Midge Ware obit

Midge Ware Colton

1927 - 2020

She was not on the list.

Midge Ware Colton, age 92, passed away peacefully on June 3, 2020 at her home in Westlake Village, CA. She was born Muriel Florence Bendelson on October 20, 1927 to Samuel and Mitzi (Kestenbaum) Bendelson in the Bronx, N.Y.

Midge had a long and successful career in show business, spanning over 30 years as a model and actress on stage, screen and television. In 1953 she was chosen as the first

"Miss No-Cal", appearing on billboards and in print ads throughout the country to represent the No-Cal Beverage Company, having been selected out of 5000 other girls. Additionally, she appeared on the cover of Esquire magazine in both 1953 and 1954. Also in 1953, Midge began a long run in the comedy "The Fifth Season", which ran for almost two years on Broadway.

From the early 1950's to 1980, Midge went on to guess star in numerous popular television shows in a variety of genres, including "The Phil Silvers Show", "Ben Casey", "The Beverly Hillbillies", "Police Woman", and "Quincy, M.E", to name just a few. In 1961, she was cast as the female lead in the CBS series, "The Gunslinger". Midge also did a number of movies, among which were, the Johnny Cash movie "Five Minutes to Live" in 1961 and "The Cincinnati Kid" starring Steve McQueen in 1965.

Midge was a warm, loving person with a great sense of humor, as beautiful inside as she was out. She was committed to her spiritual path as an Infinite Way student, practicing meditation and attending meditation groups and retreats for close to 50 years.

Besides her acting career, Midge enjoyed playing cards, mahjong, jewelry making and doing community service. In 2016, she received "The President's Lifetime Achievement Award" signed by President Barack Obama, for a lifelong commitment to volunteer service, representing her decades of volunteer work at the Motion Picture and Television Retirement Home in Woodland Hills, CA.

Midge is survived by her husband of many years, Ernie and by her children from previous marriages: Jason Batanides and his wife, Nancy; Amy Moessinger Lee and her husband, Peter Lee; a step-son, Craig Colton; and four grandchildren, Nicholas Batanides, Elizabeth Batanides, Forrest Lee and Scarlet Rose Lee. Midge is also survived by her twin brothers, Stephen and Lawrence Bendelson, by her brother-in-law, Donald Nelson and by her cousins, Marilyn Hirshleifer, Doris Canter, Dan Emmerich and Tom Emmerich. She was predeceased by her first born child, Leslie Ann Batanides.

A Celebration of Life for Midge is being planned and will be held as soon as the on-going Covid-19 crisis has subsided.

A pretty brunette leading lady who had her heyday in the early days of television, she was born Muriel Florence Bendelson (nicknamed 'Midge') in New York's Bronx. Midge came to the screen after extensive work as a photographer's model, appearing in fashion ads and on the cover of more than a hundred popular magazines, including Esquire. In 1953, she was named "the girl with the trimmest torso" and selected from 5000 applicants as 'Miss No-Cal' to promote a high profile beverage company on billboards and in printed media (No-Cal specialised in producing carbonated, sugar-free, zero-calorie soft drinks). Midge had already been snapped up by Universal-International two years earlier and was cast in a few films, but her total screen time amounted to little more than background eye candy. Her sole featured performance for the studio was in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), a swashbuckler set in medieval Tangiers, now chiefly remembered for its star (Tony Curtis, as an Arabian prince) uttering the immortal line "Yonduh lies de castle of de caliph, my fadder" in his best Brooklynese accent. Much later, in the 60's, Midge had a rare leading role as an aspiring Broadway dancer in All Woman (1967), a little-seen drama in which a composer (Robert Alda) befriends and variously aids three women who consecutively reside in a neighbouring apartment.

Rather better served by television, Midge briefly enjoyed a higher screen profile as the spirited love interest of Tony Young's post-Civil War military intelligence operative in the off-beat CBS western series Gunslinger (1961). The premise did not catch on, however, and Gunslinger was cancelled after just 12 episodes. Midge then guested in a few TV shows of varying genres, ranging from The Virginian (1962) and The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) to Serpico (1976). Following her retirement from screen acting in 1980, she became strongly involved in community service. For her volunteer work at the Motion Picture and Television Retirement Community in Woodland Hills, California, she received The President's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Midge was married three times. Two previous husbands included actor Arthur Batanides and writer/director David Moessinger.

 

Actress

Jack Klugman in Quincy M.E. (1976)

Quincy M.E.

7.3

TV Series

Jill O'Banion

1980

1 episode

 

Insight (1960)

Insight

7.6

TV Series

1978

1 episode

 

Angie Dickinson in Police Woman (1974)

Police Woman

6.6

TV Series

Janet Jarman

1976

1 episode

 

Serpico (1976)

Serpico

6.9

TV Series

Grace

1976

1 episode

 

Stockard Channing in The Girl Most Likely to... (1973)

The Girl Most Likely to...

7.3

TV Movie

Nurse

1973

 

The F.B.I. (1965)

The F.B.I.

7.4

TV Series

Bank teller

1969

1 episode

 

Faces (1968)

Faces

7.4

1968

 

Robert Random in Iron Horse (1966)

Iron Horse

7.1

TV Series

Maybelle Plunkett

1967

1 episode

 

All Woman (1967)

All Woman

Martha

1967

 

Don Gordon in The Lollipop Cover (1965)

The Lollipop Cover

6.5

Nancy

1965

 

Ann-Margret, Steve McQueen, and Tuesday Weld in The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

The Cincinnati Kid

7.2

Mrs. Slade

1965

 

Mike and the Mermaid

6.9

1964

 

Buddy Ebsen, Max Baer Jr., Donna Douglas, and Irene Ryan in The Beverly Hillbillies (1962)

The Beverly Hillbillies

7.2

TV Series

Louise Scruggs

1963–1964

2 episodes

 

Ben Casey (1961)

Ben Casey

7.1

TV Series

Polly Dillworth

1963

2 episodes

 

The Lloyd Bridges Show (1962)

The Lloyd Bridges Show

7.2

TV Series

Denise Jackson

1963

1 episode

 

James Drury, Doug McClure, and John McIntire in The Virginian (1962)

The Virginian

7.6

TV Series

Regina Lacey

1962

1 episode

 

Cay Forester and Johnny Cash in Five Minutes to Live (1961)

Five Minutes to Live

5.5

Doris Johnson

1961

 

Donald May, Dorothy Provine, and Rex Reason in The Roaring 20's (1960)

The Roaring 20's

8.1

TV Series

Susie Morris

1961

1 episode

 

Gunslinger (1961)

Gunslinger

8.4

TV Series

Amby Hollister

1961

12 episodes

 

Shelley Fabares, Donna Reed, Carl Betz, and Paul Petersen in The Donna Reed Show (1958)

The Donna Reed Show

7.4

TV Series

Secretary

1961

1 episode

 

The only authorized DVD edition of all episodes in  Season One.

The Rifleman

8.3

TV Series

Hannah Shaw

1960

1 episode

 

Richard Denning in Michael Shayne (1960)

Michael Shayne

7.7

TV Series

Lois Fuller

1960

1 episode

 

Alcoa Theatre (1957)

Alcoa Theatre

7.4

TV Series

Liz

1960

1 episode

 

The Chevy Mystery Show (1960)

The Chevy Mystery Show

8.1

TV Series

Edna Flynn

1960

1 episode

 

The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1959)

The DuPont Show with June Allyson

7.6

TV Series

Dirdra

1960

1 episode

 

Johnny Staccato (1959)

Johnny Staccato

8.0

TV Series

Lavern - Dancehall Girl

1959

1 episode

 

Mike Hammer (1958)

Mike Hammer

8.1

TV Series

Mona

1958

1 episode

 

The Phil Silvers Show (1955)

The Phil Silvers Show

8.4

TV Series

WAC Corporal

WAC Corporal Mallory

1955–1957

5 episodes

 

The O. Henry Playhouse (1957)

The O. Henry Playhouse

6.1

TV Series

Trilby Chalmers

1957

1 episode

 

Gertrude Berg in The Goldbergs (1949)

The Goldbergs

7.5

TV Series

Tina

1956

1 episode

 

Justice (1954)

Justice

7.0

TV Series

1955

1 episode

 

Robert Montgomery Presents (1950)

Robert Montgomery Presents

7.9

TV Series

1955

1 episode

 

Victor Mature and Jean Simmons in Androcles and the Lion (1952)

Androcles and the Lion

6.0

Christian Woman (uncredited)

1952

 

Untamed Women (1952)

Untamed Women

3.6

Myra

1952

 

Gloria DeHaven, Mitzi Gaynor, Jane Greer, William Lundigan, and David Wayne in Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1952)

Down Among the Sheltering Palms

5.6

Native Girl (uncredited)

1952

 

Groucho Marx, William Bendix, and Marie Wilson in A Girl in Every Port (1952)

A Girl in Every Port

5.2

Carhop (uncredited)

1952

 

Jane Russell and Victor Mature in The Las Vegas Story (1952)

The Las Vegas Story

6.3

Chief Money Changer (uncredited)

1952

 

Rhonda Fleming and Mark Stevens in Little Egypt (1951)

Little Egypt

6.5

Dancing Girl (uncredited)

1951

 

The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951)

The Prince Who Was a Thief

6.4

Sari

1951

 

Kent Taylor in Boston Blackie (1951)

Front Page Detective

6.2

TV Series

1951

1 episode

 

Marina Berti, Tom Ewell, and David Wayne in Up Front (1951)

Up Front

7.3

Nurse (uncredited)

1951

 

Ronald Reagan, Diana Lynn, and Bonzo in Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)

Bedtime for Bonzo

5.5

Coed (uncredited)

1951