- Born
- Died
- Birth nameMary Janice Rule
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- One of the most versatile actresses, Janice Rule was born in Norwood, Ohio, on August 15, 1931. Janice made her screen debut in the star-studded movie Goodbye, My Fancy (1951). She played the rival for James Stewart's affections, and was driven away by witch Kim Novak, in Bell Book and Candle (1958), a pre-Bewitched (1964) comedy. Janice appeared in the first season of the ground-breaking science fiction series The Twilight Zone (1959) playing "Helen Foley" (named after Rod Serling's favorite teacher). In 1961, Janice married Ben Gazzara and they had one daughter, Elizabeth Gazzara (they divorced in 1979). After marrying, Janice took off a few years from movie acting, then returned to the silver screen and gave her best performances. In a change of pace role, she was the party girl in The Chase (1966); and Janice showed a real flair for comedy as "Matt Helm"'s partner in The Ambushers (1967) with Dean Martin. She did a wonderful job realistically portraying a frontier woman in Welcome to Hard Times (1967), and received acclaim for her performance as a disturbed artist in 3 Women (1977). The last movie Janice appeared in was American Flyers (1985), and her last TV appearance was in the science fiction genre, The Ray Bradbury Theater (1985) in 1992. From science fiction, to comedy, to portraying loose women, to playing strong women - Janice Rule covered the whole spectrum of human emotion and life.
- IMDb mini biography by: kdhaisch@aol.com - She attended Glenbard High School in Glen Ellyn, IL. through her Junior year. She began dancing, at age 15, at Chez Paree, a Chicago nightclub. According to her Glen Ellyn neighbors, Janice went into the city every day after school for either dance or singing lessons. Janice was also performing in the city at that time and would sit at a nightclub table and get help on her homework from the staff before the show began. She did not graduate from Glenbard High School, opting instead to leave high school and pursue her career on Broadway.
- IMDb mini biography by: Steven Wiersum, author "Glenbard West High School: A History)
- SpousesBen Gazzara(November 25, 1961 - January 28, 1982) (divorced, 1 child)Robert Thom(October 12, 1956 - June 1961) (divorced, 1 child)N. Richard Nash(May 1955 - November 1955) (divorced)
- ChildrenElizabeth GazzaraKate Thom Fitzgerald
- Became a successful psychotherapist in Manhattan after giving up acting.
- Studied psychoanalysis and earned a doctorate in 1983 from the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute. She had a private practice in New York City.
- Lost a studio contract because she was careless about the way she dressed. At the time, actresses under contract were expected to appear in public only after the studio wardrobe and makeup artists had outfitted them as if they were appearing in a movie.
- Her character, Helen Foley, in Nightmare as a Child (1960), was the name of series creator Rod Serling's favorite and most influential real-life teacher.
- She turned down the lead femme role opposite Marlon Brando in the film On the Waterfront (1954) because she preferred the dramatic stage to the Hollywood studio system where she was unhappily being promoted as a sex symbol. At the time she was earning acclaim in "Picnic" on Broadway. Kim Novak was assigned the movie role. Janice eventually lost her Warner Bros. contract due to this "misbehavior".
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