Biography

Karen Valentine was born on a chicken farm in northern California and made her professional debut, at the age of 16, on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka "The Ed Sullivan Show"). After performing as a contestant on a live national broadcast of "The Miss Teenage America Pageant", Ed Sullivan phoned during the ceremonies and invited her to appear on his iconic variety show the following week. She has since starred in countless productions on stage and screen, including the acclaimed series, Room 222 (1969) as student teacher Alice Johnson, for which she received an Emmy Award. She was a regular panelist on the popular game show The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965), exchanging quips with Paul Lynde, George Gobel and host Peter Marshall. Over the years she has starred in many made-for-television movies, series episodes and variety specials, as well as several feature films. She has been a fixture on TV talk shows and guest-hosted for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). Across the country, Ms. Valentine has appeared in many stage productions, on Broadway and off, as well as touring with national companies.
- IMDb mini biography by: The Gage Group, Inc.

She was a contestant on "Miss Teenage America" and when Ed Sullivan saw her talent he called in and said, "I want that girl on my show."

She was the Apple Blossom Queen of Sebastopol, CA, when she was a teenager.

Credits Michael Constantine as her favorite acting mentor/best friend.

Worked as a model, waitress and switchboard operator.

I hate that word [cute]. It's the most awful word in the language.