Lee Meriwether

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (May 2009)

Lee Meriwether
Lee Meriwether at the Miss America 2008 pageant
Born	Lee Ann Meriwether May 27, 1935 (1935-05-27) (age 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1954–present
Spouse(s)	Frank Aletter (1958-1974; divorced) Marshall Borden (1986-present)

Lee Ann Meriwether (born May 27, 1935) is Miss America 1955, and an American actress, appearing primarily in movies, and television. The brunette Meriwether is known as Buddy Ebsen's daughter-in-law and for her role as his crime-solving partner, Betty Jones, in the long-running 1970s crime drama, Barnaby Jones, and as John Schuck's long-haired wife, Lily Munster, in the popular 1990s sitcom, The Munsters Today. Meriwether currently has a recurring role as Ruth Martin on the daytime soap opera, All My Children.

Early life

Lee Meriwether was born in Los Angeles, California to Claudius Gregg Meriwether (October 13, 1904, Oregon – July 15, 1954, San Francisco, California) and Ethel Eve Mulligan (March 25, 1903, Oregon – May 21, 1996, Los Angeles, California). She has one brother, Don Brett Meriwether, born May 14, 1938, in Los Angeles. She grew up in San Francisco after the family moved there from Phoenix, Arizona. She attended George Washington High School, where one of her classmates was Johnny Mathis. She later attended San Francisco City College, where one of her classmates was fellow actor Bill Bixby.

After winning Miss San Francisco, Meriwether won Miss California, then Miss America with her recital of a John Millington Synge monologue. After her reign, she joined The Today Show. An August 1, 1956 International News wire photo of Meriwether and Joe DiMaggio announced their engagement. According to DiMaggio biographer Richard Ben Cramer, it was a rumor started by Walter Winchell.

Career

Meriwether as Catwoman in Batman (1966)

Her feature film debut came in 1959 as Linda Davis in 4D Man, starring Robert Lansing.

Man from UNCLE, 1964, "The Mad, Mad Tea Party" cameo as Dr. Egert. Meriwether portrayed Catwoman for the 1966 Batman movie and co-starred as scientist Dr. Ann MacGregor in the 1966–1967 television series The Time Tunnel. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she had guest starring roles in numerous TV series, including the CBS anthology, The Lloyd Bridges Show, Star Trek episode "That Which Survives" and the F Troop episode "O'Rourke vs. O'Reilly". In films, she joined John Wayne and Rock Hudson for The Undefeated, and Andy Griffith in Angel in My Pocket in 1969. In the same year, she played IMF spy Tracey Fielding in six Mission: Impossible episodes (in season four), after Barbara Bain's departure.

She began her best-known role as private detective Betty Jones in the 1973–1980 CBS series Barnaby Jones, opposite Buddy Ebsen. During the show's eight-year run, she enjoyed an on- and off-screen chemistry with the elder Ebsen. During the show's run, she was reunited with former classmate and best friend Bill Bixby on one episode. After her stint on Barnaby Jones, Meriwether became best friends and kept Ebsen in touch for many years until his own death on July 6, 2003. She is best known in the UK for her portrayal of Lily Munster in the 1988 remake of The Munsters, The Munsters Today, in which she starred alongside Jason Marsden, John Schuck, Howard Morton and Hilary Van Dyke.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Meriwether appeared on Circus of the Stars four times. She also served as a panelist on the game show Match Game.

Starting January 8, 1971, Lee Meriwether accompanied Andy Griffith in a short-lived series called The New Andy Griffith Show, as his wife Lee (along with their two children).

Between 1988–91, she had a three-year run as Lily Munster opposite John Schuck's Herman in The Munsters Today.

In the 1990s, she appeared as herself on an episode of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast. She had a memorable exchange with Zorak, in which she said, "For my money, Eartha [Kitt] was the best Catwoman." Zorak, portraying the evil Batmantis, replied, "Give me your money," followed by a Batman-esque sound effect.

In 1996, Meriwether took over for Mary Fickett in the role of Ruth Martin on the soap opera All My Children. Fickett had occupied the role since its inception in 1970. After 26 years she wanted to go into semi-retirement as a recurring cast member. Negotiations with higher powers broke down and Meriwether was recast as Ruth Martin. In 1999, ABC deemed that they were at an impasse with Meriwether's agents. Mary Fickett was then brought back as a recurring cast member. Fickett called it quits for good in December 2000. ABC wanted to bring back the character of Ruth Martin in 2002 but Fickett remained in retirement. Meriwether was brought back and has been on periodically to date.

She also appeared Off Broadway in the interactive comedy, Grandma Sylvia's Funeral.

Meriwether also voiced EVA in the video game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PlayStation 3. She also appears in one of the game's opening videos. Here she plays a talkshow host having an interview with David Hayter, who voices Solid Snake.

In 2008, Meriwether had a brief cameo as comic book character Battle Diva in the episode "Harper Knows" of the Disney Channel original series Wizards of Waverly Place.

Meriwether signs autographs for charity at conventions and fan gatherings. She attended the 2008 Williamsburg Film Festival. She is scheduled for the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Aberdeen, Maryland.

Personal life

Meriwether was married on April 20, 1958 to Frank Aletter, a TV and film actor. They divorced in 1974 and are the parents of actors Kyle Aletter-Oldham born May 31, 1960 in Los Angeles, California and Lesley A. Aletter, born November 12, 1963 in Los Angeles. Meriwether remarried September 21, 1986 to current husband Marshall Borden (Ryan's Hope, Luke Jackson #1 on One Life to Live).

External links

• Miss America entry on Lee Meriwether
• Lee Meriwether as Catwoman
• Lee Meriwether at the Internet Movie Database
• Lee Meriwether at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)