. The 2012 DVD release features 12 episodes that have been obtained from various sources and the remaining 14 episodes are now being highly sought after.
Fans of F Troop recall Julie Newmar in the title role of the classic 'Yellow Bird' episode. A white woman raised by Indians, Yellow Bird, starts to take after the Captain. On a first season episode of The Monkees, 'Monkees Get Out More Dirt,' all four of the Monkees fall in love with the same girl, April Conquest (played by Newmar), of the local laundromat. Each one of them tries to woo her by feigning interest in things she likes: Davy paints pop-art, Mickey performs ballet, Peter plays chamber music while Mike rides a bike. In the fourth season episode of Get Smart, 'The Laser Blaster,' Newmar played the role of Ingrid. When Maxwell Smart is sent to Hong Kong to pick up a secret weapon and all they give him is a blazer. This blazer is special since it contains a laser and Max doesn't know it.
As Catwoman in the TV Series Batman (1967)
Star Trek fans remember Newmar in the role of Eleen in the episode 'Friday's Child.' The Federation is in competition with the Klingons for an alliance with the inhabitants of Capella IV. The Capellans are a warrior tribe and there is dissension among them as to who to sign the mining rights treaty with. McCoy is familiar with their customs having once spent several months there. When a Capellan, who clearly favors the Klingons, stages a coup, Kirk, Spock and McCoy flee with the now dead leader's wife (Newmar), who is about to give birth.
In 1966, Julie Newmar was offered the role of Cat Woman on Batman and almost overnight she became a pop icon. Newmar had not ever heard of 'Cat Woman' before she auditioned for the role. The Cat Woman is one Batman's earliest comic book adversaries, initially appearing in Batman #1 (Spring 1940), and became the best-known and most frequently seen Batman villain. Suzanne Pleshette was one of the original choices to play Cat Woman before Julie Newmar landed the role.
'I had lived in New York at the time on Beekman Place,' Newmar later recalled. 'I remember it was a weekend, Friday or Saturday, and my brother had come down from Harvard with five or six of his friends, and we were all sitting around the sofa, just chatting away, when the phone rang. I got up and answered it, and it was this agent or someone in Hollywood, who said, 'Miss Newmar, would you like to play Cat Woman on the Batman series? They are casting it out here.' I was insulted because he said, 'It starts Monday.' I said, 'What is this?' That's how television is done: they never know what they are doing until yesterday. Well, my brother leaped off the sofa. I mean he physically levitated and said, 'Batman! That's the favorite show at Harvard. We all quit our classes and quit our studies and run into the TV room and watch this show.' I said, 'They want me to play Cat Woman.' He said, 'Do it!' So, I said, 'OK, I'll do it.'
Due to her role in Mackenna's Gold she was unable to play Cat Woman in the third series so Eartha Kitt took over. Some of ABC's southern affiliates objected to the casting of Kitt, but Charles B. Fitzsimons' said he and the show's other producers didn't care about the issue. Newmar appeared in several low-budget films during the next two decades and guest-starred on television, appearing on The Love Boat, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Hart to Hart, CHiPs, Fantasy Island, Columbo and The Bionic Woman. She was seen in George Michael's video clip Too Funky in 1992, and appeared as herself in a 1996 episode of Melrose Place.
Julie Newmar is scheduled to appear at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in September.
Martin Grams Jr. is the author of numerous books about old-time radio, television and motion-pictures. His latest book, DUFFY'S TAVERN: A History of the Radio and Television Program, is due for publication in late 2013.