Emmaline Henry (November 1, 1928 – October 8, 1979) was an American actress, perhaps best known for playing Amanda Bellows on the hit 60s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.
Creator Sidney Sheldon mentioned in an interview that she was a very good actress and very easy to work with. A casting director brought her in to audition and to meet him. Sheldon tested her and based on the screen test she got the part of Mrs. Bellows. Although she was first cast on the show January 22, 1966 in season 1 episode 18 in a one episode role playing a different character called "Myrt" (from the original black-and-white episodes). Her first appearance as Mrs. Bellows wasn't seen until December 12 1966 in season 2 episode 14, when she was introduced to Tony and Roger by Dr. Bellows for the first time.
She liked playing the role Mrs. Bellows and mentioned that people would often ask her where her husband, Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke) was. Although a famous fact about the show was that Barbara Eden at one point was disallowed by the NBC censors from exposing her belly button, Mrs. Bellows' navel is visible in a beach scene of the episode "Jeannie Goes to Waikiki," while Ms. Eden's Jeannie character had to wear a midriff-covering one-piece swimsuit.
Originally, Henry never intended to become an actress, for she had wanted to become a singer. By her teens she was appearing on local radio. She went to Hollywood in the early 1950s and found her way into the choruses of several musicals. Producers began noticing, however, that her comedy skills were superior to her singing. She toured in shows like Top Banana, and acted in the film of that show. She also succeeded Carol Channing in the play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Henry made her television debut on The Red Skelton Show in 1961 and, subsequently, did guest spots on various sitcoms, including The Farmer's Daughter and Petticoat Junction. Her first starring role was as John Astin's wife in the sitcom I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, which also starred Marty Ingels in a series about a pair of zany carpenters. She also made film appearances in Divorce, American Style, Rosemary's Baby, and The Harrad Summer.
Following the cancellation of I Dream of Jeannie in 1970, she made appearances on other sitcoms, including the anthology series Love, American Style, and in the dramatic television mini-series Backstairs at the White House. She was reportedly scheduled to become a semi-regular cast member on Three's Company after she had guest-starred in a couple of episodes in the role of Chrissy's boss, J.C. Braddock.
Although she played a wife in many shows, she never married in real life. She died of brain cancer on October 8, 1979, aged 50.
External links
Emmaline Henry at the Internet Movie Database
Emmaline Henry at Find A Grave
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmaline_Henry"
Categories: 1928 births | 1979 deaths | American film actors | American musical theatre actors | American stage actors | American television actors | Irish-Americans | People from PhiladelphiaHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since December 2007
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