Shirley Ballard

Marian Shirley Ballard, born on September 21, 1925, in Los Angeles to George Kenneth Ballard and Mildred Randell Ballard, was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her father worked as a bookkeeper and her mother was a homemaker. In 1944, Ballard won the Miss California beauty pageant. She was married to actor Jason Evers from December 1953 to September 1966. Ballard died on October 27, 2012, and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

Ballard appeared on Broadway between 1952 and 1957, with credits including The Seven Year Itch and the comedy Fair Game. Her stage career was rooted in work she developed while associated with San Francisco, California.

Her screen career began in the late 1940s with uncredited appearances, including a role as a showgirl in Easter Parade in 1948 and as a girl on a bike in It's a Great Feeling in 1949. She appeared in several films in 1950, including Tarzan and the Slave Girl, The Second Woman as Vivian Sheppard, The Desert Hawk as Naga, and The Fargo Phantom as Pat Condon, the latter released under the name Shirlee Allard. Additional film credits include Scandal Sheet in 1952, Cop Hater in 1958 as Alice Maguire, and The Laughing Policeman in 1973 as Grace Martin.

Ballard also worked in television, appearing in one episode of Bonanza as Belle Trask and in the Twilight Zone episode "Person or Persons Unknown" as Wilma No. 1.