Lisa Gaye

Leslie Gaye Griffin[1] (March 6, 1935 – July 14, 2016), better known as Lisa Gaye, was an American actress, and dancer.[2]

Not to be confused with Lisa Gaye (actress born 1960).

Lisa Gaye
Lisa Gaye with Richard Boone as a guest star on CBS's Have Gun - Will Travel
Born
Leslie Gaye Griffin

(1935-03-06)March 6, 1935
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
DiedJuly 14, 2016(2016-07-14) (aged 81)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Years active1954-1970
Spouse(s)
Bently C. Ware
​
​
(m. 1955; died 1977)​
Children1 daughter
Relatives

Early years

Gaye was born in Denver, Colorado to Frank Henry Griffin, a painter, and Margaret Allen Griffin (née Gibson), an actress.

The Griffin family moved from Denver to Los Angeles, California, in the 1930s to be close to the developing film industry. Her mother was determined that Gaye and her siblings make their careers in show business. Her siblings, Judith (Teala Loring), Debralee (Debra Paget), and Frank (Ruell Shayne), all entered the business as either cast or crew.[3]

Gaye attended Hollywood's Professional School.[4]

Career

Gaye made her first professional film appearance at the age of 7. At 17, she signed a seven-year contract with Universal Studios and was enrolled in the studio's professional school for actors and actresses.[5]

She began her acting career with two uncredited cameos in 1953–54. Her first starring role was in Drums Across the River (1954).[6] She appeared in 13 films between 1954 and 1967.

On stage, Gaye acted in a production of Merry Wives of Windsor when she was 12 years old. In 1957, she made her stage adult debut in Darling, I'm Yours in San Francisco.[4]

Television

Among Gaye's television appearances were three episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show in 1956, 13 episodes of The Bob Cummings Show as Colette Dubois, five episodes each of the ABC/Warner Brothers detective series, Hawaiian Eye and 77 Sunset Strip, two episodes of another ABC-WB series, Bourbon Street Beat, seven episodes of CBS's Perry Mason, and eleven episodes of the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days.

She appears in one episode of Zorro in the 1957 season (Episode 13, Constance). She appeared in Have Gun - Will Travel in 1957 as Helen in "Helen of Abajinian", and as Nancy in "Gun Shy" (along with Dan Blocker), and in the Science Fiction Theatre episode "Gravity Zero" as Elisabeth. She made a single appearance in the 1959 episode "The Peace Offering" of the syndicated western series, Pony Express, starring Grant Sullivan. Among her seven appearances on Perry Mason, Gaye played Rita Magovern who Mason exposed as the murderer of her husband Karl in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Traveling Treasure." Also in 1961, Gaye appeared as a Spanish woman tied up in a revolution against the United States in the an episode of the Maverick TV Series titled State of Siege. She also appeared in several episodes of the Bat Masterson TV series. In two 1959 episodes; in "Sharpshooter", she played Laurie LaRue, the stage assistant and wife of stage sharpshooter, Danny Dowling. She also appeared in the 1959 episode "Buffalo Kill" as Susan. In the 1961 episode of Bat Masterson, "The Fatal Garment", she portrayed Elena, a Mexican Cantina owner.

In 1959, she was cast as June Webster in the episode "Law West of the Pecos" of the ABC/WB western series, Colt .45, with Wayde Preston. Frank Ferguson played Judge Roy Bean, justice of the peace in Langtry, Texas. Douglas Kennedy was cast as Jay Brisco. In 1965, she was cast opposite Jesse Pearson in the episode "The Rider" of the syndicated western series, Death Valley Days. In the story line, Gaye as the widowed Faith Turner puts up a sign seeking a husband for herself and a father for her son. Pearson, as mail rider Jim Barnes, tries to help her find a suitable mate. In another Death Valley Days episode in 1968, Gaye played the gambler-turned-Sunday school-teacher Lottie Deno in the episode, "Lottie's Legacy". In the dramatization, Lottie falls in love with the Reverend Peter Green (John Clarke), who does not know the details of her past.

Family

Gaye was married in 1955 to Bently C. Ware; the marriage ended with his death in 1977; the couple had one daughter, Janelle.[7]

Death

Gaye died in Houston, Texas, on July 14, 2016. She was survived by a daughter, a sister, and a brother.[7]

Selected filmography

Other television credits

References
  1. Profile of Lisa Gaye, debra-paget.com, accessed August 12, 2016.
  2. "Lisa Gaye, Actress and Dancer in 'Rock Around the Clock,' Dies at 81". Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  3. ""When You Wish Upon a Star, or It's a Star-Spangled Life: Family Cast"". Archived from the original on October 26, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. "Lisa Gaye and New Play Will Bow Together Tomorrow". Oakland Tribune. May 5, 1957. p. 119. Retrieved July 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Lisa Gaye Proves Star In Theory". The Indiana Gazette. May 25, 1954. p. 3. Retrieved September 26, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Adventure Hit On Grand Bill Colorful Saga". Terre Haute Tribune. July 25, 1954. p. 31. Retrieved September 26, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Lentz, Harris III (September 2016). "Lisa Gaye, 81". Classic Images (495): 57.
  8. Annie Oakley 1956 - Season 3 Episode 7 'Annie and the Lacemaker' as Vera Barker
  9. Jim Bowie Ent. 1956 - Episode 'Trapline'
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