# Madlyn Rhue

Madlyn Soloman Rhue (née Madeline Roche), (October 3, 1935 – December 16, 2003) was an American film and television actress.

## Early life and education

Rhue was born in Washington, D.C., graduated from Los Angeles High School, and studied drama at Los Angeles City College.

## Entertainment career

Rhue debuted in show business at age 17 as a dancer at the Copacabana night club in New York City. At that time she decided to create a stage name for herself by adapting the title of the film 13 Rue Madeleine (1947). From the 1950s to the 1990s, she appeared in some 20 films, including Operation Petticoat (1959); The Ladies Man (1961); A Majority of One (1961); It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963); Kenner (1969); and Stand Up and Be Counted (1972).
Rhue guest-starred in dozens of television series, beginning with Cheyenne (1955). She played Ricardo Montalbán's wife in a 1960 episode of Bonanza, "Day of Reckoning". That year, she also played the title role of Marian Ames in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Wayward Wife" and appeared in Route 66 Season 3 Episode 9.
Later in the 1960s, her appearances included Stagecoach West (1961), Rawhide (1963), The Defenders (1965) in "Whipping Boy" as Christine Knox and the classic Star Trek episode "Space Seed" (1967) where she once again appeared opposite Ricardo Montalbán (who played Khan Noonien Singh) playing his love interest Lt. Marla McGivers.
Rhue played regulars Marjorie Grant in Bracken's World (1969–70) and Hilary Madison in Executive Suite (1976–77).$^{:316}$ Other guest appearances included Have Gun – Will Travel, Gunsmoke (S5E15). "Tag You're It". The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (as Consuela Sandino in episode "The Dark Pool"), Route 66 (as Ara Rados in the episode, "Every Father's Daughter"), The Untouchables, The Rebel, Perry Mason, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive, Ironside, The Wild Wild West, Mannix, Hawaii Five-O, Mission: Impossible, Longstreet, Fantasy Island, Charlie's Angels (as Georgia in "Angels on the Street" in 1979) and Fame (as Angela Schwartz). She also appeared in the television movie Goldie and the Boxer, and made appearances on the game show Match Game during 1974–1976.
In the early 1960s, Rhue was injured in an automobile accident that resulted in lost teeth and a cut lower lip. She was hospitalized before returning to acting.
In 1962, Rhue married actor Tony Young and acted with him in the Western He Rides Tall. They divorced in 1970.

### Multiple sclerosis and later entertainment career

In 1977, Rhue was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She continued to work, including a role in Days of Our Lives, but by 1985, Rhue's legs had become so weak from the multiple sclerosis that she could only get around by wheelchair. Once becoming a wheelchair user, Rhue described feelings of fear and anxiety over being unable to land on-screen work in the entertainment industry for a period of 11 months. Regarding the matter, she was quoted as stating, "It became apparent that I would have to invent a giant accident to explain the wheelchair or start telling the truth."
Despite being reliant on a wheelchair, Rhue managed to resume her entertainment career and was praised by media outlets for not allowing her health issues to disrupt her career. She played intermittent roles that did not require her to walk or stand, sometimes incorporating the wheelchair as part of the character. For example, she played a wheelchair-using ballistics expert on the CBS police-based legal drama, Houston Knights. She also played a judge role in the scripted court show, Trial by Jury, lasting only the 1989–90 television season. She performed the role in a wheelchair, unseen to viewers as she presided from the judge's bench. Her part as a female judge was uncharacteristic for court shows, the genre dominated by men performing the judge role to that point. She also performed a recurring role in Murder, She Wrote, said to be her last television role. Angela Lansbury created a role for her when she heard that Rhue was at risk of losing her health insurance because she could no longer work enough hours.
Contrary to rumors, her illness apparently had nothing to do with her not reprising the Star Trek role of Lt. Marla McGivers in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). At the time of the film's production start in late 1981, Rhue was still mobile and appearing in television roles, but hiding her diagnosis for fear of it impacting her career. Director Nicholas Meyer stated that he wrote McGivers out of his drafts of the film (with a line referencing the character's death) in order to give the Khan character additional motivation for seeking vengeance.
In 1991, in her last movie, she played a wheelchair-using character in the made for television thriller A Mother's Justice.

## Death

Rhue eventually became completely incapacitated by multiple sclerosis and died from pneumonia at the age of 68 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills in Los Angeles, California.

## Religion and politics

Rhue adhered to Judaism outside of her marriage to Young, during which she partook in Catholicism. She was also a registered Republican who supported the administrations of Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | The Kiss | Girl in Park | Short |
| 1959 | The Miracle | Nun who warns Teresa about her singing love songs | Uncredited |
| 1959 | Operation Petticoat | Lieutenant Reid, NC, USAR | |
| 1961 | The Ladies Man | Miss Intellect | |
| 1961 | A Majority of One | Alice Black | |
| 1962 | Escape from Zahrain | Laila | |
| 1963 | It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World | Secretary Schwartz | |
| 1964 | He Rides Tall | Ellie Daniels | |
| 1969 | Kenner | Anasuya | |
| 1972 | Stand Up and Be Counted | Gloria Seagar | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | The Court of Last Resort | Janice Lowell | Season 1 Episode 22: "The Stephen Lowell Case" |
| 1958 | Whirlybirds | Phyllis Bolling | Season 2 Episode 10: "Seven Orchids" |
| 1958–1959 | Have Gun - Will Travel | Jean Nelson / Elizabeth DeVries | 2 episodes |
| 1959 | Mike Hammer | Linda | Season 2 Episode 5: "Aces and Eights" |
| 1959 | The Third Man | Hassani | Season 1 Episode 20: "Five Hours to Kill" |
| 1959 | Black Saddle | Julie Reynolds | Season 1 Episode 19: "Client: Reynolds" |
| 1959 | M Squad | Loretta Danzig | Season 2 Episode 40: "Death Is a Clock" |
| 1959 | Riverboat | Cassie Baird | Season 1 Episode 3: "About Roger Mowbray" |
| 1959 | Cheyenne | Ellen Lassiter | Season 4 Episode 6: "Prisoner of Moon Mesa" |
| 1959 | Tightrope! | Judy Brannen | Season 1 Episode 10: "The Money Fight" |
| 1959 | The Rebel | Beth Lassiter | Season 1 Episode 10: "In Memoriam" |
| 1959 | Tales of Wells Fargo | Linda | Season 4 Episode 13: "Woman with a Gun" |
| 1959 | Gunsmoke | Rusty | Season 5 Episode 15: "Tag, You're It" |
| 1959 | Laramie | Eve | Season 1 Episode 16: "The Pass" |
| 1959 | Special Agent 7 | Mary | Season 1 Episode 10: "The Trap" |
| 1959–1960 | Bourbon Street Beat | Lenore Lamartine / Nita Roulas | 2 episodes |
| 1960 | Hotel de Paree | Sarah Carter | Season 1 Episode 15: "Sundance Goes To Kill" |
| 1960 | Perry Mason | Marian Ames | Season 3 Episode 13: "The Case of the Wayward Wife" |
| 1960 | The Troubleshooters | Rhoda Spencer | Season 1 Episode 21: "Incident at Rain Mountain" |
| 1960 | The Alaskans | Fay Loomis | Season 1 Episode 24: "Disaster at Gold Hill" |
| 1960 | Pony Express | Ellen Fairchild | Season 1 Episode 3: "The Last Mile" |
| 1960 | Outlaws | Rose Dabney | Season 1 Episode 2: "Ballad for a Badman" |
| 1960 | Michael Shayne | Agnes Musgrave | Season 1 Episode 2: "A Night with Nora" |
| 1960 | The Roaring 20's | Julie Fiore | Season 1 Episode 1: "Burnett's Woman" |
| 1960 | Bonanza | Hatoya | Season 2 Episode 7: "Day of Reckoning" |
| 1960 | Sugarfoot | Nora Sutton | Season 4 Episode 2: "A Noose for Nora" |
| 1960 | Hong Kong | Lola | Season 1 Episode 5: "The Jade Empress" |
| 1960 | Checkmate | Irene Thorne | Season 1 Episode 7: "Target: Tycoon" |
| 1960 | General Electric Theater | Deborah | Season 9 Episode 14: "The Other Wise Man" |
| 1960 | The Untouchables | Chickie Bernstein / Sally Karpeles | 2 episodes |
| 1960 | The Westerner | Carla | Season 1 Episode 13: "The Painting" |
| 1961 | Stagecoach West | Maria Lorenz | Season 1 Episode 26: "Fort Wyatt Crossing" |
| 1961 | Adventures in Paradise | Sherry Drake | Season 3 Episode 9: "The Assassins" |
| 1961 | Bus Stop | Gloria White | Season 1 Episode 14: "Jaws of Darkness" |
| 1962 | Cain's Hundred | Margarita Safa | Season 1 Episode 28: "Women of Silure" |
| 1962 | Route 66 | Ara Rados | Season 3 Episode 9: "Every Father's Daughter" |
| 1963 | The Nurses | Rhoda Green | Season 1 Episode 24: "A Question of Mercy" |
| 1963 | 77 Sunset Strip | Mrs. Knight | Season 5 Episode 25: "Flight 307" |
| 1963 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Consuela Sandino | Season 1 Episode 29: "The Dark Pool" |
| 1963 | Rawhide | Inez Maldenado | Season 5 Episode 29: "Incident at Rio Doloroso" |
| 1963 | Kraft Mystery Theater | Girl | Season 3 Episode 15: "Man Without a Witness" |
| 1963 | Arrest and Trial | Christina Ortega | Season 1 Episode 3: "Tears from a Silver Dipper" |
| 1963 | The Lieutenant | Jackie Madian | Season 1 Episode 14: "The Alien" |
| 1963–1971 | The Virginian | Marie Valonne / Frankie Grace | 2 episodes |
| 1964 | Espionage | Susan Wilder | Season 1 Episode 16: "We the Hunted" |
| 1964 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Lillian | Season 1 Episode 24: "The Game with Glass Pieces" |
| 1964–1966 | The Fugitive | Sophie / Liz Roland | 2 episodes |
| 1964–1967 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Clara Valder / Angela Abaca | 2 episodes |
| 1965 | Daniel Boone | Ester Moncour | Season 1 Episode 13: "The Hostages" |
| 1965 | The Defenders | Christine Knox | Season 4 Episode 14: "Whipping Boy" |
| 1965 | Slattery's People | Lupe Leon | Season 1 Episode 17: "Question: Does Nero Still at Ringside Sit?" |
| 1965 | Burke's Law | Manicurist (uncredited) | Season 3 Episode 3: "Steam Heat" |
| 1965 | I Spy | Jean | Season 1 Episode 8: "The Time of the Knife" |
| 1965 | A Man Called Shenandoah | Ann Clayton | Season 1 Episode 12: "A Special Talent for Killing" |
| 1966 | Laredo | Dona Dolores | Season 1 Episode 29: "The Would-Be Gentleman of Laredo" |
| 1966 | Iron Horse | Angela Burnett | Season 1 Episode 10: "The Man from New Chicago" |
| 1967 | Star Trek | Lt. Marla McGivers | Episode: "Space Seed" |
| 1967 | Captain Nice | Amanda Woolf | Season 1 Episode 10: "Who's Afraid of Amanda Woolf?" |
| 1967 | The Wild Wild West | Carlotta Waters | Season 3 Episode 1: "The Night of the Bubbling Death" |
| 1967 | Stranger on the Run | Alma Britten | TV Movie |
| 1967–1974 | Ironside | Margaret Blackwell / Betty Julian / Kate Dunhill / Amy Frost | 4 episodes |
| 1968 | Cowboy in Africa | Christie Blaine | Season 1 Episode 23: "Work of Art" |
| 1968 | It Takes a Thief | Melinda Garcia | Season 2 Episode 1: "One Night on Soledade" |
| 1968 | The Guns of Will Sonnett | Marion Hagger | Season 2 Episode 6: "The Straw Man" |
| 1969–1970 | Bracken's World | Majorie Grant | 27 episodes (Recurring role) |
| 1969–1975 | Mannix | Laura Giles / Marcia Inman / Nedda Kordic | 3 episodes |
| 1970 | Land of the Giants | Bertha Fry | Season 2 Episode 20: "The Deadly Dart" |
| 1970–1973 | Hawaii Five-O | (1) Madge (2) June Fleming | (1) Season 3 Episode 13: "The Payoff" (1970) (2) Season 5 Episode 17: "Here Today... Gone Tonight" (1973) |
| 1971 | The Courtship of Eddie's Father | Dolores Carew | Season 3 Episode 7: "Two's Company" |
| 1971 | Longstreet | Kim Anderson | Season 1 Episode 11: "This Little Piggy Went to Marquette" |
| 1972 | The Manhunter | Teresa Taylor | TV Movie |
| 1972 | Banacek | Holly Allencamp | Season 1 Episode 1: "Let's Hear It for a Living Legend" |
| 1972 | Mission: Impossible | Adele Cooper | Season 7 Episode 10: "Ultimatum" |
| 1972 | Ghost Story | Georgia Strauss | Season 1 Episode 12: "Creatures of the Canyon" |
| 1973 | Poor Devil | Frances Emerson | TV Movie |
| 1973 | Barnaby Jones | Myra Stayley | Season 2 Episode 8: "The Deadly Prize" |
| 1973 | Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law | Neva Boland | Season 3 Episode 10: "Snatches of a Crazy Song" |
| 1974 | The Sex Symbol | Joy Hudson | TV Movie |
| 1974 | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | Maria | Season 1 Episode 6: "Firefall" |
| 1974–1976 | Cannon | Gloria Norlan / Phyllis Behr | 2 episodes |
| 1975 | Police Story | Sue Ellen | Season 2 Episode 13: "Headhunter" |
| 1975 | Baretta | Sharon Fowler | Season 1 Episode 1: "He'll Never See Daylight" |
| 1975 | Petrocelli | Ellen Walker | Season 1 Episode 17: "A Lonely Victim" |
| 1975 | Medical Story | Mrs. Doran | TV Movie |
| 1975–1977 | Switch | Evelynn Thurston / Donna Mendarez | 2 episodes |
| 1976 | Starsky and Hutch | Belinda Williams | Season 1 Episode 17: "Losing Streak" |
| 1976 | The Streets of San Francisco | Crystal | Season 4 Episode 20: "Clown of Death" |
| 1976–1977 | Executive Suite | Hilary Mason/Madison | Series regular |
| 1977 | We've Got Each Other | Millie | Season 1 Episode 7: "A Space Odyssey" |
| 1978 | The Tony Randall Show | Evelyn | Season 2 Episode 19: "Phantom of the Poconos" |
| 1979 | The Best Place to Be | Emily Stockwood | TV Movie |
| 1979 | Charlie's Angels | Georgia | Season 4 Episode 7: "Angels on the Street" |
| 1979 | Hart to Hart | Charlotte Fleming | Season 1 Episode 8: "Max in Love" |
| 1979 | Goldie and the Boxer | Marsha | TV Movie |
| 1979–1983 | CHiPs | Madlyn Rhue (uncredited) / Mildred Sloane | 3 episodes |
| 1980 | Quincy M.E. | Laura Stedman | Season 5 Episode 16: "Unhappy Hour" |
| 1981 | Dynasty | Lucy | 2 episodes |
| 1981 | Diff'rent Strokes | Tina Claremont | Season 4 Episode 3: "The Model" |
| 1982 | Fantasies | Rebecca | TV Movie |
| 1982 | Fantasy Island | Lillie Langtry | Season 6 Episode 3: "The Perfect Gentleman/Legend" |
| 1982 | Games Mother Never Taught You | | TV Movie |
| 1982–1984 | Days of Our Lives | Daphne DiMera | 66 episodes |
| 1982–1985 | Fame | Mrs. Angela Schwartz | 8 episodes |
| 1986 | Bridges to Cross | Carolyn Ryan | Series regular |
| 1987 | L.A. Law | Judge Wyatt (uncredited) | Season 2 Episode 3: "Cannon of Ethics" |
| 1987–1988 | Houston Knights | Annie Hartung | 18 episodes (Recurring role) |
| 1989 | Trial by Jury | Judge | Season 1 Episode 1: "Episode #1.1" |
| 1989-1996 | Murder, She Wrote | (1) Doris West (2) (3) (4) (5) Jean O'Neill | (1) Season 6 Episode 2: "Seal of the Confessional" (1989) (2) Season 10 Episode 3: "The Legacy of Borbey House" (1993) (3) Season 10 Episode 21: "Wheel of Death" (1994) (4) Season 12 Episode 5: "Home Care" (1995) (5) Season 12 Episode 14: "Murder on Tempo" (1996) |
| 1991 | A Mother's Justice | Lois Greenfield | TV Movie |