Joan Blackman | |
|---|---|
 Blackman and Richard Crenna in Slattery's People, 1965 | |
| Born | May 17, 1938 |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1957–1975 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Joan Blackman (born May 17, 1938, San Francisco, California)[1] is an American former actress.
Blackman appeared in her first motion picture, Good Day for a Hanging, in 1959. She had significant roles in two Elvis Presley films: she played Maile Duval in the 1961 film Blue Hawaii, and the following year played Rose Grogan in Kid Galahad. She also appeared with Dean Martin in Career (1959), and played Ellen Spelding, the love interest of Kreton, the character of Jerry Lewis in Visit to a Small Planet (1960). Her other film appearances included roles in The Great Impostor (1961), Twilight of Honor (1963), Daring Game (1968), Pets (1974), Macon County Line (1974), and Moonrunners (1975). According to the book Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969, in 1985 Blackman played the mother in the Ray Davies film, Return to Waterloo.[2] But going by the end credits of the film, this is a confusion with British actress Joan Blackham.[3][4]
Blackman made her television-acting debut as a guest performer in a 1957 series, Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans. Among her television appearances was her role as Hilary Gray in the 1964 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Ruinous Road." She played opposite Jack Lemmon in the episode "Disappearance" of Alcoa Theatre in 1958 and also made single appearances on Bonanza, I Spy, and Gunsmoke.
During the 1965–1966 season, Blackman was part of the regular cast of the primetime television serial Peyton Place. On that show, she played Marion Fowler, the wife to the district attorney.
In May 1959, Blackman married Joby Baker, a fellow actor she met in drama school. The couple divorced two years later, in November 1961. She then married actor Rockne Tarkington in July 1968. They had two children before divorcing in October 1970.[citation needed]
