Jeanne Bal

Jeanne Bal
Bal as Jean Pagano in Mr. Novak.
BornMay 3, 1928 (1928-05-03)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
DiedApril 30, 1996(1996-04-30) (aged 67)
Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1955–1971
Spouses
  • Ross Bowman
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1953; div. 1956)​
  • Edward Lee
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1963; died 1992)​

Jeanne Bal (May 3, 1928 – April 30, 1996) was an American actress and model who worked primarily in 1960s television.

Early years

A Chicago native,[1] Bal was an only child, the daughter of Joseph Peter Bal (1899–1981), a Monogram Pictures scenic designer,[2] and Bessie Lee Bozeman Bal (1902–1967). She was raised in California, attending high school and junior college in Santa Monica.[1] She worked as a fashion model for a year and a half.[2]

Career

Bal was a regular cast member on the ABC comedy Sid Caesar Invites You (1958).[3]: 966  In the 1959–60 season, she featured in the short-lived NBC sitcom Love and Marriage, which ran during the 1959 season, as Pat Baker, the business partner of her father (William Demarest), the founder of a failing music publishing company.[3]

In 1961, Bal became a regular on the sitcom Bachelor Father, but left shortly afterwards. Her other television credits include four appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Dr. Linda Carey in the 1962 episode, "The Case of the Angry Astronaut", and murder victim Vera Wynne in the 1965 episode, "The Case of the Telltale Tap". In 1963, she guest-starred as Melissa, an overly ambitious saloon girl, on Bonanza in the episode "The Saga of Whizzer McGee." Bal also appeared in guest roles on Wagon Train, Riverboat, and I Spy. In "The Man Trap" (1966), the very first episode of the original Star Trek series, she played a lethal shape-shifting alien which craves salt.

On Mr. Novak Bal portrayed Assistant Vice Principal Jean Pagano during the 1963–64 season. Initially, plans called for increasing her role for the 1964–65 season, promoting her to second billing on the show, but the producer instead cut the number of episodes in which she was to appear. The result was that she left the program.[4]

Bal's first stage appearance came in Gypsy Lady.[5] She also appeared on Broadway in the musical The Gay Life,[6] introducing the song "Why Go Anywhere At All?" During the run, Bal was given a different song to sing in the same spot, "You're Not the Type."[citation needed]

Her other Broadway credits include Call Me Madam (1950), Great to Be Alive! (1950), and Alive and Kicking (1950).[6] She also toured the United States in productions of Guys and Dolls and South Pacific, among other shows.[5]

Personal life

In 1953, Bal married Ross Bowman, a stage manager for the show in which she was appearing.[7] The pair divorced in 1956.[8] Her second husband was attorney Edward Richard Lee. They were married from 1963 until his death in 1992.[9] Their son Michael was born in 1965.

Death

Bal died three days before her 68th birthday from metastasized breast cancer.[citation needed]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ a b Carrollton, Betty (March 26, 1954). "Jeanne Bal Dropped Journalism Study To Make Musical Comedy Headlines". The Atlanta Constitution. Georgia, Atlanta. p. 14. Retrieved June 3, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ a b Jones, Will (December 4, 1951). "Boy, What She'd Do With Lessons". Star Tribune. Minnesota, Minneapolis. p. 29. Retrieved June 3, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ a b Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 626. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  4. ^ Harter, Chuck (April 2018). "Mr. Novak: A Landmark of Dramatic Television". Classic Images (514): 62–68.
  5. ^ a b "'South Pacific' Stars Jeanne Bal". The Montgomery Advertiser. Alabama, Montgomery. February 7, 1954. p. 27. Retrieved June 3, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ a b "Jeanne Bal profile". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  7. ^ Humphrey, Hal (May 8, 1954). "Television and Radio". The Marion Star. Ohio, Marion. p. 13. Retrieved June 3, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ^ Lentz, Harris M. III (May 24, 2019). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2018. McFarland. ISBN 9781476670331 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1960-1985