Louise Latham

Johnie Louise Latham was born on September 23, 1922, in Hamilton, Texas, into a family with deep ranching roots in San Saba and Mason counties. She attended the Hockaday School in Dallas, where her classmates included the future screenwriter Jay Presson Allen. Latham went on to build a career as a stage, film, and television actress, and she died on February 12, 2018, at Casa Dorinda, a retirement community in Montecito, California, at the age of 95.

Latham's Broadway career spanned from 1956 to 1962 and encompassed three productions. She appeared in the 1956 revival of Major Barbara, followed by Invitation to a March in 1960 and Isle of Children in 1962. Her stage work extended beyond Broadway to include performances under the personal direction of Margo Jones at Theater '54 in Dallas, Texas, and a 1958 touring production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Her transition to film came with Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie in 1964, in which she played Bernice Edgar. The role marked her film debut and, by her own account, proved transformative to her career. Subsequent film appearances included Firecreek (1968), Adam at 6 A.M. (1970), White Lightning (1973), The Sugarland Express (1974), Winter Kill (1974), Mass Appeal (1984), The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), Paradise (1991), and Love Field (1992).

The majority of Latham's professional work took place in television. She made two appearances on Perry Mason in 1965, playing Matilda Shore in "The Case of the Careless Kitten" and Shirley Logan in "The Case of the Cheating Chancellor." On Family Affair, she played Aunt Fran in the series' first episode, and on The Waltons she appeared as Olivia's Aunt Kate. Her character Betsy Chandler appeared in the 1967 series finale of The Fugitive, in which she was the first to learn the true circumstances surrounding Dr. Richard Kimble's wife's death. On Bonanza, she portrayed Willie Mae Rikeman in the 1966 episode "A Real Nice, Friendly Little Town" and Mrs. Harriet Clinton in the 1971 episode "The Silent Killer." She was also a regular cast member of the short-lived 1976 CBS series Sara, and appeared on Designing Women as Perky, the mother of Julia and Suzanne Sugarbaker. Additional television credits include The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Gunsmoke, Kojak, Hawaii Five-O, Ironside, Columbo, Quincy M.E., Rhoda, Murder She Wrote, The Streets of San Francisco, The X-Files, and the 1967 episode "Genesis" of The Invaders.

Latham was married twice, first to Raymond Pittman and subsequently to television producer Paul Picard, with both marriages ending in divorce.