Whitney Blake

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Whitney Blake (February 20, 1926 — September 28, 2002) was an American film and television actress, director and producer.

Blake was born as Nancy Ann Whitney in 1926 in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, the first child of Martha Mae Wilkensen and Harry Whitney. She appeared on a number of television programs, including the syndicated Johnny Midnight, Sheriff of Cochise, and twice on Rod Cameron's State Trooper.

Blake is best remembered for having portrayed Dorothy Baxter, an interior designer and the wife of George Baxter (Don DeFore), a lawyer, on the NBC sitcom Hazel (1961), starring Shirley Booth in the title role.

Before Hazel, she guest-starred on Mike Connors's Tightrope detective series, in the 1960 episode "High Bridge" of the NBC western series Overland Trail starring William Bendix and Doug McClure. She also appeared in the first episode of the syndicated western series Pony Express in the episode "The Good Samaritan".

After Hazel ended, she guest-starred in an episode of ABC's western series The Legend of Jesse James starring Christopher Jones in the title role. In 1967 she played attorney, Lee Drake, on The Andy Griffith Show. As demand for her in network television and films dwindled, Blake became a hostess of a Los Angeles television talk show. After that, Blake again reinvented herself and became a film and television director, producer, and writer.

Blake guest starred as "Angie" in "Incident of the Curious Street" during the second season of Rawhide, and played leading lady to James Garner in "The Day They Hanged Bret Maverick," the 1958 second season opener for Maverick. She appeared on the first episode of the long running television program Perry Mason and appeared in the first film version of a Mike Hammer novel when she starred in My Gun Is Quick in the 1950s.

Personal life

She had three children: Richard (born 1944), Brian (born 1946) and actress Meredith Baxter (born 1947), all by her first husband Tom Baxter, although the marriage later ended in divorce. From 1957 to 1967, she was married to Jack Fields (who died aged 78 in 1995).

She was married, lastly, to writer/collaborator Allan Manings (1924-2010), until her death in 2002. She directed films and was, with Manings, co-creator of the sitcom One Day at a Time.

Death

She died from cancer at her home in Edgartown, Massachusetts at the age of 76, survived by her husband and three children.

[aramis]

I like her