
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Born
December 26, 1929
Died
April 23, 2017 (age 87)
Also Known As
Betty Jane Crowley
Kathleen Crowley
Biography
Betty Jane Kathleen Crowley (born December 26, 1931) was an American actress and was Miss New Jersey in 1949 and a contestant for Miss America in the same year (she came in sixth). After the pageants, she became an actress who specialized in being phenomenally seductive in TV series and movies. Most well known for playing a variety of sirens in TV's Maverick (1957) opposite James Garner, Jack Kelly, and Roger Moore, she appears in eight episodes, a series record for leading ladies; "The Jeweled Gun" (with Jack Kelly), "Maverick Springs" (with James Garner and Jack Kelly), "The Misfortune Teller" (with Garner), "A Bullet for the Teacher" (with Roger Moore), "Kiz" (with Moore), and "Dade City Dodge," "The Troubled Heir," and "One of Our Trains Is Missing," with Kelly. Crowley made 81 television appearances on various series and appeared in twenty movies between 1951 and 1970 (one of her last movie roles was in Downhill Racer with Robert Redford). Many of her films were low-budget sci-fi and horror movies, but she seemed to appear in practically every narrative television series produced in the late '50s and '60s, including Bourbon Street Beat, Surfside 6, Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip, Bat Masterson, Bonanza, Branded, My Three Sons, Donna Reed, Perry Mason, Checkmate, Bronco, Route 66, Thriller, Batman, Disneyland, Family Affair, Rawhide, The Lone Ranger, and many others.
Crowley was often confused with her acting contemporary Pat Crowley (frequently billed as "Patricia Crowley"), who appeared as guest leading lady in different episodes of many of the same television series and was not related. The two Crowleys were apparently never cast in the same episode.
In the Philip Roth novel American Pastoral, the protagonist marries Miss New Jersey 1949, in the book named Dawn Dwyer and having few similarities to Crowley's post-Miss New Jersey life (including a poorer finish in the Miss America pageant).
Description above from the Wikipedia article Kathleen Crowley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For

TV
Family Affair
1966

TV
Perry Mason
Marylin Clark
1957

TV
Perry Mason
Lillian Bradisson
1957

TV
Perry Mason
Grace Knapp
1957

TV
Bonanza
Kathleen aka Quick-Buck Kate
1959

TV
Bonanza
Mademoiselle Denise
1959

TV
Batman
Sophia Starr
1966

TV
Maverick
1957

TV
Maverick
Daisy Harris
1957

TV
Climax!
Laura Harriss
1954

TV
Climax!
Louise
1954

TV
Climax!
Sally
1954

TV
Climax!
Jeanne Warren
1954

TV
The Virginian
Jennifer McLeod
1962

TV
Cheyenne
1955

TV
Matinee Theater
1955

TV
Robert Montgomery Presents
Esther Blodgett
1950

TV
Hawaiian Eye
1959

TV
Bat Masterson
Jo Hart
1958

TV
Bat Masterson
Mari Brewster
1958
Filmography
1970FilmThe Lawyeras Alice Fiske1969FilmDownhill Raceras American Newspaper Woman1967TVThe High Chaparralas Countess Maria Kettenden von München1966TVFamily Affair1966TVBatmanas Sophia Starr1965TVGidget1965TVBranded1963TVRedigo1963FilmShowdownas Estelle1963FilmFBI Code 98as Marian Nichols1962TVThe Virginianas Jennifer McLeod1961TVThe Americans1960TVRoute 661960TVSurfside 61960TVCheckmateas Pauline Spencer1960TVThrilleras Dr. Lois Walker1959FilmCurse of the Undeadas Dolores Carter1959TVHawaiian Eye1959TVBourbon Street Beat1959TVBonanzaas Kathleen aka Quick-Buck Kate1959FilmThe Rebel Setas Jeanne Mapes1958TV77 Sunset Strip1958TVBat Mastersonas Jo Hart1958TVYancy Derringeras Desiree1958TVThe Donna Reed Show1958TVBronco1958FilmThe Flame Barrieras Carol Dahlmann1957TVMaverick1957TVPerry Masonas Marylin Clark1957FilmThe Quiet Gunas Teresa Carpenter1957FilmThe Phantom Stagecoachas Fran Maroon1956FilmWestward Ho, The Wagons!as Laura Thompson1956TVTales of the 77th Bengal Lancers1956FilmFemale Jungleas Peggy Voe1955TVMatinee Theater1955FilmSeven Cities of Goldas Mother1955TVThe 20th Century Fox Hour1955TVCheyenne1955FilmCity of Shadowsas Fern Fellows1955FilmTen Wanted Men1954FilmTarget Earthas Nora King1954TVClimax!as Laura Harriss1953TVCity Detective1953FilmSabre Jetas Susan Crenshaw1953FilmThe Farmer Takes a Wifeas Susanna1953FilmThe Silver Whipas Kathy Riley1953TVGeneral Electric Theateras Mary1952TVCavalcade of Americaas Abigail Paddock1951TVSchlitz Playhouse of Stars1950TVLux Video Theatreas Dot1950TVRobert Montgomery Presentsas Esther Blodgett