Julie Newmar

Her father, Don, was a one-time professional football player (LA Buccaneers, 1926), her mother, Helen Jesmer, was a star of the Follies of 1920 and later became a fashion designer under the professional name of Chalene. From an early age, Julie studied piano, dance, and classical ballet. She graduated from high school at the age of 15, and spent a year touring Europe with her mother and brother. She became prima ballerina for the Los Angeles Opera. She attended UCLA studying classical piano, philosophy, and French.

Julia Chalene Newmeyer was born on August 16, 1933, in Los Angeles, California, the eldest of three children.

Has two younger brothers: Peter (1935-62), who died in a skiing accident, and John (b. 1942).

Newmar went to New York and tried out for Broadway musicals; in 1955, she made her Broadway debut as the ballerina in "Silk Stockings. " She won acclaim for her role as Stupefyin' Jones in "Li'l Abner. " Though audiences and critics alike were stupefied by her good looks, that was not the compliment Newmar wanted. Newmar wanted to be known for her comedy, as she told the New York Times: "Tell me I'm funny, and it's the greatest compliment in the world. " She had beauty, brains and a fantastic sense of humor. Promoting her various Broadway and off-Broadway show appearances, she often posed as a pin-up girl.

Making the transition to television, Newmar appeared in Rod Serling's science-fiction series The Twilight Zone (1959), playing Miss Devlin (devil).

)Newmar was very busy in the 1960s and 1970s, making guest appearances in many television series and several television movies. She toured the country in stage productions of "Damn Yankees" and "Dames at Sea," among others.

As physical perfection, Julie was perfect to play Rhoda the Robot in My Living Doll (1964); the sitcom had an enthusiastic cult following.

In 1966, urged on by her friends, she tried out for and was cast as Catwoman (a character she had never heard of) in the wildly popular television series Batman (1966) Due to a movie commitment, Newmar was unavailable to play Catwoman in the third season. (Her part was taken by Eartha Kitt.

She appeared in Monsieur Lecoq (1967), which was unfinished and abandoned.

Invented and marketed her own brand of pantyhose in the 1970s and 1980s.

Becoming an entrepreneur, in 1977, Newmar turned up in People Magazine wearing her new invention, Nudemar pantyhose.

Has appeared in episodes of two science-fiction series with Sid Haig: Jason of Star Command (1978) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979).

In the 1980s, She appeared in nine films while she was busy raising her son and working in the real-estate business. Newmar went back to UCLA to take a few real-estate courses.

Gave birth to her only child at age 47, a son named John Jewl Smith, on February 25, 1981. Child's father is her ex-husband, J. Holt Smith.

She appeared in the music video "Too Funky" by George Michael. [1992]

Has her name mentioned in the title of the comedy To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), while the plot revolves, partly, around an autographed publicity photograph of her.

In November 2004 the former "Catwoman" had a different type of cat fight on her hands. Her next-door neighbor, Jim Belushi, sued her for $4 million, alleging harassment and defamation of character. Their openly hostile neighborhood feud had reportedly been going on for years. Newmar, an avid community advocate who once fought for restrictions on noisy leaf-blowers, once threw an egg at Belushi's house in retaliation for a noisy air-conditioner. The suit includes vandalism and spying.