Biography

Sally Mansfield was the daughter of Samuel Mahder (October 5, 1901 - April 14, 1970) and Marie (Strorigl) Mahder (October 24, 1900 - February 10, 1963) both born in Hungary. Sally studied at Chicago's Children's Summer Theater and the Sherwood Music School, and trod the boards under her birth name at Chicago's Gage Park High School (5630 Rockwell Street) in the school's stage presentation of "The Tailormade Man" on June 19th and 20th, 1941. At NBC Radio in New York, she was heard on daytime dramas and commercials, then joined the Don Arden Dancers there and in Las Vegas. She became a contract player for Paramount Pictures in 1951 and traveled to Korea to participate in troop shows. By 1954, she represented the television-industry award ceremonies as Miss Emmy. Her major role, however, is as Vena Ray, the navigator and assistant aboard the United Worlds rocket ships Orbit Jet and Silver Moon in the syndicated television series "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger" (1954).
- IMDb mini biography by: Louis Rugani

Sally volunteered to entertain GIs in Korea during the 1952 Christmas-season holidays, traveling by dog sled to some remote points where the shows were presented in quonset huts and on runways. She wore an Edith Head custom-designed sweater with insulated padding in the back to protect against the -30 degree cold, but with no leg covering save for long stockings.

Her father, Sam Mahder, nicknamed her 'Sally'.

[1/26/54, on her role as Vena Ray in Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1953)] I have to play the wholesome all-American girl because we have so many children tuned in. You know, no wiggles, no sexy walk, no romance. I'd like to be a little more sexy. After all, we do have some adults watching the show, and kids these days aren't as naive as they used to be. But don't think I'd like to go all out for this sex business. It wouldn't work at all. I'd much rather be doing this role than a sexy glamor girl in a typical movie role. Heck, any girl can get into a bathing suit and wiggle. There's nothing to that. I'm just another member of the crew, until the evil guys start getting interested in me--then all of a sudden Rocky and the others come to my rescue. That's as close as I ever get to romance. My contract says I can't get married either. Mostly 'cause they're afraid I'd have a baby. In other words, I'm just a sweet little thing who lives in a sort of vacuum--on the television screens and in private life, too.