Bridget Hanley obit

Bridget Hanley, Star of ‘Here Come the Brides,’ Dies at 80

She and Bobby Sherman were an item on the ABC series. Later, she appeared with Barbara Eden on 'Harper Valley P.T.A.'

 

She was not on the list. 

Bridget Hanley, who starred as the wholesome Candy Pruitt on the 1968-70 ABC series Here Come the Brides, has died. She was 80.

Hanley died Wednesday after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, the Edmonds (Washington) Beacon reported. She lived at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills.

The actress also was known for her turn as Wanda Reilly Taylor, the comic nemesis of Barbara Eden’s Stella Johnson character, on the 1981-82 NBC sitcom Harper Valley P.T.A.

Here Come the Brides was loosely based on the Mercer Girls, who were brought to the frontier town of Seattle in the 1860s to work as teachers, and inspired by the classic Stanley Donen musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).

Teen idol Bobby Sherman, as Jeremy Bolt, played Hanley’s love interest on the show, and the cast also included Joan Blondell, David Soul and Robert Brown.

Hanley was born in Minneapolis on Feb. 3, 1941. Her father, Lee Hanley, was an All-America quarterback at Northwestern. She and her family moved to Edmonds, a suburb of Seattle, when she was young.

Hanley attended Edmonds High School, the San Francisco College for Women and the University of Washington, where she acted in plays before graduating in 1962 with a degree in drama.

While in college, she appeared during station breaks on a Seattle TV station to promote shows.

After working onstage in San Francisco in Noël Coward’s Private Lives and as the lead in a touring production of Lawrence Roman’s Under the Yum Yum Tree, Hanley came to Hollywood and was cast in episodes of Hank, Gidget and The Farmer’s Daughter.

Screen Gems signed her, and she was put to work on Bewitched, Love on a Rooftop, Eden’s I Dream of Jeannie and The Flying Nun before landing the lead in Here Come the Brides.

“I was under contract at the time from Screen Gems. I knocked on everybody’s door until they agreed to test me,” she recalled in 2006. “I said, ‘Listen, I’m from Seattle and I bite my nails, what more do you want?’ And Bobby was kind enough to come in and we did the test together, and it was instant chemistry.”

Afterward, she appeared on episodes of The Odd Couple, Nanny and the Professor, Love, American Style, Welcome Back, Kotter, Emergency!, Jake and the Fatman, Simon & Simon Murder, She Wrote, Columbo and, in her final onscreen appearance, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues in 1996.

She also was a longtime member of the nonprofit Theatre West company in Los Angeles.

“Bridget was funny, with a sharp sense of humor, and she had a great laugh,” TW artistic board member Dina Morrone said in a statement. “Brilliant onstage and onscreen. A gem of a human being and performer. She brought so much light and energy when she walked into the room. And she was very beautiful, kind and generous. Thank you, Bridget, for gracing us with your presence for so many years, both on and off the stage.”

Hanley was instrumental in raising funds for the restoration of the landmark Edmonds Log Cabin, which had been built in the early 1930s and donated to her hometown by her family in 1975.

She was married to TV director E.W. Swackhamer — they met at Screen Gems — from 1969 until his death in 1994.

Actress (44 credits)

 1996 Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (TV Series)

Jennifer Campbell

- Storm Warning (1996) ... Jennifer Campbell

 1991 The New Adam-12 (TV Series)

Constance Mann

- D.A.R.E. (1991) ... Constance Mann

 1990 Columbo (TV Series)

Mrs. Rusk

- Columbo Goes to College (1990) ... Mrs. Rusk

 1990 Murder, She Wrote (TV Series)

Gloria Franzen

- If the Shoe Fits (1990) ... Gloria Franzen

 1982-1988 Simon & Simon (TV Series)

Marion St. Clair / Shelby Barnett

- Beauty and Deceased (1988) ... Marion St. Clair

- Rough Rider Rides Again (1982) ... Shelby Barnett

 1987 Trial by Jury (TV Series)

Defense Attorney

 1987 Jake and the Fatman (TV Series)

Susan Williams

- Happy Days Are Here Again (1987) ... Susan Williams

 1987 Ohara (TV Series)

Kelly

- Frannie (1987) ... Kelly

 1985 Riptide (TV Series)

Lois Ames

- Gams People Play (1985) ... Lois Ames

 1984 Chattanooga Choo Choo

Estelle

 1983 Mama's Family (TV Series)

Needa Peterson

- The Mama Who Came to Dinner (1983) ... Needa Peterson

 1983 Malibu (TV Movie)

Laura Bonnell

 1981-1982 Harper Valley P.T.A. (TV Series)

Wanda Reilly Taylor

- Harper Valley Sentinel (1982) ... Wanda Reilly Taylor

- The Return of Charlie's Chow Palace (1982) ... Wanda Reilly Taylor

- Grizzly Gap (1982) ... Wanda Reilly Taylor

- Harper Valley Hoedown (1982) ... Wanda Reilly Taylor

- Stella Rae (1982) ... Wanda Reilly Taylor

Show all 30 episodes

 1980 Reward (TV Movie)

Marie Morella

 1979 Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (TV Movie)

Laura McCann

 1978 CHiPs (TV Series)

Photographer

- Hitch-Hiking Hitch (1978) ... Photographer

 1977 How the West Was Won (TV Series)

Sheila

- Bowie John Christie (1977) ... Sheila

 1976 Emergency! (TV Series)

Molly

- The Exam (1976) ... Molly

 1976 Spencer's Pilots (TV Series)

Maribeth

- The Matchbook (1976) ... Maribeth

 1976 Insight (TV Series)

Catherine

- The Picture in Sobel's Window (1976) ... Catherine

 1976 Bell, Book and Candle (TV Movie)

Lois

 1975 Welcome Back, Kotter (TV Series)

Mary Flannigan

- The Reunion (1975) ... Mary Flannigan

 1974 The Rookies (TV Series)

Arlene Talbot

- Death Watch (1974) ... Arlene Talbot

 1973 Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (TV Series)

Doreen Reynolds

- Poor Children of Eve (1973) ... Doreen Reynolds

 1970-1973 Love, American Style (TV Series)

Victoria (segment "Love and the Memento") / Nancy DeHaven (segment "Love and the Singing Suitor") / Christine (segment "Love and the Country Girl") / ...

- Love and the Games People Play/Love and High Spirits/Love and the Memento/Love and the Single Husband/Love and the Stutter (1973) ... Victoria (segment "Love and the Memento")

- Love and the Singing Suitor/Love and the Unmarriage/Love and the Wee He (1973) ... Nancy DeHaven (segment "Love and the Singing Suitor")

- Love and Dear Old Mom and Dad/Love and the High School Sweetheart/Love and the Spaced Out Chick/Love and the Country Girl (1972) ... Christine (segment "Love and the Country Girl")

- Love and the Lovesick Sailor/Love and the Mistress/Love and the Reincarnation/Love and the Sex Survey (1971) ... Emma (segment "Love and the Lovesick Sailor")

- Love and the Coed Dorm/Love and the Optimist/Love and the Teacher (1970) ... Mary Busby (segment "Love and the Teacher")

 1973 This Is the Life (TV Series)

Jan Barrington

- Child of Rage, Child of Tears (1973) ... Jan Barrington

 1973 Circle of Fear (TV Series)

Dana

- Legion of Demons (1973) ... Dana

 1972 Cade's County (TV Series)

Ellie Benedict

- Dead Past (1972) ... Ellie Benedict

 1970 Nanny and the Professor (TV Series)

Miss Bradshaw

- The Great Broadcast of 1936 (1970) ... Miss Bradshaw

 1970 The Interns (TV Series)

Sookie Post

- Miss Knock-A-Bout (1970) ... Sookie Post

 1970 The Odd Couple (TV Series)

Barbara

- Felix Gets Sick (1970) ... Barbara

 1968-1970 Here Come the Brides (TV Series)

Candy Pruitt

- Two Women (1970) ... Candy Pruitt

- The Last Winter (1970) ... Candy Pruitt

- Absalom (1970) ... Candy Pruitt

- Bolt of Kilmaren (1970) ... Candy Pruitt

- How Dry We Are (1970) ... Candy Pruitt

Show all 52 episodes

 1968 Mad Mad Scientist (TV Movie)

Bonnie Springer

 1968 The Flying Nun (TV Series)

April Chance

- You Can't Get There from Here (1968) ... April Chance

 1967 The Second Hundred Years (TV Series)

Nurse Anderson / Lt. Anderson / Lucille

- Luke's First Christmas (1967) ... Nurse Anderson

- Luke Alikes (1967) ... Lt. Anderson

- Remember the Maine (1967) ... Lucille

 1967 I Dream of Jeannie (TV Series)

Kathryn Golato

- My Master, the Swinging Bachelor (1967) ... Kathryn Golato

 1967 Iron Horse (TV Series)

Bess

- Sister Death (1967) ... Bess

 1967 Occasional Wife (TV Series)

Eunice

- Fair Play for Gypsies (1967) ... Eunice

 1966 Bewitched (TV Series)

Salesgirl

- I'd Rather Twitch Than Fight (1966) ... Salesgirl

 1966 Love on a Rooftop (TV Series)

Audrey

- Who Is Sylvia? (1966)

- Homecoming (1966) ... Audrey

 1966 Summer Fun (TV Series)

Molly Bunker

- Pirates of Flounder Bay (1966) ... Molly Bunker

 1966 The Farmer's Daughter (TV Series)

Tammy

- Is He or Isn't He? (1966) ... Tammy

 1966 Gidget (TV Series)

Sally

- Love and the Single Gidget (1966) ... Sally

 1965 Hank (TV Series)

Terry

- My Fair Co-Ed (1965) ... Terry

Self (4 credits)

 1984 The Bob Braun Show (TV Series)

Self - Actress

- Episode dated 23 May 1984 (1984) ... Self - Actress

 1981 The John Davidson Show (TV Series)

Self

- Episode dated 15 October 1981 (1981) ... Self

 1969 Allen Ludden's Gallery (TV Series)

Self

- Episode #1.2 (1969) ... Self

 1969 It's Happening (TV Series)

Self - celebrity judge

- Mickey Rooney, Stefan Arngrim, Bridget Hanley, David Soul, The Beach Boys, Friends of Distinction (1969) ... Self - celebrity judge