Julie Newmar

Julie Newmar, born Julia Chalene Newmeyer on August 16, 1933, in Los Angeles, California, is an American actress, dancer, singer, writer, lingerie designer, and real estate entrepreneur. The eldest of three children born to Don and Helene Newmeyer, she grew up in a household shaped by athletics and design: her father headed the physical education department at Los Angeles City College and had played professional football with the 1926 Los Angeles Buccaneers of the National Football League, while her Swedish-French mother worked as a fashion designer under the professional name Chalene and later became a real estate investor. Newmar began dancing at a young age and performed as a prima ballerina with the Los Angeles Opera at fifteen.

Before reaching Broadway, Newmar worked as a dancer and choreographer for Universal Studios from the age of nineteen and appeared in a series of film roles, including parts in Slaves of Babylon and Serpent of the Nile, both in 1953, as well as The Band Wagon and Demetrius and the Gladiators in 1953 and 1954 respectively. Billed as Julie Newmeyer, she took her first major film role as Dorcas, one of the brides, in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in 1954.

Newmar made her Broadway debut in 1955 as Vera in Silk Stockings, starring Hildegarde Neff and Don Ameche. The following year she originated the role of Stupefyin' Jones in the Broadway production of Li'l Abner, remaining with the production from November 1956 through July 1958 and later appearing in the 1959 film adaptation. She also appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies in 1956. When The Marriage-Go-Round opened on Broadway, Newmar played Swedish vixen Katrin Sveg, a performance that earned her the 1959 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She reprised the role in the 1961 film version, starring alongside James Mason and Susan Hayward, and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Most Promising Newcomer as a result. Also in 1961, she appeared in Sam Spewack's play Once There Was a Russian, which ran for only a single performance. Newmar later starred opposite Joel Grey in the national tour of Stop the World – I Want to Get Off, which ran from March to October 1963. Her Broadway activity spanned the years 1955 to 1962.

On television, Newmar became widely recognized for playing Catwoman in the series Batman from 1966 to 1967, a role she later reprised in the animated films Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders in 2016 and Batman vs. Two-Face in 2017, fifty years after the original series. She also starred as Rhoda the Robot in My Living Doll from 1964 to 1965. Her extensive television guest work included appearances on The Twilight Zone, Route 66, F Troop, Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, Get Smart, The Monkees, Star Trek, It Takes a Thief, Hart to Hart, Columbo, The Bionic Woman, and numerous other programs. In 2003, she appeared as herself in the television movie Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt alongside former Batman co-stars Adam West, Burt Ward, Frank Gorshin, and Lee Meriwether. In 2019, she played Dr. Julia Hoffman in the audio drama miniseries Dark Shadows: Bloodline.

Beyond performing, Newmar appeared in George Michael's 1992 music video for the single Too Funky and had a cameo as herself in the 1995 film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. In the 1970s, she received two United States patents for pantyhose, marketed under the name Nudemar, and two patents for a brassiere design. Newmar has two younger brothers: Peter Bruce Newmeyer, who died in a skiing accident, and John A. Newmeyer, who became a writer, epidemiologist, and winemaker.