Actresses from California

Gwen_Verdon

Gwyneth Evelyn "Gwen" Verdon (January 13, 1925 – October 18, 2000) was an American actress and dancer. She won four Tony Awards for her musical comedy performances, and she served as an uncredited choreographer's assistant and specialty dance coach for theater and film. Verdon was a critically acclaimed performer on Broadway in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, having originated many roles in musicals, including Lola in Damn Yankees, the title character in Sweet Charity, and Roxie Hart in Chicago.
Her second husband was director-choreographer Bob Fosse. The couple collaborated on a number of theater and film projects. After Fosse's death, she worked to preserve his legacy.

Jean_Howell

Jean Howell (November 21, 1927 – July 23, 1996) was an American television actress. She also appeared occasionally in films.
Howell was the daughter of Burl Howell and Esther Hyde ‘’Buddy’’ Howell, along with her sister Dixon. The family moved to Sebastopol, California area in 1935. She graduated in 1944 from Analy High School in Sebastopol, and later from the University of Washington.On stage, Howell acted in New York in summer stock theater and at the Horseshoe Theater in Los Angeles. Television programs on which she appeared included Perry Mason, Space Patrol, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Four Star Theater, Lux Video Theatre, and Telephone Time. Her films included the 1957 western Hell's Crossroads.Howell was married to actor Larry Thor for four months in 1956.In her later years, Howell was an advocate for environmental efforts to clean up Santa Monica Bay. She gave talks about ecology and also trained speakers for similar activities.Howell died of cancer on July 23, 1996, in Santa Monica, California. She was 68.

Betta_St._John

Betta St. John (born Betty Jean Striegler, November 26, 1929 – June 23, 2023) was an American actress, singer, and dancer who worked on Broadway, the West End, and in Hollywood films. She started her career aged 10 as a child actress in uncredited movie parts in her native USA. As an adult actress her first starring role was in the MGM film Dream Wife opposite Cary Grant in 1953. In 1954 she starred with Victor Mature in Dangerous Mission. Later residing in England she appeared in starring roles in British films including High Tide at Noon, two Tarzan films, and the horror features Corridors of Blood with Boris Karloff and Horror Hotel with Christopher Lee.
She was an inductee into the Hawthorne Hall of Fame in 2019.

Mari_Blanchard

Mari Blanchard (born Mary E. Blanchard, April 13, 1923 – May 10, 1970) was an American film and television actress, known foremost for her roles as a B movie femme fatale in American productions of the 1950s and early 1960s.

Dedee_Pfeiffer

Dorothy Diane "Dedee" Pfeiffer (born January 1, 1964) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in films include Vamp (1986), The Allnighter (1987) and The Horror Show (1989). Pfeiffer later starred as Cybill's daughter, Rachel, in the CBS sitcom Cybill (1995–1998) and as Sheri DeCarlo-Winston in the sitcom For Your Love (1998–2002). In 2020, she began starring as Denise Brisbane in the ABC crime drama series, Big Sky.

Helen_Westcott

Helen Westcott (born Myrthas Helen Hickman, January 1, 1928 – March 17, 1998) was an American stage and screen actress. A former child actress, she is best known for her work in The Gunfighter (1950).

Belinda_Balaski

Belinda Balaski (born December 8, 1947, in Inglewood, California) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Terri Fisher in Joe Dante's The Howling (1981), and has appeared in most of Dante's other films, including Piranha, Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Matinee and Small Soldiers, as well as two segments that Dante directed for Amazon Women on the Moon. She also co-starred in The Food of the Gods and Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw, both featuring Marjoe Gortner, and in Cannonball! as a navigator in a cross-country car race.Among many TV show appearances, she performed in two Baywatch episodes: Sharks Cove, 1992 Season 2 as a worried mother and Sail Away, 1996 Season 6 as Cleo Jennings.

Dorothy_DeBorba

Dorothy Adele DeBorba (March 28, 1925 – June 2, 2010) was an American child actress of Portuguese descent who was a regular in the Our Gang series of short subjects as the leading lady from 1930 to 1933.