Barbara Luna | |
---|---|
Born | Barbara Ann Luna 1936or1937(age 87–88) New York City, U.S. |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1949–present |
Known for | |
Spouses |
|
Website | www |
Barbara Ann Luna (born 1936or1937), [1] [2] also stylized as BarBara Luna, is an American actress from film, television and musicals. Notable roles include Makia in Five Weeks in a Balloon and Lt. Marlena Moreau in the classic Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror". In 2004 and 2010 she appeared in the first and sixth episodes of Star Trek: New Voyages , a fan-created show distributed over the Internet (retitled Star Trek: Phase II in 2008).
BarBara Luna (as spelled on her official site) was born in Manhattan, New York. Her mother was Jewish from Budapest, Hungary and her maternal grandfather was from Italy. Her father was born in Manila, Philippines and her paternal grandmother was from Spain. With this background, Luna was cast in a variety of Hispanic and ethnic roles. [3]
Luna played Ngana, in the original Broadway production of South Pacific , [4] in which she helped sing the show's opening song, Dites-Moi. She next appeared in The King and I as one of the Siamese children, advancing to the more important role of "Royal Dancer" by the time the show closed on Broadway. [4] Not wishing to drop out of school to go on the road, she auditioned for and won the understudy role of Lotus Blossom in Teahouse of the August Moon . After graduating from high school a few months later, she was given the starring role of Lotus Blossom in Teahouse and toured with the show's company from its launch in December 1954 to its final performance in June 1956. [5]
Director Mervyn LeRoy saw Luna's performance as Lotus Blossom in Los Angeles and cast her to play Camille, the blind girl who was Frank Sinatra's love interest in The Devil at 4 O'Clock three years after she made her film debut in Tank Battalion (1958). [1] This led to roles in other films, including as Meli in Firecreek , as Amparo in Ship of Fools , as Cat in The Concrete Jungle and as Makia in Five Weeks in a Balloon .
Opportunities in television came as well. She appeared on "Have Gun Will Travel" S2 E19 "The Monster" as Lupita (1960). One of Luna's better-known roles was as Lt. Marlena Moreau in the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of Star Trek: The Original Series (1967), a role she commemorates as a guest of Star Trek conventions worldwide. She has appeared in some 500 television series, including Walt Disney's Zorro , where she was a recurring character in the "Joaquin" arc as Theresa, the Tamale Peddler; the role of Rikki Stevens in the 1958 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Sardonic Sergeant"; The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode "The Man from THRUSH Affair" as Marnya; The Wild Wild West as Gatita; The Big Valley as Miranda (1968); Gunsmoke as Chavela (in "He Learned About Women" Episode 21 Season 7); Overland Trail as Estrelita (in episode "Mission to Mexico"); Bonanza as Cayetena Losaro; The Outer Limits as Gaby Christian; The Invaders as Lisa; Hawaiian Eye in three episodes: "The Koa Man" as Susan Chang, "Sword of the Samurai" as Michiko and "Payoff" as Tia Kuno; Hawaii Five-O in two episodes: "A Thousand Pardons, You're Dead" as Yoko Collins and "A Lion in the Streets" as Elena Kamoku; Buck Rogers in the 25th Century as Koori; Dallas as Carmen Esperanza; Charlie's Angels as Cynthia Weaver; two guest starring roles on the original Mission: Impossible and in the 1980s remake of that series; and roles in the television soap operas Search for Tomorrow and One Life to Live .
Between film commitments, Luna remained active in musicals. She appeared as Anita in five companies of West Side Story , including a revival at Lincoln Center in New York City. Her last Broadway show was A Chorus Line in the role of Diana Morales (in the "New" New York cast in 1976). [4] This performance led to the preparation of a cabaret act for her. Its opening night at Freddie's in New York City drew rave reviews and led to engagements at the Concord Resort Hotel in the Catskills and at clubs in Atlantic City and Los Angeles. [6] A review of her cabaret show in The New York Times found her singing flawed because "her small kittenish voice with its wobbly pitch and wide vibrato was simply not up to the task" of singing songs associated with well-known vocalists. [7]
Actor Doug McClure was Luna's second husband. [8]
James Gordon MacArthur was an American actor and recording artist.
William Joseph Schallert was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and films over a career spanning more than 60 years. He is known for his roles on Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1957–1959), Death Valley Days (1955–1962), and The Patty Duke Show (1963–1966).
James William Ercolani, known by his stage name James Darren, is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had notable starring and supporting roles in films including Gidget (1959) and its sequels, The Gene Krupa Story (1959), All the Young Men (1960), The Guns of Navarone (1961), and Diamond Head (1962). As a teen pop singer, he achieved hit singles including "Goodbye Cruel World" in 1961. He later became more active in television, starring as Dr. Anthony Newman in the science fiction series The Time Tunnel (1966–1967). He appeared in the regular role of Officer III James Corrigan in the police drama T. J. Hooker (1983–1986) and in the recurring role of Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998–1999).
Salome Jens is an American dancer and actress of stage, film and television. She is perhaps best known for portraying the Female Changeling on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1994–1999).
Robert Lansing was an American stage, film, and television actor.
Gary Lockwood is an American actor. Lockwood is best known for his roles as astronaut Frank Poole in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell in the Star Trek second pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1966). He starred in the only American film by French New Wave director Jacques Demy, Model Shop. He played numerous guest television roles from the early 1960s into the mid 1990s, and played the title role in The Lieutenant (1963–1964).
France Nuyen is a French-American actress, model, and psychological counselor. She is known to film audiences for playing romantic leads in South Pacific (1958), Satan Never Sleeps (1962), and A Girl Named Tamiko, and for playing Ying-Ying St. Clair in The Joy Luck Club (1993). She also originated the title role in the Broadway play The World of Suzie Wong, based on the novel of the same name. She is a Theatre World Award winner and Golden Globe Award nominee.
Roger Charles Carmel was an American actor. He originated several roles on Broadway, played scores of guest roles in television series, was a lead in the sitcom The Mothers-in-Law and appeared in motion pictures. He is most famous for his two appearances as the conniving Harry Mudd in Star Trek.
Jacob "Jack" Kruschen was a Canadian character actor who worked primarily in American film, television and radio. Kruschen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr. Dreyfuss in the 1960 comedy-drama The Apartment.
Arlene Martel was an American actress. Before 1964, she was frequently billed as Arline Sax or Arlene Sax. Casting directors, among other Hollywood insiders, called Martel the Chameleon because her appearance and her proficiency with accents and dialects enabled her to portray characters of a wide range of races and ethnicities.
Anne Helm is a retired Canadian-born actress and children's author, who primarily appeared in guest roles on episodes of various American television series. Her few film roles include playing Elvis Presley's love interest in the 1962 film Follow That Dream. Helm had two recurring roles, playing Molly Pierce in five episodes during the 85-episode run of the mid-1960s series Run for Your Life and playing the minor role of nurse Mary Briggs in an unknown number of episodes of the daily soap opera General Hospital from 1971 to 1973.
Douglas Osborne McClure was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s. He is best known for his role as the cowboy Trampas during the entire run from 1962 to 1971 of the series The Virginian and mayor turned police chief Kyle Applegate on Out of This World. From 1961-1963, he was married to actress BarBara Luna.
Susan Oliver was an American actress, television director, aviator, and author.
Andrew Duggan was an American character actor. His work includes 185 screen credits between 1949 and 1987 for roles in both film and television, as well a number more on stage.
David Opatoshu was an American actor. He is best known for his role in the film Exodus (1960).
Louise Latham was an American actress, perhaps best known for her portrayal of Bernice Edgar in Alfred Hitchcock's 1964 film Marnie.
Valerie Jill Haworth was an English-American actress. She appeared in films throughout the 1960s, and started making guest appearances on television in 1963. She originated the role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret on Broadway in 1966.
Bernard Philip Ofner, better known by his stage name Barney Phillips, was an American film, television, and radio actor. His roles include that of Sgt. Ed Jacobs on the 1950s Dragnet television series, appearances in the 1960s on The Twilight Zone, in which he played a Venusian living under cover on Earth in "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?", and a supporting role as actor Fletcher Huff in the 1970s CBS series The Betty White Show.
Antoinette Bower is a British-American retired film, television and stage actress, whose career lasted nearly four decades.
In the episode of Star Trek: The Original Series titled "Plato's Stepchildren", season 3 episode 10, first broadcast November 22, 1968, Uhura and Captain Kirk kiss. The episode is often cited as the first example of an interracial kiss on television. The episode aired one year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down nationwide laws prohibiting interracial marriage.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)