Mary LaRoche (also often credited Mary La Roche; July 20, 1920 – February 9, 1999) was an American actress and singer best known for her roles in the feature films Gidget (1959) and Bye Bye Birdie (1963) and for her performances as a guest star and supporting character on American television series between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, including on such popular series as The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Perry Mason, and Gunsmoke.
Early years
Born in Rochester, New York in 1920, Mary was the youngest of three daughters of Catherine R. (née Carney) and William P. La Roche. Her mother was of Irish descent, although she too had been born in New York.[1] Her father, a native of Canada, supported the family working as the manager of a local hotel and later as the proprietor of a restaurant in Rochester.[1][2] Mary received training in piano and voice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester and by age 10 she was already acting on radio programs.[3] She gained additional acting experience in Rochester with the Community Players[4] and the Paddy Hill Players.[5] In 1939, La Roche (later LaRoche) was a sectional winner in the radio talent-show competition Gateway to Hollywood.[5]
LaRoche was very active too in television, usually in guest appearances in single episodes of a television series. She began performing on television as early as 1946, when she was part of a two-person skit that was broadcast on WBKB-TV in Chicago.[7] Then, between 1951 and 1977, she appeared in at least 37 different television series, including five appearances on Perry Mason, two episodes of The Twilight Zone and an episode of The Streets of San Francisco in 1976. One of LaRoche's more complex and dramatic characterizations on television is in the one-hour 1963 episode of Gunsmoke titled "Quint-Cident". In that episode of the classic Western, in a central role opposite Burt Reynolds, she portrays a beleaguered and mentally exhausted widow trying to survive alone on an isolated farmstead in Kansas during the late 1870s.
Personal life
LaRoche was married to actor John Hudson[8] and to actor-producer Sherwood Price.[9]
Theater
On Broadway
The Girl from Wyoming (1938–1939), musical comedy, as one of the Cow-Belles.[10]
1976: Brinks: The Great Robbery by Marvin J. Chomsky: as Betty Houston
References
Citations
^ abFourteenth Census of the United States: 1920", digital image of original enumeration page, William P. La Roche family, 9 January 1920, "Rochester City", Monroe County, New York. United States Census Bureau, Department of Commerce; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, D.C. FamilySearch archives (FSa).
^"Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930", XXXX 1930, Rochester, New York; NARA. FSa.
^Kleiner, Dick (October 12, 1964). "Hollywood Gossip". Public Opinion. Pennsylvania, Chambersburg. p. 6. Retrieved September 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
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