Susan Hart | |
---|---|
Born | Dorothy Neidhart |
Nationality | American |
Other names | Susan Nicholson-Hofheinz |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1961–1971 |
Employer | American International Pictures |
Known for | Actress in AIP films |
Notable work | |
Spouses | |
Children | 1 |
Susan Hart is an American actress, and the widow of American International Pictures (AIP) co-founder James H. Nicholson.[ citation needed ]
Hart was born Dorothy Neidhart in Wenatchee, Washington. Her parents were George and Dorothy Neidhart, and she had four siblings. [1]
Before she became an actress, Hart worked for a telephone company in Palm Springs, managed a dress shop in California, and sold clothes in Hawaii. [2]
She is best known for her appearances in four popular AIP films of the 1960s, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini , Pajama Party , and the Vincent Price vehicles Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine and City Under the Sea , and two non-AIP movies, For Those Who Think Young and Ride the Wild Surf .[ citation needed ]
In 2003, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to her. [3]
Hart now owns the rights to 11 movies made by her late husband's company: It Conquered the World (1956) and its 1966 remake Zontar, The Thing from Venus , Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957) and its 1965 remake The Eye Creatures , I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957), I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957), The Amazing Colossal Man (1957), Terror from the Year 5000 (1958), Apache Woman (1955), The Oklahoma Woman (1956) and Naked Paradise (1957). [1]
In 1963 Hart appeared as a guest star on The Virginian in the episode "Echo of Another Day." [ citation needed ] in 1965 she appeared in the season 2, Episode 19 episode of the Beverly Hillbillies entitled "The Race for Queen".In 1968, she also appeared as Rhoda in Season 4 of The Wild Wild West , in the episode "The Night of the Fugitives" (The Wild Wild West, The Complete Series, DVD Set, CBS, 2016).
Dorothy Lamour was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.
Francis Thomas Avallone , better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American actor, singer, and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. Billboard singles from 1958 to late 1962, including number one hits, "Venus" and "Why" in 1959. He is the earliest surviving singer to have scored a solo number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Sidney Sheldon was an American writer. He was prominent in the 1930s, first working on Broadway plays, and then in motion pictures, notably writing the successful comedy The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), which earned him an Oscar in 1948. He went on to work in television, where over twenty years he created The Patty Duke Show (1963–66), I Dream of Jeannie (1965–70), and Hart to Hart (1979–84). After turning 50, he began writing best-selling romantic suspense novels, such as Master of the Game (1982), The Other Side of Midnight (1973), and Rage of Angels (1980).
Annette Joanne Funicello was an American actress and singer. She began her professional career at age 12, becoming one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club. In her teenage years, Funicello had a successful career as a pop singer recording under the name "Annette". Her most notable singles are "O Dio Mio", "First Name Initial", "Tall Paul", and "Pineapple Princess". During the mid-1960s, she established herself as a film actress, popularizing the successful "Beach Party" genre alongside co-star Frankie Avalon.
Connie Stevens is an American actress and singer. Born in Brooklyn to musician parents, Stevens was raised there until age 12, when she was sent to live with family friends in rural Missouri after she witnessed a murder in the city. In 1953, at age 15, Stevens relocated with her father to Los Angeles.
Dorothy Malone was an American actress. Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years, she played small roles, mainly in B-movies, with the exception of a supporting role in The Big Sleep (1946). After a decade, she changed her image, particularly after her role in Written on the Wind (1956), for which she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Michael Dante is an American actor and former professional minor league baseball player.
I Was a Teenage Werewolf is a 1957 American science fiction horror film directed by Gene Fowler Jr., and starring Michael Landon as a troubled teenager, Yvonne Lime and Whit Bissell. Co-written and produced by cult film producer Herman Cohen, it was one of the most successful films released by American International Pictures (AIP).
Patricia McCormack is an American actress with a career in theater, films, and television.
Susan Stafford is an American former model, actress and television host. She was the original daytime hostess of the American game show Wheel of Fortune from January 6, 1975, until she left on October 22, 1982. She returned to Wheel of Fortune in 1986 to substitute for Vanna White.
Deborah Walley was an American actress noted for playing the title role in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and appearing in several beach party films.
Rona Barrett is an American gossip columnist and businesswoman. She runs the Rona Barrett Foundation, a non-profit organization in Santa Ynez, California, dedicated to the aid and support of senior citizens in need.
Kathy Garver is an American actress most remembered for having portrayed the teenaged orphan, Catherine "Cissy" Davis, on the popular 1960s CBS sitcom, Family Affair. Before that, she was cast by Cecil B. DeMille in the film The Ten Commandments (1956), and after that, she provided the voice of Firestar in the animated television series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–83). Garver authored The Family Affair Cookbook (2009), Surviving Cissy: My Family Affair of Life in Hollywood (2015), and X Child Stars: Where are They Now? (2016).
Spring Dell Byington was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1960s. Byington received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Penelope Sycamore in You Can't Take It with You (1938).
The beach party film is an American film genre of feature films which were produced and released between 1963 and 1968, created by American International Pictures (AIP), beginning with their surprise hit, Beach Party, in July 1963. With this film, AIP is credited with creating the genre. In addition to the AIP films, several contributions to the genre were produced and released by major and independent studios alike. According to various sources, the genre comprises over 30 films, with the lower-budget AIP films being the most profitable.
Sue Carol was an American actress and talent agent. Carol's film career lasted from the late 1920s into the 1930s; when it ended, she became a talent agent. The last of her four marriages was to one of her clients, Alan Ladd, from 1942 until his death in 1964.
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine is a 1965 Pathécolor comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and distributed by American International Pictures. Starring Vincent Price, Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Susan Hart and Jack Mullaney, and featuring Fred Clark, the film is a parody of the then-popular spy trend, made using actors from AIP's beach party and Edgar Allan Poe films. The film was retitled Dr G. and the Bikini Machine in England due to a threatened lawsuit from Eon, holder of the rights to the James Bond series.
Ghost in the Invisible Bikini is a 1966 American fantasy comedy film. It is the seventh and last of American International Pictures' beach party films. The film features the cast cavorting in and around a haunted house and the adjacent swimming pool.
Pajama Party is a 1964 beach party film starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. This is the fourth in a series of seven beach films produced by American International Pictures. The other films in this series are Beach Party (1963), Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965), Ski Party (1965) and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966).
John Ashley was an American actor, producer and singer. He was best known for his work as an actor in films for American International Pictures, producing and acting in horror films shot in the Philippines, and for producing various television series, including The A-Team.