American actressNot to be confused with Lisa Gaye (actress, born 1960).

Leslie Gaye Griffin (March 6, 1935 – July 14, 2016), better known as Lisa Gaye, was an American actress, and dancer.

Contents

• 1 Early years
• 2 Career
• 3 Television
• 4 Personal life
• 5 Selected filmography
  • 5.1 Other television credits
• 6 References
• 7 External links

Early years

Gaye was born in Denver, Colorado to Frank Henry Griffin, a painter, and Margaret Allen Griffin (née Gibson), an actress.

The Griffin family moved from Denver to Los Angeles, California, in the 1930s to be close to the developing film industry. Her mother was determined that Gaye and her siblings make their careers in show business. Her siblings, Judith (Teala Loring), Debralee (Debra Paget), and Frank (Ruell Shayne), all entered the business as either cast or crew.

She attended Hollywood's Professional School.

Career

Gaye made her first professional film appearance at the age of 7. At 17, she signed a seven-year contract with Universal Studios and was enrolled in the studio's professional school for actors and actresses.

She began her acting career with two uncredited cameos in 1953–54. Her first starring role was in Drums Across the River (1954). She appeared in 13 films between 1954 and 1967, including Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), Hawaiian Eye (1959) and How to Marry a Millionaire (1957).

On stage, Gaye acted in a production of Merry Wives of Windsor when she was 12 years old. In 1957, she made her stage adult debut in Darling, I'm Yours in San Francisco.

Television

Among Gaye's television appearances were three episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show in 1956, 13 episodes of The Bob *mings Show as Colette Dubois, five episodes each of the ABC/Warner Brothers detective series, Hawaiian Eye and 77 Sunset Strip, two episodes of another ABC-WB series, Bourbon Street Beat, seven episodes of CBS's Perry Mason, and eleven episodes of the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, along with several episodes of Sea Hunt.

She appears in one episode of Zorro in the 1957 season (Episode 13, Constance). She appeared twice in Have Gun - Will Travel in 1957 as Helen in "Helen of Abajinian", and as Nancy in "Gun Shy" (along with Dan Blocker, Corey Allen and Jeanette Nolan), and in the Science Fiction Theatre episode "Gravity Zero" as Elisabeth. She made a single appearance in the 1959 episode "The Peace Offering" of the syndicated western series, Pony Express, starring Grant Sullivan. Among her seven appearances on Perry Mason, Gaye played Rita Magovern who Mason exposed as the murderer of her husband Karl in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Traveling Treasure." Also in 1961, Gaye appeared as a Spanish woman tied up in a revolution against the United States in an episode of the Maverick TV Series *led State of Siege. She also appeared in several episodes of the Bat Masterson TV series. In two 1959 episodes; in "Sharpshooter", she played Laurie LaRue, the stage *istant and wife of stage sharpshooter, Danny Dowling. She also appeared in the 1959 episode "Buffalo Kill" as Susan. In the 1961 episode of Bat Masterson, "The Fatal Garment", she portrayed Elena, a Mexican Cantina owner.

In 1959, she was cast as June Webster in the episode "Law West of the Pecos" of the ABC/WB western series, Colt .45, with Wayde Preston and Frank Ferguson in the role of Judge Roy Bean, justice of the peace in Langtry, Texas.

In 1965, Gaye was cast opposite Jesse Pearson in the episode "The Rider" of the syndicated western series, Death Valley Days. In the story line, Gaye as the widowed Faith Turner puts up a sign seeking a husband for herself and a father for her son. Pearson, as mail rider Jim Barnes, tries to help her find a suitable mate. In another Death Valley Days episode in 1968, Gaye played the gambler-turned-Sunday school-teacher Lottie Deno in the episode, "Lottie's Legacy". In the dramatization, Lottie falls in love with the Reverend Peter Green (John Clarke), who does not know the details of her past.

Personal life

Gaye was married in 1955 to Bently C. Ware; the marriage ended with his death in 1977; the couple had one daughter, Janelle. She died in Houston, Texas, on July 14, 2016.

Selected filmography

• The Glenn Miller Story (1954) - Bobbysoxer (uncredited)
• Yankee Pasha (1954) - Harem Girl (uncredited)
• Drums Across the River (1954) - Jennie
• Magnificent Obsession (1954) - Switchboard Girl (uncredited)
• Ain't Misbehavin' (1955) - Chorine (uncredited)
• Rock Around the Clock (1956) - Lisa Johns
• Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956) - June Fitzdingle
• Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957) - Ana Martelli
• Sweethearts (1957)
• Night of Evil (1962) - Dixie Ann Dikes
• La cara del terror (1962) - Norma Borden
• Castle of Evil (1966) - Carrol Harris
• The Violent Ones (1967) - Dolores

Other television credits

• Annie Oakley (1956) - Vera Barker
• The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1956) - Carol Rogers / Felicia Norris / Mary Brewster
• The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956-1957) - Maria Miro / Jeanne Br*eaur
• Have Gun – Will Travel (1957-1958) - Nancy Warren / Helen Abajinian
• The Walter Winchell File (1958) - Doris Carter
• Tombstone Territory (1958-1959) - Nancy Cooley / Miss Lizette
• How to Marry a Millionaire (1958-1959) - Gwen Kirby
• Perry Mason (1958-1966) - Laraine Keely / Pamela Blair / Joyce Hadley / Alyssa Laban / Rita Magovern / Lola Bronson / Juror
• Sea Hunt (1959) - Ann Barry / June Leeds / Philana / Louise Wiley / Blaze Green
• Bat Masterson (1959-1961) - Elena / Susan Carver / Lori Dowling / Lori La Rue
• Men Into Space (1960) - Joyce Lynn
• Wanted: Dead or Alive (1960) - Susan Marno
• Cheyenne (1960) - Francie Scott / Jenny Beaumont
• Rawhide (1960) - Odette Laurier
• Death Valley Days (1960-1969) - Lisa Tracy / Lottie Deno / Mystic Maude / Rosie Winters / Gypsy / Faith Turner / Lena / Tacilia - Healing Woman / Delores / Raquel / Yvonne Benet
• 77 Sunset Strip, The Desert Spa Caper (09/29/1961) - Janet Hubbell
• Maverick (1961) - Soledad Lozaro
• Wagon Train (1961) - Alma Mendez
• Tales of Wells Fargo (1961) - Sunset / Michelle Bovarde
• Laramie (1962) - Winona
• The Wild Wild West (1966-1967) - Lana Benson / Lorelei
• The Time Tunnel (1967) - Ahza
• Get Smart (1967) - Miss Smith
• I Dream of Jeannie (1968) - Daisy Lou
• The Flying Nun (1969) - Rosita / Elena
• The Mod Squad (1970) - Yolanda (final appearance)

References

External links

• Lisa Gaye at IMDb
• The Private Life and Times of Lisa Gaye
• Biography