Actress Madlyn Rue at 68
Tregembo
and scores of TV appearances on shows ranging from "Perry Mason" to "Murder,
She Wrote," has died. She was 68.
Rhue, who had multiple sclerosis, died Tuesday from pneumonia and
heart failure at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital, where she
had lived since 1998, the hospital said.
"She was probably the most generous, loving and funny human being that
I've ever known," said her longtime friend, Faye Mayo.
"She had such a positive attitude and she loved life and being alive
so much that she put up with an awful lot of pain and suffering just to stay
around."
Born in Washington, D.C., Rhue moved as a teenager to Los Angeles and
later went to New York to pursue acting. At one point, she was a showgirl at
the famed Latin Quarter nightclub, Mayo said.
Rhue made her television debut in the late 1950s on shows such as
"Have Gun_Will Travel" "Cheyenne" and "Gunsmoke."
She went on to appear scores of times as a guest or supporting actress
as well as playing small parts in movies such as 1959's "Operation
Petticoat" and 1963's "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."
She had recurring roles in the TV series "Bracken's World," "Houston
Knights" and "Days of Our Lives" and as the Cabot Cove librarian in "Murder,
She Wrote."
"She was a good, solid, working character actress, which was the way
she liked to think of herself," Mayo said. "She could play anything from a
hooker to a corporate executive and anything in between."
In the last two decades, she began to take painting lessons and became
good enough that her art was exhibited at some group shows, Mayo said.
She was married to actor Tony Young but they divorced. He died last
year.
Rhue is survived by a sister, Carol. Funeral services will be private.
Tregembo
Ray Arthur
"Tregembo" <tr...@krajfm.com> wrote in message
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Hyfler/Rosner
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Los Angeles Times
December 18, 2003 Thursday Home Edition
HEADLINE: Madlyn Rhue, 68; TV Actress Kept Working With Multiple Sclerosis
BYLINE: Dennis McLellan, Times Staff Writer
Madlyn Rhue, a veteran television character actress whose long battle with
multiple sclerosis forced an end to her career in the mid-1990s after nearly
a decade of intermittent roles performed from her wheelchair, has died. She
was 68.
Rhue died Tuesday after a bout with pneumonia at the Motion Picture and
Television Fund hospital in Woodland Hills, a spokeswoman for the hospital
said. Rhue had moved into the retirement community's long-term care facility
in 1998.
Rhue appeared in only a few movies, including "Operation Petticoat," "The
Ladies Man" and "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World."
But, beginning in the late 1950s, the attractive actress with the large,
expressive hazel eyes was a familiar presence on television for more than
three decades. Among scores of guest-shot credits were "Have Gun-Will
Travel," "Cheyenne," "The Untouchables," "Route 66," "Perry Mason,"
"Rawhide," "The Fugitive," "I Spy," "Hart to Hart" and "CHiPS."
Rhue also was a regular on "Bracken's World," "Executive Suite" and "Houston
Knights," and she had recurring roles on "Fame" and "Days of Our Lives."
"She played everything from a sexy chorus girl to a devious murderer to a
corporate executive -- she did it all," Rhue's longtime friend Faye Mayo, a
former actress, told The Times on Wednesday.
Rhue was in her professional prime in 1977 when she was diagnosed with MS, a
chronic, progressive disease of the central nervous system.
"At first, they said I had 'slow foot' -- muscles that have gone lax," she
told The Times in 1987.
Rhue feared that, if anyone discovered that she had the disease, she might
never work again. So, with the exception of close friends such as Mayo and
actress Suzanne Pleshette, she kept the diagnosis a secret for years.
As the disease took its toll on her legs, she stopped wearing high heels to
avoid falling. But even after she had to rely on first one cane, then two,
she managed to keep working by using furniture or other objects on the set
for support.
"I was telling people I had a car accident," Rhue told The Times. When
people continued to ask what was wrong, she made up other alibis, including
that she was having trouble with an arthritic hip.
About 1985, her legs had become so weak that she could get around only in a
wheelchair.
"For a period of 11 months after that, I had no work. It was scary," she
told People magazine in 1987, the year she was playing the role of a
wheelchair-bound ballistics expert on the CBS police drama "Houston
Knights."
"By this time," she said, "it became apparent that I would have to invent a
giant accident to explain the wheelchair or start telling the truth."
After landing the role in "Houston Nights," she placed a full-page ad in
Variety headlined, "See the new Madlyn Rhue."
Jay Bernstein, the show's executive producer, had encouraged Rhue to
audition for the role.
"This isn't charity, believe me," Bernstein, who had known Rhue for 20
years, told United Press International at the time. "The primary thing is
that she's the right actress for the right part."
After going public with her MS, Rhue was asked to participate in a National
Multiple Sclerosis Society ad campaign.
She initially turned it down, telling the Los Angeles Times that she had
thought that the organization wanted her to do what she called "poor me"
ads.
"I didn't want to do any of that look-how-I've-been- victimized jazz," she
said. She changed her mind after learning that the campaign would feature
people with MS doing everything from scuba diving to skydiving.
The 1988 ad showing Rhue in her wheelchair noted that she "can't walk so
well anymore, but she can still perform." It was headlined, "Even with MS,
Madlyn Rhue Is On a Roll."
Born Madleine Roche in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 3, 1935, she was the
younger of two daughters of a mother who was a wholesaler of women's clothes
and a father who walked out when she was born.
Rhue lived in Baltimore and several other cities before moving to Los
Angeles, where she graduated from Los Angeles High School and studied drama
at Los Angeles City College. After moving to New York City to study acting,
she worked briefly as a dancer at the Latin Quarter.
Mayo said the last TV series Rhue appeared on was "Murder, She Wrote," in
which she played the recurring character of a librarian.
Series star Angela Lansbury reportedly had heard that Rhue was in danger of
losing her Screen Actors Guild medical coverage because she was short of
meeting the annual earnings requirement.
"So she created this character for her and brought her in every three or
four episodes," Mayo said. "People who had worked with Madlyn and loved her
kept giving her the opportunity to work."
Rhue was known for her lusty sense of humor and upbeat attitude -- even
after she was bedridden.
"She enchanted everybody who came to visit her," said Mayo. "No matter what
befell her physically, her concern was always for other people."
Rhue also was a talented artist whose paintings have been exhibited in
galleries across the country.
Rhue married actor Tony Young in 1962. They had no children and were
divorced in 1970. She is survived by a sister, Carol. The funeral will be
private, but a public memorial service is being planned.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Motion Picture and
Television Fund in Woodland Hills.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: MADLYN RHUE: The longtime character actress, who began
appearing regularly on television shows in the late 1950s, was diagnosed
with multiple sclerosis in 1977. PHOTOGRAPHER: Los Angeles Times
Hermango
> LOS ANGELES - Madlyn Rhue, whose acting career spanned three decades
>and scores of TV appearances on shows ranging from "Perry Mason" to "Murder,
>She Wrote," has died. She was 68.
>
Add to that list "Star Trek" and one of it's most memorable episodes:
"Space Seed." She was the historian who fell in love with Khan (Ricardo
Montalban) and was the basis for "The Wrath of Khan" Star Trek movie.
Hermango
Terrymelin
a wheelchair. I also applaud those -- like Angela Lansbury -- who continued to
make parts for her on their shows so that she could make a living with dignity
and keep her career going. There is all too little of that kind of generous
spirit these days in Hollyweird.
Terry Ellsworth
David Langlois --- Ball serves Baal
the whale scientist was pretty hot - see how my tastes run?)
:)
David
EvelynMcH
>"Space Seed." She was the historian who fell in love with Khan (Ricardo
>Montalban) and was the basis for "The Wrath of Khan" Star Trek movie.
...and her medical condition the reason she did not appear in the movie. The
original script had included her character's death...
-=>epm<=-
In matters of truth and justice,
there is no difference between large and small problems,
for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.
- Albert Einstein
R H Draney
>
>>Add to that list "Star Trek" and one of it's most memorable episodes:
>>"Space Seed." She was the historian who fell in love with Khan (Ricardo
>>Montalban) and was the basis for "The Wrath of Khan" Star Trek movie.
>
>...and her medical condition the reason she did not appear in the movie. The
>original script had included her character's death...
I remember Shatner once on the Carson-era "Tonight Show" talking with guest host
McLean Stevenson when they got to talking about watching some hot babe trapped
in a decompression chamber and writhing around...Shatner said he didn't remember
the episode (typical) but he remembered the girl....
The next time Stevenson guest-hosted, Madlyn Rhue was a guest (I think this was
just about the time she revealed publicly that she had MS) and I hoped she'd
bring up that earlier interview, pointing out that *she* was the "hot babe" in
the decompression chamber...unfortunately, either she hadn't been made aware of
Shatner's remarks or didn't want to discuss a one-shot role she had done so many
years earlier....r
Terrymelin
>original script had included her character's death...
But she would have been perfectly fine back then. What gives?
Terry Ellsworth
Andrew Spartz
> I remember Shatner once on the Carson-era "Tonight Show" talking with guest
> host McLean Stevenson when they got to talking about watching some hot babe
> trapped in a decompression chamber and writhing around...Shatner said he
> didn't remember the episode (typical) but he remembered the girl....
>
> The next time Stevenson guest-hosted, Madlyn Rhue was a guest (I think this
> was just about the time she revealed publicly that she had MS) and I hoped
> she'd bring up that earlier interview, pointing out that *she* was the "hot
> babe" in the decompression chamber...unfortunately, either she hadn't been
> made aware of Shatner's remarks or didn't want to discuss a one-shot role she
> had done so many years earlier....r
I think NOT. The hot babe in the decompression chamger would have been
Scotty's woman, Lt Mira Romaine (Jan Shutan), in "The Lights of Zetar".
Yes, I'm a geek, and no, I don't thnk this knowledge will ever get me
laid :(.
ARS
Peter
From the web:
Television:
Checkmate {Target: Tycoon}
Days of Our Lives (*Jan. 1982 - *Dec. 1984) |Daphne DiMera|
Executive Suite (Sep. 1976 - Feb. 1977) |Hilary Madison|
I Spy {The Time of the Knife} |Jean Dillard|
Land of the Giants {Deadly Dart}
Mannix {The Sound of Murder}
Mannix {Deathrun}
Mission: Impossible {Ultimatum}
Star Trek {Space Seed} |Lt. Marla McGivers|
The Wild Wild West {The Night of the Bubbling Death}
p
churcht
Quite true. In _Space Seed_, it was Kirk, not a "hot babe", who Kahn
was attempting to suffocate in the decomp chamber. Madlyn Rhue's
character
- a shipboard historian (?) - saved Kirk, after having a change of heart
(she was helping Kahn after he swept her off her feet)
Tim Churchill <-- Yeah, I'm kind of a geek too, luckily my wife's into
Trek too ;)
Bob Champ
"true grit." Thanks for the post and the pictures.
Bob C.
"Hyfler/Rosner" <rel...@rcn.com> wrote in message news:<3fe1bd88$0$4753$61fe...@news.rcn.com>...
R H Draney
I'm still convinced I had the right "babe" but the wrong setup...it may have
been Mac saying something like "you were in a decompression chamber and some hot
babe was watching you" that brought up the topic...Shatner's line stands as
recalled above....r
Mpoconnor7
>(though
>the whale scientist was pretty hot - see how my tastes run?)
She was one of the few ST hotties that Kirk didn't fall in love with during the
episode.
Michael O'Connor - Modern Renaissance Man
"The likelihood of one individual being correct increases in a direct
proportion to the intensity with which others try to prove him wrong"
James Mason from the movie "Heaven Can Wait".
Corby Gilmore
>
> Los Angeles Times
>
> HEADLINE: Madlyn Rhue, 68; TV Actress Kept Working With Multiple Sclerosis
>
>
> multiple sclerosis forced an end to her career in the mid-1990s after nearly
> a decade of intermittent roles performed from her wheelchair, has died. She
> was 68.
>
> Rhue died Tuesday after a bout with pneumonia at the Motion Picture and
> Television Fund hospital in Woodland Hills, a spokeswoman for the hospital
> said. Rhue had moved into the retirement community's long-term care facility
> in 1998.
>
> expressive hazel eyes was a familiar presence on television for more than
> three decades. Among scores of guest-shot credits were "Have Gun-Will
> Travel," "Cheyenne," "The Untouchables," "Route 66," "Perry Mason,"
> "Rawhide," "The Fugitive," "I Spy," "Hart to Hart" and "CHiPS."
A classy lady and, of course, a lock.
--
Corby Gilmore
co...@ncf.ca
MadCow57
She played Jean O'Neill in several episodes of Murder She Wrote. Is this one
of the characters who seemed to exist only under a hairdryer at Loretta's
Beauty Shop?
Jim Beaver
"Terrymelin" <terry...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20031218110538...@mb-m28.aol.com...
Don't know how much time you've spent here, Terry, but I sure saw a lot of
that generous Hollyweird spirit this weekend. My wife has lung cancer, my
daughter has the flu, and we had to move this weekend. Yesterday, at our
new house, nearly forty people from the Hollywood community showed up--not
asked by me--to move us in, to unpack and clean and launder, to lay
shelf-paper, to scrub toilets and hang drapes. The producer of That 70s
Show spent all day scrubbing my kitchen and washing dishes. The set
decoration crew from Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions hung Christmas
lights, set up a tree and wreaths and decorations. A dozen actors,
actresses, directors, writers, producers, and casting directors turned what
was essentially the warehouse scene from CITIZEN KANE into a home like one
on a Hallmark card. It was the only thing I've ever seen in my life that
approached a real-life version of the ending of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, and
it was done in large part by "Hollyweird" types of every echelon--without
request. I hope you get something this lovely in your life sometime. I
hope everyone does. I'll say this: there's no people like show people.
Happy holidays.
Jim Beaver
James Neibaur
jumb...@prodigy.spam wrote on 12/21/03 9:46 PM:
> Don't know how much time you've spent here, Terry, but I sure saw a lot of
> that generous Hollyweird spirit this weekend. My wife has lung cancer, my
> daughter has the flu, and we had to move this weekend. Yesterday, at our
> new house, nearly forty people from the Hollywood community showed up--not
> asked by me--to move us in, to unpack and clean and launder, to lay
> shelf-paper, to scrub toilets and hang drapes.
(snip)
Thanks for sharing this uplifting event with us, Jim. You can be assured
that many of us in the newsgroup, if we were in close proximity, would have
gladly pitched in and helped out as well.
There are good people in every profession, including showbiz --- and, hey,
even politics sometimes (!)
JN
Linda Mayberry
this obit because I have followed Madlyn and her struggle to try to
keep insurance for years and the kindness of Angela Lansbury and
others to see that she worked. I've had multiple sclerosis for some
time now, and I'm happy to say I'm doing much better than most after
this length of time. I have had the kindness of a certain "acting"
president make my life happier. I bow towards Malibu on a regular
basis.
Best wishes for your family. I will send some prayers in your
direction.
Linda
"Jim Beaver" <jumb...@prodigy.spam> wrote in message news:<