Randy Stuart (born Elizabeth Shaubell; October 12, 1924 – July 20, 1996), was an American actress in film and television. A familiar face in several popular films of the 1940s and 1950s, and later in Western-themed television series, she is perhaps best remembered as Louise Carey, the wife of Scott Carey, played by Grant Williams, in The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).
In 1950, Stuart was briefly seen in that year's Best Picture, All About Eve, as a co-conspirator/fellow boarding house resident of Anne Baxter's malevolent character, Eve Harrington. (The same film featured Marilyn Monroe, a classmate of Stuart from dance training at Fox.) Stuart had fourth billing in Stella,[6] with Ann Sheridan and Victor Mature.
For Star in the Dust (1956), one of the scenes featured co-star Coleen Gray and Stuart fighting for possession of incriminating letters hidden in a suitcase. The seasoned actresses invited their husbands to watch the filming of the action scene, which lasted over 50 seconds of screen time and included both women punching and wrestling each other. At the conclusion of the choreographed scene, Gray recalled in a later interview, the women simply dusted themselves off, but the two husbands "were pale and clammy and weak in the knees," having watched their wives engage in a lengthy fistfight.[10][11]
Stuart appeared on television throughout her film career in the early 1950s. Her first major role was co-starring as Louise Baker, the wife of Cold War spy Alan Hale Jr., in the 26-episode filmed adventure series Biff Baker, U.S.A., which aired on CBS in the 1952-53 season (and was recently released on DVD). In October 1953, she co-starred with Richard Conte in the Ford Theatre production "Emergency."[13]
Following her last film role in 1958, Stuart appeared for several years in TV dramas (usually Westerns), most of them produced by Warner Bros. Television for the ABC network. In 1959 and 1960, Stuart had a recurring role as Nellie Cashman in 11 episodes of the ABC series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, with Hugh O'Brian in the title role of Marshal Wyatt Earp. Nellie was briefly a romantic interest for Earp.
From 1958 to 1961, Stuart guest-starred four times on Clint Walker's ABC/Warner Bros. Western Cheyenne, including a role opposite Robert Colbert in the 1960 episode "Two Trails to Santa Fe". In another 1960 role, she played the mentally unbalanced Claire Russo in the episode "Tangled Trail" of Ty Hardin's ABC/WB series, Bronco, which rotated with Cheyenne. Her other Western appearances were on Lawman (two appearances),[14]Cimarron City, Colt .45,[15] and with Robert Colbert again in an episode of Maverick titled "Benefit of Doubt".[16]
Stuart's NBC roles included an episode of top-rated Bonanza, "The Duke", directed by Robert Altman and first aired in March 1961, in which she played a saloon girl called Marge Fuller. Earlier, she appeared twice on the 1955-56 NBC comedy It's a Great Life, with Frances Bavier.[17][18] After a hiatus of five years from television, Stuart returned in 1967 and 1968 as Eileen Gannon, wife of Harry Morgan's character Officer Bill Gannon on NBC's popular Dragnet. Her final TV appearance was as Miss Kallman in the 1975 episode "The Covenant" of ABC's Marcus Welby, M.D., with Robert Young in the title role.[citation needed]
Later years
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Stuart (known by her married name, Betty Wallis) was instrumental in developing the alumni program at Chaminade College Preparatory School in West Hills, California, from which her two youngest children had graduated.[citation needed] She was listed as a resource for information for the school.[19] She later was director of alumni affairs at Cal State Northridge.[20]
Personal life and death
Stuart was married to Kenneth Wayne Smith (1943-1945), Edward Charles George (1947-1954; one child), Lane Allan (aka Albert Wootten, 1954-1968; three children), and Ernest Dineen Wallis (1971-1982). The first three marriages ended in divorce, and the last ended with Wallis's death.[21]
^Hilton, Chuck (February 20, 1946). "On The Beam". The Mason City Globe-Gazette. Iowa, Mason City. p. 2. Retrieved August 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^Fidler, Jimmy (November 14, 1949). "Hollywood Roundup". The Evening Standard. Pennsylvania, Uniontown. p. 5. Retrieved August 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
.jpg)
