Connie Hines (March 24, 1931 – December 18, 2009) was a retired American actress, best-remembered for playing Alan Young's wife, Carol Post, on the 1960s syndicated and then CBS sitcom Mister Ed.
Biography
Hines was one of four children born in Dedham, Massachusetts to an actress mother and a Boston-based teacher/acting coach father. As a child, she appeared in many of her father's stock-company plays. A member of the class of 1948 at Dedham High School, she was voted the most popular girl in her class. She also dated the captain of the football team and was class secretary. She tried out for a part in the senior class play, but did not get it.[1]
After her father's death, she went on to marry an insurance agent and moved to Jacksonville, Florida. She worked as a model there and as a radio and stage actress, joining a stock company in Miami. By the time she was divorced, Hines traveled to New York City to study with the Helen Hayes Equity Group. When she came to Hollywood, California, she lived in an apartment, rented a car and got her start in acting on an episode of Whirlybirds. Her first film role was in 1960's Thunder in Carolina.
Mister Ed
Hines auditioned and won the role of appropriate wife, Carol Post, on Mister Ed, which was, arguably, her best-known character. Hines considered her role to be just getting a steady paycheck as the storylines focused more on the relationship of Wilbur and Mr. Ed (the talking horse) than her. Her biggest line in the show was “lunch is ready!” [2] She also said that playing the same role wasn't the greatest part in the world. Around the same time, she took some acting, dancing and music classes. She continued playing that role until 1966. After the series ended she took guest parts on television shows (Bonanza, The Mod Squad) before retiring in 1971. Young and Hines performed together in 1996 in Irvine in the two-person play Love Letters, which deals with the correspondence of a man and woman over 50 years.
Family
A divorcee, she remarried in 1970 to Lee Savin, an entertainment lawyer and producer. They retired to Dana Point in 1989 on the recommendation of Young, who had been living there. Hines hosted a local cable access show about animals, interviewing veterinarians and animal behaviorists and offering animals for adoption. They remained together until Lee Savin's death in 1995.[3]
Death
Hines died from heart problems at her home in Beverly Hills, California. She was 78 years old. (The LA Times obituary originally listed her age as 79, but corrected her birth date and updated her age as 78.)[4]
References
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