Matinee Classics - Lee Meriwether Biography & Filmography

Lee Meriwether ACTOR

PHOTOS

LEE MERIWETHER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Lee Meriwether was born on May 27th, 1935 in Los Angeles, California with the middle name Ann to Claudius Gregg Meriwether and Ethel Eve Mulligan. At the age of twenty she earned the title of Miss America and later became most well known to many for her role as Betty Jones from the television series, "Barnaby Jones" starring Buddy Ebson, a role for which she earned two Golden Globe Award nominations.

Her childhood began in San Francisco where she graduated from George Washington High School. Meriwether then went on to study at San Francisco City College and began entering beauty contest.

She went from earning the title of Miss San Francisco to Miss California and later taking home the Miss America title. Her career in entertainment soon took off, first with working as a "Today Girl" on the television show, "The Today Show" which aired on NBC from 1955 through 1956.

Soon she broke into the film industry appearing on such features as, "4D Man" (1959), "Batman" (1966), "The Undefeated" (1969) starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson and "Angel in My Pocket" (1969).

Along with working as a film actress, she added numerous television appearances to her resume on such series as, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1965), "Batman" (1967) and "The Time Tunnel" (1966-1967).

In 1973 she was cast in her most well known role on, "Barnaby Jones" which ran for eight seasons. Other television credits included roles on, "Perry Mason", "The Fugitive", "Star Trek", "Circus of the Stars", "The New Andy Griffith Show", "Mission: Impossible", "Dragnet", "Dr. Kildare", "12 O'Clock High", "The Love Boat", "Fantasy Island", "My Three Sons", "Cannon" and "The Munsters Today".

Some of her more recent roles have been on the television soap opera, "All My Children", "Desperate Housewives" (2012), the films, "The Ultimate Gift" (2006), "No Limit Kids: Much Ado About Middle School" (2010), "Sunset Stories" (2012) and "Hotel Arthritis" (2012).

Lee Meriwether has married twice throughout her lifetime. Her first husband was Frank Aletter whom she wed in 1958 and after having two children this marriage came to an end in 1974. She is currently married to Marshall Borden whom she married in 1986. Her two daughters from her first marriage, Kyle and Lesley both grew up to also pursue careers as actresses.