Melinda Plowman

Last updated

Melinda Plowman
Melinda Plowman still for "Chicago Calling" brightened (tighter crop).jpg
Plowman in 1951
Born
Melinda Ann Plowman

(1941-05-13) May 13, 1941 (age 82)
Other namesMelinda Ann Casey
Melinda Casey
Occupation(s)Actress, assistant director
Years active1949−1996
Spouses
  • Philip Casey
  • Robert Ballew
Children2

Melinda Ann Plowman (born May 13, 1941), also known as Melinda Ann Casey and Melinda Casey, is an American actress and associate director. She began her acting career at age 6 and appeared in feature films and television episodes through the 1960s. In the 1970s, she became a member of the Directors Guild of America and worked as an associate director through the 1990s.

Contents

Early life

Melinda Ann Plowman was born on May 13, 1941, in Abilene, Texas. [1] Her parents, Homer Lee Plowman and Lura Frances Slaughter, had met and married in Abilene in 1934. [2] She has one younger sister. [3] Her second birthday party, hosted by her mother and grandmother, was reported in the Abilene Reporter-News . [4]

The family moved to Los Angeles in 1942. [5] Plowman was enrolled in a dance school at age 3. [5] She was "discovered" at the age of 6 through the dancing school and was cast in a bit part in the 1949 film Little Women . [5]

Career

Plowman with Dan Duryea in Chicago Calling (1951) Dan Duryea, Mary Anderson, and Melinda Plowman in Chicago Calling (cropped).jpg
Plowman with Dan Duryea in Chicago Calling (1951)

Acting

Plowman acted in Hollywood films in the 1950s but primarily worked in television. [6] She appeared in seven NBC Matinee Theater episodes, as well as episodes of Ford Theatre , The Loretta Young Show , and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show . [5] She was one of the original Mouseketeers on The Mickey Mouse Club . [7] [8] [9]

Her parents preferred to maintain her status as a freelance actor rather than a studio contract player. [3] Her mother accompanied her on the set. [3] When she wasn't working, Plowman attended a public elementary school and, later, San Marino High School in San Marino, California. [5] During film shoots, she had a private tutor on the set. [3] [5]

Plowman landed her first leading role at the age of 25 in the 1966 horror film Billy the Kid Versus Dracula . [6]

Directing

In the 1970s, she joined the Directors Guild of America, listing herself as an associate director under the name Melinda Ann Casey. [10] She continued working on film crews through the 1990s.

Personal life

Plowman married Phil Casey, a talent manager, in Las Vegas in August 1967. [11] They had one son. [2] Plowman later married Robert Ballew, with whom she has a daughter. [2] In 1971, her parents moved back to Fort Worth. [2] She lives in Victoria, British Columbia. [2]

Filmography (as an actress)

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
1949 Little Women GirlUncredited [5]
Holiday Affair Girl
Ma and Pa Kettle Susie Kettle
1950 Three Came Home English girl
My Blue Heaven Pringle girl
Again Pioneers Rebecca AshbyAs Malinda Plowman
1951 Home Town Story Katie Washburn
Chicago Calling Nancy Cannon
1952 Monkey Business Little girl
Carrie Little girl
1953 Pack Train Judy
1956 Wiretapper
1957 The Green-Eyed Blonde Betsy AbelAs Linda Plowman
1966 Billy the Kid Versus Dracula Betty Bentley
1976 Street Girls AdelleAs Linda Reynolds
1982 Wrong Is Right W.T.N. news stafferAs Melinda Ann Casey [12]
Sources: [13] [14]
TV
YearTitleRoleEpisode
1950 Big Town Kathy
The Gene Autry Show Betsy Simmons
The Cisco Kid Carol Cartright
1952 The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Girl, Linda, Melinda, Sean's girl, Sue Bailey5 episodes
Ford Television Theatre Little girl
Cavalcade of America Vi as a teenager
1953 The Danny Thomas Show Mary Lou
General Electric Theater Charlotte Dunn
1954 Rocky Jones, Space Ranger Jonica
Annie Oakley Jill Turner, Penny2 episodes
1955 The Adventures of Champion Sally CusterEpisode: "Salted Ground" [13]
The Adventures of ChampionLornaEpisode: "Canyon of Wanted Men" [13]
Science Fiction Theatre Alice
1956 The Mickey Mouse Club Peggy [7]
Diamond Mystery TheaterSusan DavisEpisode: "The Man Across the Street" [15]
1958 The Donna Reed Show BabsEpisode: "Parting of the Ways" [13]
Wanted: Dead or Alive Patience FairweatherSeason 3, Episode 22 "Detour"
1959 The June Allyson Show Nancy1 episode
Bonanza Heather Lowell1 episode
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis Central High Girl
1960 My Three Sons JulieSeason 6, episode: "the wrong Robbie"
National Velvet Sally Grimes
1961 The Americans Molly1 episode
Bachelor Father Agnes1 episode
1962 Wagon Train PenelopeEpisode: "Path of the Serpent" [16]
Perry Mason Maureen ThomasEpisode: "The Case of the Polka-Dot Pony" [17]
Going My Way Jane Everett
1963 The Fugitive Ellen TolanEpisode: "See Hollywood and Die"
The Virginian Episode: "A Time Remembered"
My Favorite Martian Sally
Petticoat Junction Mary Jane Burris
1964 The Outer Limits Viva HaydenEpisode: "Don't Open Till Doomsday"
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Girl Marine
1965 Please Don't Eat the Daisies Terry, Secretary2 episodes
1966 The Felony Squad Mylene Bruce, Suellen Taubs2 episodes
BonanzaEpisode: "Four Sisters from Boston" [18]
1967 Judd, for the Defense Girl
1969–1971 Hot Wheels (TV series) Janet MartinVoice [19]
Skyhawks Cynthia HughesVoice [20]
Sources: [12] [13] [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melinda French Gates</span> American philanthropist (born 1964)

Melinda French Gates is an American philanthropist, former multimedia product developer and manager at Microsoft, and the ex-wife of its co-founder and billionaire Bill Gates. French Gates has consistently been ranked as one of the world's most powerful women by Forbes magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abilene, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones County, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statistical area, which had an estimated population of 169,893, as of 2016. Abilene is home to three Christian universities: Abilene Christian University, McMurry University, and Hardin–Simmons University. It is the county seat of Taylor County. Dyess Air Force Base is located on the west side of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melinda Clarke</span> American actress

Melinda Patrice "Mindy" Clarke is an American actress. Clarke is known for portraying Faith Taylor on the soap opera Days of Our Lives (1989–1990), Julie Cooper on Fox's teen drama series The O.C. (2003–2007), Lady Heather on CBS's crime drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2001–2015) and Amanda on the action thriller series Nikita (2010–2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheryl Holdridge</span> American actress

Cheryl Lynn Holdridge was an American actress, best known as an original cast member of The Mickey Mouse Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melinda Dillon</span> American actress (1939–2023)

Melinda Ruth Dillon was an American actress. She received a 1963 Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut in the original production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles as Jillian Guiler in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Teresa Perrone in Absence of Malice (1981). She is well known for her role as Mother Parker in the holiday classic A Christmas Story (1983). Her other film roles include Bound for Glory (1976), Slap Shot (1977), F.I.S.T. (1978), The Muppet Movie (1979), Harry and the Hendersons (1987), Captain America (1990), The Prince of Tides (1991), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, How to Make an American Quilt, Magnolia (1999), for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, and Reign Over Me (2007).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqueline White</span> American actress (born 1922)

Jacqueline Jane White is an American former actress, who had a brief career in Hollywood as a leading lady in motion pictures from 1942 until 1952, with roles in around 20 feature films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandra Breckenridge</span> American actress

Alexandra Breckenridge is an American actress. She began her career with supporting roles in the teen comedy films Big Fat Liar (2002) and She's the Man (2006). She later played reporter Willa McPherson in the FX series Dirt and had a supporting role in the short-lived series The Ex List. She starred as a young Moira O'Hara in the first season of FX's American Horror Story, and played Kaylee in the third season. She played Jessie Anderson in the AMC series The Walking Dead and Sophie in the NBC series This Is Us. She is also the voice of various characters in the animated comedy series Family Guy. Since 2019, she has starred as Melinda "Mel" Monroe in the Netflix series Virgin River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendy Froud</span> American artist

Wendy Froud is an American doll-artist, sculptor, puppet-maker, and writer. She is best known for her work fabricating Yoda for the 1980 film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, for which she has been called "the mother of Yoda", and creatures for the Jim Henson films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darlene Gillespie</span> American actress and singer

Darlene Faye Gillespie is a Canadian-American former child actress, most remembered as a singer and dancer on the original The Mickey Mouse Club television series from 1955 to 1959. Her Irish father and French Canadian mother were a former vaudeville dance team. When Darlene was two years old, her family moved to Los Angeles, where she became a naturalized U.S. citizen in September 1956 at the age of fifteen. After her career in entertainment ended, she became a nurse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KXVA</span> Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate in Abilene, Texas

KXVA is a television station in Abilene, Texas, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station broadcasts from a transmitter located in rural southwestern Callahan County. Its operations and local productions are housed at sister station and fellow Fox affiliate KIDY in San Angelo; the two stations are commonly branded as "Fox West Texas" and largely simulcast the same programming, including local newscasts covering both areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felicia Farr</span> American actress (born 1932)

Felicia Farr is an American former actress and model

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Gates</span> American actress (1926–2019)

Nancy Gates was an American film and television actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Todd (American actress)</span> American actress and librarian (1931–2020)

Ann Todd was an American child actress. She was credited in four films as Ann E. Todd. As an adult, she became a music reference librarian at University of California, Berkeley.

<i>Superstition</i> (1982 film) 1982 slasher film by James W. Roberson

Superstition is a 1982 American supernatural slasher film directed by James W. Roberson and starring James Houghton, Albert Salmi, and Lynn Carlin. The plot follows a family who move into a house that was once the site of a witch's execution. Though shot in 1981, Superstition was not released in US before 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ida Redbird</span> Maricopa potter (1892–1971)

Ida Redbird was a Native Amereican potter from the Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona. She was the first president of the Maricopa Pottery Maker's Association and was widely credited with the revival of ancient Maricopa pottery techniques and forms. Her polished black-on-redware pottery was highly prized with collectors. Texas photographer Ted Sayles shot a series documenting Redbird sculpting her pottery. The series toured museums throughout the Western United States

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helba Huara</span>

Helba Huara (1900–1986) was a modern dancer from Peru. Her exotic appearance and unique dance style, which incorporated European and Native American influences, created a sensation in the late 1920s. Moving from Peru to the United States she became a star on Broadway in the 1927 production of A Night in Spain. Later she moved to Paris, and became involved in the artistic and intellectual café society. She was renowned for her original and innovative costumes and dance style, also working as a photographer's model.

Carole Wells is an American actress, opera singer, producer and author.

The 1955 Hardin–Simmons Cowboys football team was an American football team that represented Hardin–Simmons University in the Border Conference during the 1955 college football season. In its first season under head coach Sammy Baugh, the team compiled a 5–5 record, finished in third place in the conference, and was outscored by a total of 256 to 221. The team played its home games at Parramore Stadium, also known as Parramore Field, in Abilene, Texas.

Nancy Abbate Caldwell is an American former actress and dancer who was a Mousketeer on the first season of The Mickey Mouse Club. She left entertaining to become a dance teacher.

The 1946 Texas Conference football season was the season of college football played by the member schools of the Texas Conference as part of the 1946 college football season. Abilene Christian and Southwestern (TX) tied for the conference championship. None of the Texas Conference teams was ranked in the Associated Press poll or played in a bowl game.

References

  1. "Six New Arrivals At Hospitals Here". Abilene Reporter-News . May 13, 1941. p. 14. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Frances Slaughter Plowman". Fort Worth Star-Telegram . January 11, 2017. p. A16. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Teenager Vacations From Career as Well as School". Abilene Reporter-News. August 28, 1957. p. 48. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  4. "Melinda Plowman Honored on Birthday". Abilene Reporter-News. May 16, 1943. p. 35. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Harter, Billie (August 27, 1957). "Melinda Plowman, Young Starlet, Visits In City". Lubbock Evening Journal. p. 4. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  6. 1 2 Boggs 2013, p. 181.
  7. 1 2 Woolery 1985, p. 478.
  8. Bowles 1976, p. 137.
  9. "Times TV Log". San Mateo Times . March 13, 1957. p. 23. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  10. Directory of Members. Directors Guild of America. 1976. pp. 56, 399. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  11. Carroll, Harrison (August 30, 1967). "Behind the Scenes". Shenandoah Evening Herald . p. 16. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  12. 1 2 "Melinda Casey". Video Detective. 2020. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 "Melinda Plowman". British Film Institute. 2020. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  14. "Melinda Plowman". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . American Film Institute. 2019. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  15. "Thursday, July 12". The Philadelphia Inquirer . July 8, 1956. p. 6. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  16. "Wagon Train". TV Guide. 2020. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  17. Kelleher, Brian; Merrill, Diana (1998). "Episode Guide – The Sixth Season". The Perry Mason TV Show Book. Archived from the original on July 10, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
  18. "TV Week". Pasadena Independent Star-News . October 30, 1966. p. 73. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  19. Terrace 2014, p. 478.
  20. Terrace 2014, p. 980.
  21. "Melinda Plowman". TV Guide. 2020. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.

Sources