Female Leads on TV Trivia Quiz

Answer: Julia

"Julia" was a ground-breaking series that cast an African-American woman in a non-stereotypical leading role. Julia was a widowed single mom raising her son Corey (Marc Copage) while working as a nurse for the gruff but likable Dr. Chegley (Lloyd Nolan). Carroll broke into television when she appeared in the 1954 TV series "Chance of a Lifetime".

She also worked in movies and stage productions, but most prolifically on TV as guest spots and in anthology series. She contracted breast cancer in 1984, but was cured of it.

She also became an social advocate and helped founding the Celebrity Action Council, which is a rehab program that helps women with addiction problems. Carroll passe away in 2019 at age 84.

Answer: December Bride

Ms. Byington was interested in acting from an early age and performed in school plays and repertory companies. She gravitated to stage and appeared in several prominent plays before moving to motion pictures. Some of these films include "Dodsworth", "Jezebel" and "The Enchanted Cottage".

She also worked in radio where she developed her character Lily Ruskin on the show "December Bride". When the program moved to TV, Byington was also cast in the lead role where she portrayed a widow whose daughter (Frances Rafferty) is always trying to play matchmaker for her.

The TV show ran from 1954-59 after which she continued doing mainly guest spots on other TV series. She passed in 1971 at age 84 and donated her body to science.

Answer: Petticoat Junction

"Petticost Juntion" was part of the rural-themed programs that pervaded mid-1960s TV (e.g. "Green Acres", "Mayberry R.F.D.", "Hee Haw" and "The Beverly Hillbillies"). In this particular sitcom, Ms. Benadaret played Kate Bradley, the manager of the Shady Rest Hotel in Hooterville (the same setting as "Green Acres" often with characters crossing over between each show).

In residence at the hotel, among the occasional guest, were her three nubile daughters and bumbling, indolent Uncle Joe Carson (Edgar Buchanan) who supplied much of the predictable plots. Early in her career, Benadaret worked on the stage and radio in the San Francisco area.

She did voice work on radio and was a TV regular on the "George Burns and Gracie Allen Show". She also provided the voice for Betty Rubble for the first four seasons of the popular 1960s prime time animated cartoon "The Flintstones".

She was diagnosed with lung cancer while working on "Petticoat Junction" and was forced to miss 10 episodes as she underwent treatment and recovery, but her illness returned.

She passed away in 1968 at age 62.

Answer: Murphy Brown

Bergen was the daughter of famed ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. She started out as a model, but switched to acting and was cast in the movie "The Group". Subsequent movies include "The Sand Pebbles", "Carnal Knowledge", "Starting Over" and "Gandhi" among many others. Beside starring the the title role in the long-running TV series "Murphy Brown" where she played a news journalist and TV anchor, she had another successful role on "Boston Legal" and appeared in guest roles in many other TV programs. She reprised her role as Murphy Brown for a short-lived reboot of the series in 2018-19.

Answer: Wonder Woman

"Wonder Woman", originally a comic book heroine, had several incarnations on TV. The 1974 pilot starred Cathy Lee Crosby in the title role. When it became a regular series in 1975-76, Cater was cast in the title role and her adventures centered on helping the Allies in World War 2 with the assistance of Major Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner).

In 1977 the title changed to "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman" and was set in that time frame with Carter repeating her role and Waggoner still on hand as Steve Trevor, Jr. (Major Trevor's son and dead ringer).

These plots involved modern crime and espionage. Carter was Miss World USA in 1972. She is also a recording artist and has an album entitled "Portrait". She made many guest appearance on TV shows and some of her movie credits include "Lightning in a Bottle", "Sky High" and "Super Troopers".

Answer: The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.

Powers began her acting career in the early 1960 cast in supporting movie roles ("Experiment in Terror", McLintock"). These led to being cast as April Dancer in "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." which was a spin-off of the TV espionage adventure series "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.".

Her co-star in this series was Noel Harrison, son of actor Rex Harrison. She was married to actor Gary Lockwood (1966-72) and after that divorce, had a relationship with William Holden until his death. Arguably, her best remembered role was in "Hart to Hart" (1979-84) where she co-starred with Robert Wagner.

They played a wealthy, globe-trotting couple who always found themselves drawn into intrigue and adventure.

Answer: Honey West

Ms. Francis started as a child model after which she worked on Broadway. She broke in to movies in 1947 with a small role in "This Time for Keeps". Some of her more memorable film roles were in "Susan Slept Here", "Bad Day at Black Rock" and "Forbidden Planet".

She gravitated to television in the 1960s and made appearances as a guest star on many series and anthology shows including "The Twilight Zone", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.". Her first regular TV series began in 1965 when she was cast in the title role of "Honey West", which was a spin-off of "Burke's Law".

She played a glamorous private investigator who had an ocelot as a pet. She succumbed to cancer in 2011 at age 80.

Answer: Police Woman

Dickinson starred as Sgt. Pepper Anderson in "Police Woman" (1974-78), usually working undercover in various guises for the LAPD. Of course, while working as anything from a school teacher to a prostitute, she encountered many dangers and miscreants. She won a Golden Globe award for her work on the series.

She also had a very successful movie career appearing in such films as "Rio Bravo", "Ocean's Eleven" (both versions), "Sabrina" and "Cast a Giant Shadow". In her spare time, she plays poker and appeared in "Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown".

She retired from show business in 2009 after appearing in the made-for-TV movie "Mending Fences".

Answer: Annie Oakley

"Annie Oakley" (1954-57) followed the adventures of a female sharp-shooter in the American Old West. Not very historically accurate, it was meant to be mainly entertainment for children. She lived in the fictitious town of Diablo with her brother Tagg (Jimmy Hawkins) and was always ready to lend a hand and her firearms skills to local deputy Lofty Craig (Brad Johnson). Petite Ms. Davis was discovered by fellow western star Gene Autry and appeared with him in several of his movies.

In reality, she was actually a good rider and trick shooter, however, she was so typecast, she was unable to find many acting roles so she left acting to become a talent agent.

She passed in 1997 at age 71.

Answer: Sheena, Queen of the Jungle

Statuesque Irish McCalla started out as a model and was one of the Vargas girls (Vargas being a pin-up artist). She was cast as the athletic comic book heroine "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle" which aired in the 1955-56 season (26 episodes) after being "discovered" on Malibu Beach.

In this series, she was presented as a sort of female Tarzan who protected indigenous peoples and animals and kept company with a chimpanzee named Chan. After "Sheena" she appeared is several guest roles on "Have Gun, Will Travel" and "Route 66" and a few movies.

A gifted artist, she preferred painting to acting and was a member of Woman Artists of the American West and exhibited her works in museums. She lived to be 73 passing in 2002 from a stroke and other health complications.