Louise Latham (September 23, 1922 – February 12, 2018) was an American actress, perhaps best known for her portrayal of Bernice Edgar in Alfred Hitchcock's 1964 film Marnie.

Louise Latham
Born(1922-09-23)September 23, 1922
DiedFebruary 12, 2018(2018-02-12) (aged 95)
OccupationActress
Years active1961–2000
Spouse(s)Raymond Archibald Pittman Jr
Paul Picard

Background

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Latham was born on September 23, 1922, in Hamilton, Texas.[1] She came from a long line of ranchers, mostly around San Saba and Mason counties.[2] Latham attended the Hockaday School in Dallas, where one of her classmates was future screenwriter Jay Presson Allen.[3]

Career

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Television

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Most of Latham's work was on television. In 1965, she made two appearances on Perry Mason: Matilda Shore in "The Case of the Careless Kitten" and Shirley Logan in "The Case of the Cheating Chancellor".

She made an appearance on The Waltons, playing Olivia's Aunt Kate, who consoles Olivia through her ordeal with menopause. She also appeared in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Kojak, Hawaii Five-O, Ironside, Columbo, Quincy, M.E., Rhoda, Murder, She Wrote, and The Streets of San Francisco. On Family Affair, she appeared as Aunt Fran, who leaves Buffy (Anissa Jones) in the care of Uncle Bill (Brian Keith) in the show's first episode. On Bonanza in the 1966 episode "A Real Nice, Friendly Little Town", she was Willie Mae Rikeman, and in the 1971 episode "The Silent Killer", she was Mrs. Harriet Clinton). She appeared on Designing Women as Perky, the mother of Julia and Suzanne Sugarbaker, The X-Files, and The Invaders in the 1967 episode "Genesis". Latham's character (Betsy Chandler) was the first to learn the real circumstances of Dr. Richard Kimble's wife's death (Helen) in the final episode of The Fugitive (1967). She was a regular in the cast of the short-lived 1976 CBS series Sara.

Film

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Latham's role in Marnie (1964), her film debut, proved to be a turning point in her career. A newspaper's photo caption in 1965 noted:

A stage actress, Louise now leans to making films because "Marnie changed my life, satisfied my soul," she says, "now I want some more of the same."[4]

She also appeared in such films as Firecreek (1968), Adam at 6 A.M. (1970), White Lightning (1973), The Sugarland Express (1974), Winter Kill (1974), Mass Appeal (1984), The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), Paradise (1991), and Love Field (1992).

Stage

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Latham's Broadway credits include the 1956 revival of Major Barbara, Invitation to a March (1960), and Isle of Children (1962).[5]

Her other stage performances included work "under the personal direction of Margo Jones" in Theater '54 in Dallas, Texas.[6] In 1958, she was in a touring company that performed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.[7]

Personal life and death

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Latham was married twice, first to Raymond Pittman and then to TV producer Paul Picard (both unions ending in divorce). She died on February 12, 2018, at Casa Dorinda, a retirement community in Montecito, California, at the age of 95.[8][9]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1964 Marnie Bernice Edgar
1967 Johnny Belinda Mrs. McKee TV movie
1968 Firecreek Dulcie
1969 Hail, Hero! Miss Mirabel
1970 Adam at 6 A.M. Mrs. Hopper
1971 Making It Mrs. Wilson
Sweet, Sweet Rachel Lillian Piper TV movie
The Harness Emma Randall TV movie
1972 Invitation to a March Lily Brown TV movie
1973 Savage Marian Stern TV movie
White Lightning Martha Culpepper
Dying Room Only Vi TV movie
1974 Tell Me Where It Hurts Louise TV movie
The Sugarland Express Mrs. Looby
Winter Kill Doris TV movie
1975 Shell Game Constance Margolin TV movie
92 in the Shade Mrs. Skelton
1976 Territorial Men Martha Higgins TV movie
33 Hours in the Life of God Nurse Levitt TV movie
1977 Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model? Mrs. Schroeder TV movie
The Ghost of Cypress Swamp Ma Landers TV movie
In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan Sister Mary Luke TV movie
1979 Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill Fanny TV movie
1980 The Ghosts of Buxley Hall Bettina Buxley TV movie
1981 Thin Ice Mrs. McCormick TV movie
1982 Pray TV Mrs. Oakes TV movie
Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal Pat Kinsman TV movie
1984 The Philadelphia Experiment Pamela
Obsessive Love Mrs. Foster TV movie
Mass Appeal Margaret
1985 Love Lives On Nana TV movie
Toughlove Mrs. Griffin TV movie, Uncredited
1987 Stillwatch Lila Thatcher TV movie
1989 Settle the Score Helen Whately TV movie
1991 The Haunted Mary Smurl TV movie
Crazy from the Heart Mae Esther TV movie
Paradise Catherine Reston Lee
1992 Love Field Mrs. Enright
1994 In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride & Madness Delores Lynch TV movie
1996 Mary & Tim Forbsie TV movie

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1961 Armstrong Circle Theatre Faye Episode: "The Fortune Tellers"
1965 The Doctors and the Nurses Mrs. Franks Episode: "Night of the Witch"
The F.B.I. Mrs. Collier Episode: "How to Murder an Iron Horse"
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Maude Isles Episode: "An Unlocked Window"
The Rogues Catherine DeMontrachet Episode: "The Laughing Lady of Luxor"
Mr. Novak Adele Episode: "And Then I Wrote"
Perry Mason Shirley Logan Episode: "The Case of the Cheating Chancellor"
Ben Casey Ellen Carter Episode: "If You Play Your Cards Right, You Too Can Be a Loser"
1966 A Man Called Shenandoah Cora Eldridge Episode: "The Death of Matthew Eldridge"
The F.B.I. Ethel Wallace Episode: "The Price of Death"
Run for Your Life Claire Burden Episode: "The Last Safari"
Bonanza Willie Mae Rikeman Episode: "A Real Nice, Friendly Little Town"
1966-1968 Family Affair Fran Heiger Recurring role
1967 The Invaders Joan Corman Episode: "Genesis"
The Fugitive Betsy Chandler Episode: "The Judgment: Part II"
The F.B.I. Barbara Griswold Episode: "By Force and Violence"
1968 NET Playhouse Episode: "Home"
The Outsider Frances Dustin Episode: "A Wide Place in the Road"
CBS Playhouse Mrs. Meridan Episode: "Saturday Adoption"
Gunsmoke Polly Cade Episode: "Waco"
1969 The F.B.I. Edith Bender Episode: "The Attorney"
Judd, for the Defense Claire Beeton Episode: "Between the Dark and the Daylight"
The Young Lawyers Maria Cannon Episode: "The Young Lawyers"
Ironside Wanda Episode: "Poole's Paradise"
Gunsmoke Louise Driscoll Episode: "The Mark of Cain"
Phoebe Clifford Episode: "Hawk"
Emilie Sadler Episode: "Roots of Fear"
1970 Claire Gentry Episode: "Gentry's Law"
The Name of the Game Miss Digby Episode: "The King of Denmark"
1971 Helen Bigelow Episode: "LA 2017"
Bonanza Mrs. Harriet Clinton Episode: "The Silent Killer"
Medical Center Mrs. Whitlock Episode: "Suspected"
Ironside Martha Gordon Episode: "The Priest Killer"
McCloud Emily Cantrell Episode: "Encounter with Aries"
Longstreet Maxine Bailey Episode: "Spell Legacy Like Death"
1972 Cannon Mrs. Bolinger Episode: "A Deadly Quiet Town"
Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law Frances Fisher Episode: "A Question of Degree"
The Sixth Sense Mrs. Bennett Episode: "Eye of the Haunted"
Hawaii Five-O Mrs. Klein Episode: "Pig in a Blanket"
The Streets of San Francisco Harriet Sensibaugh Episode: "In the Midst of Strangers"
Young Dr. Kildare Mrs. Field Episode: "The Legacy"
1973 Hec Ramsey Willa Hollister Episode: "The Mystery of Chalk Hill"
Kojak Madge Donnelly Episode: "Requiem for a Cop"
Columbo Mrs. Norris Episode: "Double Exposure"
1974 Gunsmoke Joan Shepherd Episode: "To Ride a Yeller Horse"
The Wide World of Mystery Anne Episode: "The Book of Murder"
Rhoda Louise Shattner Episode: "The Lady in Red"
Medical Center Mrs. Tully Episode: "Heel of the Tyrant"
Lucas Tanner Mrs. Gibbons Episode: "Cheers"
1975 The Six Million Dollar Man Ms. Hallaway Episode: "Clark Templeton O'Flaherty"
1976 McNaughton's Daughter Cassy Garnett Miniseries
Sara Martha Higgins Recurring role
Great Performances Mrs. Winemiller Episode: "Eccentricities of a Nightingale"
Good Heavens Bertha Salnick Episode: "The Queen's Rook Club"
1977 Visions Mary Blakemore Episode: "All I Could See from Where I Stood"
The Waltons Aunt Kate Grover Daly 2 episodes
Disneyland Ma Landers Episode: "The Ghost of Cypress Swamp"
1977-1979 Eight Is Enough Katherine Mitchell Recurring role
1978 Quincy, M.E. Nurse Katherine Lowry Episode: "Matters of Life and Death"
The Awakening Land Jary Luckett Episode: "The Trees"
1979 Backstairs at the White House Housekeeper Nesbitt Miniseries
Big Shamus, Little Shamus Eleanor Episode: "The Canary"
1980 Scruples Mary Ann Evans Miniseries
CHiPs Lucy Kenton Episode: "Nightingale"
The Contender Alma Captor Miniseries
Family Elaine Hogan Episode: "The Ties That Bind"
Disneyland Bettina Buxley Episode: "The Ghosts of Buxley Hall"
1986 Highway to Heaven Mildred Kelsey Episode: "Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kind"
Dress Gray Mrs. Loerna Tutwiler Miniseries
Hotel Jenny Lucas Episode: "Double Jeopardy"
Fresno Ethel Duke Miniseries
Designing Women Mrs. Perky Sugarbaker Episode: "Perky's Visit"
1988 CBS Summer Playhouse Mrs. Harding Episode: "My Africa"
Hothouse Louise Dougherty Recurring role
Hunter Emily Hill Episode: "No Good Deed Ever Goes Unpunished"
1989 Falcon Crest Irene Episode: "Ties That Bind"
1991 Roc Mrs. Hope Episode: "A Home, a Loan"
1992 Cruel Doubt Polly Bates Miniseries
Murder, She Wrote Mrs. Oates Episode: "The Classic Murder"
1993 Against the Grain Hilda Episode: "A House Is Not a Home"
1995 Earth 2 Old Lydia Episode: "Natural Born Grendlers"
1996 In Cold Blood Eunice Hickock Miniseries
1997 ER Mrs. Cupertino Episode: "Faith"
Total Security Zoe Gareth Episode: "Wet Side Story"
2000 The X-Files Marjorie Butters Episode: "En Ami"

References

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  1. ^ "Louise Latham of Santa Barbara, 1922-2018". 17 February 2018.
  2. ^ Kleiner, Dick (February 24, 1965). "Hollywood Today". Standard-Speaker. Standard-Speaker. p. 19. Retrieved November 1, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ The Trouble with Marnie (2000, dir. Laurent Bouzereau). Universal.
  4. ^ "(photo caption)". The Courier News. The Courier News. February 23, 1965. p. 2. Retrieved November 1, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  5. ^ "Louise Latham". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  6. ^ Comerer, Marshall (November 30, 1954). "Humor Lacking In Theater '54 'As You Like It'". Corsicana Daily Sun. Corsicana Daily Sun. p. 4. Retrieved November 1, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  7. ^ "Pocono Playhouse: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (advertisement)". The Pocono Record. The Pocono Record. September 6, 1958. p. 5. Retrieved November 1, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  8. ^ Noozhawk (17 February 2018). "Louise Latham of Santa Barbara, 1922-2018".
  9. ^ "Louise Latham, Tippi Hedren's Mother in Hitchcock's 'Marnie,' Dies at 95". The Hollywood Reporter. 22 March 2018.
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