Madlyn Rhue
Madlyn Soloman Rhue, was an American film and television actress.
Early life and education
Rhue was born in Washington, D.C., graduated from Los Angeles High School, and studied drama at Los Angeles City College.Entertainment career
Rhue debuted in show business at age 17 as a dancer at the Copacabana night club in New York City. At that time she decided to create a stage name for herself by adapting the title of the film 13 Rue Madeleine. From the 1950s to the 1990s, she appeared in some 20 films, including Operation Petticoat ; The Ladies Man ; A Majority of One ; It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ; Kenner ; and Stand Up and Be Counted.Rhue guest-starred in dozens of television series, beginning with Cheyenne. She played Ricardo Montalbán's wife in a 1960 episode of Bonanza, "Day of Reckoning". That year, she also played the title role of Marian Ames in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Wayward Wife" and appeared in Route 66 Season 3 Episode 9.
Later in the 1960s, her appearances included Stagecoach West, Rawhide, The Defenders in "Whipping Boy" as Christine Knox and the classic Star Trek episode "Space Seed" where she once again appeared opposite Ricardo Montalbán playing his love interest Lt. Marla McGivers.
Rhue played regulars Marjorie Grant in Bracken's World and Hilary Madison in Executive Suite. Other guest appearances included Have Gun – Will Travel, Gunsmoke, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Route 66 '', The Untouchables, The Rebel, Perry Mason, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive, Ironside, The Wild Wild West, Mannix, Hawaii Five-O, Land of the Giants, Mission: Impossible, Longstreet, Fantasy Island, Charlie's Angels and Fame. She also appeared in the television movie Goldie and the Boxer, and made appearances on the game show Match Game during 1974–1976.
In the early 1960s, Rhue was injured in an automobile accident that resulted in lost teeth and a cut lower lip. She was hospitalized before returning to acting.
In 1962, Rhue married actor Tony Young and acted with him in the Western He Rides Tall''. They divorced in 1970.
Multiple sclerosis and later entertainment career
In 1977, Rhue was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She continued to work, including a role in Days of Our Lives, but by 1985, Rhue's legs had become so weak that she could only get around by wheelchair. Rhue described her fear and anxiety after being unable to land on-screen work in the entertainment industry for a period of 11 months. She said, "It became apparent that I would have to invent a giant accident to explain the wheelchair or start telling the truth."Rhue managed to resume her career and was praised by media outlets for not allowing her health issues to hold her back. She played intermittent roles that did not require her to walk or stand, sometimes incorporating the wheelchair as part of the character. For example, she played a wheelchair-using ballistics expert on the CBS police-based legal drama, Houston Knights. She also played a judge in the scripted court show, Trial by Jury, lasting only the 1989–90 television season. She performed the role in a wheelchair, unseen by viewers behind the judge's bench. Her casting was uncharacteristic for court shows, a genre dominated by male actors previously. She also performed a recurring role in Murder, She Wrote, said to be her last television role. Angela Lansbury created a role for her when she heard that Rhue was at risk of losing her health insurance because she could no longer work enough hours.
Contrary to rumors, her illness had nothing to do with her not reprising the Star Trek role of Lt. Marla McGivers in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. At the time of the film's production start in late 1981, Rhue was still mobile and appearing in television roles, but hiding her diagnosis for fear of it impacting her career. Director Nicholas Meyer stated that he wrote McGivers out of his drafts of the film in order to give the Khan character additional motivation for seeking vengeance.
In 1991, she played a wheelchair-using character in her last film role, the made for television thriller A Mother's Justice.