Joanne Linville obit

 

Joanne Linville Dies: ‘Star Trek’ Romulan Commander & ‘Twilight Zone’ Actress With Scores Of Screen Credits Was 93

She was not on the list.

Joanne Linville, who played the Romulan commander in a memorable 1968 Star Trek episode and had scores of other screen credits, died Sunday. She was 93. CAA made the announcement but did not disclose a cause of death.

Linville began racking up TV guest roles in the mid-1950s, appearing on such series of the era as Studio One, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Kraft Theatre and Playhouse 90. She continued to guest on drama series throughout the ’60s, including such classics as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The F.B.I., Route 66, Ben Casey, I Spy and a two-part Hawaii Five-0.

Of her work in that era, she might be most recognizable as Lavinia Gordon, the owner of a ruined Southern mansion in the Civil War-themed 1961 Twilight Zone episode titled “The Passersby,” which also starred James Gregory.

But despite her prolific active career from the mid-’50s to the late-’80s, and included a few latter-day roles, Linville is best remembered for her role in a 1968 episode of the original Star Trek. “The Enterprise Incident” is one of the few times Leonard Nimoy’s Spock character Spock romanced a woman. Linville played a powerful Romulan commander who is drawn to and ultimately seduced by the Vulcan’s charms. She discovers too late that Spock’s attentions are a ruse so that Captain Kirk can steal the fabled Romulan cloaking device, which renders ships invisible.

Linville continued to work steadily in TV throughout the 1970s and ’80s. While never a series regular, she appeared on some of those decades’ most popular shows: Columbo, Kojak, Charlie’s Angels, CHiPs, Dynasty and L.A. Law.

Born Beverly Joanne Linville on January 15, 1928, in Bakersfield, CA, she grew up in Venice, CA. The actress also had some film roles during her long career including A Star Is Born (1976), Scorpio (1973) and The Seduction (1982).

During the 1980s, she and her teacher Stella Adler started an acting conservancy under the latter’s name, and Linville also authored the 2011 book Seven Steps to an Acting Craft.

She appeared in the made-for-TV movies House on Greenapple Road (and the resulting series Dan August) (1970), Secrets (1977), The Critical List (1978), The Users (1978), and The Right of the People (1986). Linville played the mother of Janine Turner's character in Behind the Screen. Linville and George Grizzard starred in "I Kiss Your Shadow", the final episode of the television series Bus Stop.

Linville portrayed Valeria in the Broadway production Daughter of Silence (1961).

Linville was married to actor/director Mark Rydell from 1962 until their divorce in 1973. Linville played gossip columnist Hedda Hopper in the television movie James Dean (2001), and Rydell directed the film and also played Jack L. Warner. Linville had two children with Rydell: Amy and Christopher, both actors.

 

Linville was married to On Golden Pond director Mark Rydell from 1962-73 and was the great-grandmother of actress Billie Lourd and Austen Rydell’s son, Kingston. Along with the four of them, she is survived by her children Christopher and Amy, and grandchildren Ruby and Ginger.

Filmography

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1950      Copper Canyon Showgirl               Uncredited

1958      The Goddess      Joanna

1973      Scorpio                 Sarah Cross        

1976      Gable and Lombard         Ria Gable            

A Star Is Born     Freddie                

1982      The Seduction   Dr. Weston        

2005      Beyond Lovely   Voice over           Short film

 

Partial television credits

Television Year Title       Role       Notes

1954-58               Studio One          Various roles      6 episodes

1956      The Kaiser Aluminum Hour           Gwyneth             Episode: "Gwyneth"

1957      The Alcoa Hour Daisy Sage           Episode: "The Animal Kingdom"

Decoy    Molly Orchid      Episode: "Stranglehold"

Robert Montgomery Presents    N/A        Episode: "Return Visit"

1958      Alfred Hitchcock Presents             Millie Manners Episode: "The Safe Place"

Kraft Television Theatre                Pat Colson           Episode: "Killer's Choice"

The United States Steel Hour      Martha Purvis    Episode: "Old Marshals Never Die"

Suspicion             Lois        Episode: "Someone Is After Me"

1959      Guiding Light      Amy Sinclair      

The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen                N/A        Episode: "Bury Me Deep"

The Third Man   Marguerite         Episode: "Confessions of an Honest Man"

Playhouse 90     June       Episode: "In Lonely Expectation"

The DuPont Show of the Month                 Antonia                Episode: "I, Don Quixote"

Deadline              Peg Joyce             Episode: "Charm Boy"

1960      Hotel de Paree Jennifer Wheatley           Episode: "Sundance and the Barren Soil"

1961      Our American Heritage Alice Hathaway Roosevelt            Episode: "The Invincible Teddy"

1962      Bus Stop               Donna Gibson    Episode: "I Kiss Your Shadow"

1963      The Dick Powell Show     Aura Tomlin        Episode: "Everybody Loves Sweeney"

1966      Bonanza               Maggie Dowling                Episode: "The Bridegroom"

1968      Star Trek              Romulan Commander    Episode: "The Enterprise Incident"

1969      Judd, for the Defense     Paula Miles         2 episodes

1970      House on Greenapple Road         Connie Durstine                TV Movie

1973      The Streets of San Francisco        Rosemary            Episode: "Before I Die"

1974      Martha Howard                Episode: "One Chance to Live"

1979      Barnaby Jones   Mimi Nettleson Chiles    2 episodes

Charlie's Angels                 Maggie Brill        Episode: "Angels Go Truckin"

Mrs. Columbo    Paula     Episode: "Falling Star"

1981      Behind the Screen           Zina Willow         Episode: "Pilot"

1982-83               Dynasty                Claire Maynard 2 episodes

1986      The Right of the People Rosalind               TV Movie

1988      L.A. Law                Rona Samuels    Episode: "Romancing the Drone"

1989      From the Dead of Night Dr. Ann Morgan                TV Movie

2001      James Dean        Hedda Hopper   TV Movie

2016      Starship Excelsior             The Delegate     Episode: "Tomorrow's Excelsior"