# Kaye Elhardt

Kaye Elhardt (August 28, 1935 – September 1, 2004) was an American actress with dozens of television appearances in a career spanning from 1956 to 1977. She was known for her many roles in Warner Brothers (WB) television series, including 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, Maverick, Bourbon Street Beat, Colt .45, and Bronco, but also did multiple episodes of Perry Mason and My Three Sons.

## Early life

Kaye Valerie Elhardt was born in Los Angeles, the only child of Leonard Elhardt, a salesman and real estate developer from Minnesota, and Faye Fenusz Elhardt from Wyoming. During the summer of 1951 she took part in a city-sponsored youth chorus program. She studied dramatics at Marymount College in Westwood, California.

## Early career

During her junior year she appeared in her first professional stage role for the musical High Button Shoes. Her first starring stage role came as she entered her senior year, when she played "Laurey Williams" in Green Grow the Lilacs. The production included some original songs by Rod McKuen. Elhardt performed six songs, and was judged by the Los Angeles Times reviewer "A winsome and spirited young actress", who "displayed dramatic talent and a voice of appealing caliber". Elhardt's professional voice coach was Harold Hurlbut.
Her screen career began with bit parts on television, starting with West Point during December 1956. She did episodes of three shows, then had the female lead in another musical, New England Summer in August 1957. She again received high marks for this production from the Los Angeles Times: "Kaye Elhardt, possessor of a lovely lyric voice... not only sings with taste and charm, but she is an unusually talented actress".

## Career

Elhardt played Peaches in the 1958 ABC comedy Love That Jill. She also made more than 40 appearances on television series. Among her three guest appearances on Perry Mason with Raymond Burr, she played defendant Ginny Talbot in the 1962 episode, "The Case of the Borrowed Baby."
She was featured on Family Affair; Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford; Wagon Train with Ward Bond; Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges; seven different roles in 77 Sunset Strip with Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.; Bourbon Street Beat with Andrew Duggan, Richard Long, and Van Williams; Bat Masterson with Gene Barry; My Three Sons with Fred MacMurray; The Tab Hunter Show with Tab Hunter; Surfside Six with Troy Donahue and Van Williams; Hawaiian Eye with Robert Conrad; Bronco; Yancy Derringer with Jock Mahoney; Colt .45; Philip Marlowe with Philip Carey; and more than a score of others.

## Personal life

All through college and most of her acting career, Elhardt lived with her parents in the Kentner Canyon area, north of Sunset Boulevard in Brentwood, Los Angeles. Her family had real estate interests in Shasta County, California and Elhardt appears to have become a realtor after show business.
Elhardt married George A. Cariker in Los Angeles on April 20, 1975. They were divorced six months later.

## Stage performances

Listed by year of first performance (excluding student performances) :
| Year | Play | Role | Venue | Notes |
| 1956 | High Button Shoes | Singing Girl | Carthay Circle Theatre | Elhardt's first professional stage credit starred Jack Haley Jr. |
| 1956 | Green Grow the Lilacs | Laurey Williams | Morgan Theater | Elhardt's first starring role was produced by the Santa Monica Theater Guild. |
| 1957 | New England Summer | Emily Webb | Morgan Theater | Produced by the Santa Monica Theater Guild, Elhardt again had the female lead in this musical. |
| 1958 | Carousel | Julie Jordan | Municipal Auditorium | Elhardt starred in this production by the Singer's Workshop of Long Beach, California. |
| 1965 | The Three Musketeers | | Roxbury Memorial Park | Open air musical comedy production by Equity Library Theatre West. |

## Filmography

Film (by year of first release) :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | Senior Prom | Girl in Yellow | Uncredited |
| 1959 | The Crimson Kimono | Nun | Uncredited |
| 1959 | Stump Run | Leatha Gaskin | Filmed near Eugene, Oregon during May 1959 by an independent producer and local backers. |
| 1963 | Violent Midnight | Delores Martello | Filmed on location in Connecticut in late summer 1961. |
| 1965 | Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine | Girl in Nightclub | |
| 1966 | The Navy vs. the Night Monsters | Diane | |
| 1966 | Any Wednesday | Cecile | Uncredited |
| 1970 | Airport | Kay Hart | Uncredited |
| 1977 | The Billion Dollar Hobo | Miss Evans | |
Television (in original broadcast order, excluding commercials) :
| Year | Series | Episode | Role | Notes |
| 1956 | West Point | Double Reverse | Nancy's Trading Partner | Her first screen credit was a small part in this Gene Roddenberry teleplay. |
| 1957 | Matinee Theater | Unknown Episode | | Elhardt's performance is known only from a newspaper blurb by her voice coach. |
| 1957 | Dr. Christian | Hit and Run | Mary Haven | |
| 1957 | Fireside Theatre | Contact | | |
| 1957 | Telephone Time | I Get Along... | Betty | Elhardt plays a co-ed at Indiana; with Hoagy Carmichael and Walter Winchell. |
| 1958 | Tombstone Territory | The Rebels' Last Charge | | Richard Reeves and Elhardt were the guest stars in this episode. |
| 1958 | The Millionaire | The Peter Barkley Story | Dora | |
| 1958 | Love That Jill | Tonight's the Night | Peaches | Elhardt was only in the first episode of this series. |
| 1958 | Highway Patrol | Insulin | Joan Haggard | |
| 1958 | Sea Hunt | Gold Below | Betty | |
| 1958 | Harbor Command | Hostage | Ellen Leeds | |
| 1958 | The Rough Riders | The Maccabites | Naomi | |
| 1959 | Yancy Derringer | Outlaw at Liberty | Sally Snow | |
| 1959 | 77 Sunset Strip | Downbeat | April Myford | The first of eight episodes Elhardt would do on this WB show. |
| 1959 | Rescue 8 | One More Step | Melinda Stark | Actress (Elhardt) falls off of a theater catwalk and is left dangling high above stage. |
| 1959 | Maverick | Pappy | Josephine St. Cloud | |
| 1959 | 77 Sunset Strip | Six Superior Skirts | Wanda Hill | Elhardt sits in on joint jam session with the Mary Kaye and Frankie Ortega Trios. |
| 1959 | Colt .45 | Yellow Terror | Lucie | Elhardt is miscast as a dance hall girl. |
| 1959 | General Electric Theater | Platinum on the Rocks | Lenore Martin | George Burns stars as a jewel thief after Elhardt's jewelry. |
| 1959 | Bourbon Street Beat | Light Touch of Terror | Alise Bonvillan | A psychotic killer is after Elhardt. |
| 1959 | Philip Marlowe | Hit and Run | Gloria Fielding | |
| 1960 | Johnny Midnight | The Villain of the Piece | Paula Shafto | |
| 1960 | 77 Sunset Strip | The Starlet | Kay Donnelly | Elhardt plays an aspiring actress whose suicide arouses suspicion. |
| 1960 | Tightrope! | First Time Out | Betty Carlson | |
| 1960 | Tombstone Territory | Young Killer | Mary Rice | |
| 1960 | The Donna Reed Show | The First Time We Met | Pat Archer | Elhardt plays a nurse whom Donna Reed matches with a doctor (Bob Hastings). |
| 1960 | Wagon Train | The Luke Grant Story | Sue | |
| 1960 | Bat Masterson | Blood on the Money | Eva Rogers | |
| 1960 | The Tab Hunter Show | Be My Guest | Cynthia | |
| 1960 | 77 Sunset Strip | The Laurel Canyon Caper | Belinda Lane | Elhardt sings on camera but her voice was dubbed over by Eileen Wilson. |
| 1960 | Surfside 6 | Bride and Seek | Lois Culver | Grant Williams and Elhardt made this WB detective show... |
| 1960 | Hawaiian Eye | Baker's Half Dozen | Dody Baker | ...about the same time they did this other WB detective show. |
| 1961 | Surfside 6 | Invitation to a Party | Virginia Barker | |
| 1961 | 77 Sunset Strip | Vamp Until Ready | Julie Lee | |
| 1961 | The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis | The Battle of Maynard's Beard | Lt. Portia Potter | |
| 1961 | Perry Mason | The Case of the Duplicate Daughter | Muriell Gilman | |
| 1961 | The Aquanauts | The Landslide Adventure | Nancy Wilson | |
| 1961 | Surfside 6 | The Wedding Guest | Millie Owens | |
| 1961 | Bronco | The Cousin from Atlanta | Gail Summers | |
| 1961 | 77 Sunset Strip | The Deadly Solo | Irene McCallum | |
| 1962 | My Three Sons | The Girls Next Door | Ann Stoeffer | Elhardt plays an airline stewardess. |
| 1962 | Perry Mason | The Case of the Borrowed Baby | Ginny Talbot | Elhardt is the defendant accused of murder. |
| 1962 | Hawaiian Eye | Scene of the Crime | Gloria Matthews | Elhardt is a reporter on a boar-hunting trek on Kauai. |
| 1962 | The Comedy Spot | Octavious and Me | Jill Drake | Thirty-minute unsold pilot broadcast on a summer fill-in show. |
| 1962 | Perry Mason | The Case of the Lurid Letter | Doris Wilson | |
| 1963 | 77 Sunset Strip | Walk Among Tigers | Martha Emerson | |
| 1964 | 77 Sunset Strip | Not Such a Simple Knot | Paula Barnes | Elhardt is older sister to math genius. |
| 1965 | My Three Sons | Steve and the Computer | Miss Baxter | |
| 1966 | My Three Sons | Call Her Max | Katherine | |
| 1966 | Hank | Operation Matriculation | Miss Treadwell | |
| 1967 | My Three Sons | The Good Earth | Receptionist | |
| 1968 | My Three Sons | My Wife, the Waitress | Sharon | |
| 1968 | Family Affair | A Man's Place | Miss Martin | |
| 1969 | Family Affair | The Stowaway | Toni | |