Jewell Lain

A fetching, full-faced American general purpose actress whose assertive two-decade career on stage, radio, TV and films did not lead to outright stardom. Born Jewell Jean Lain on August 9, 1931, in Indianapolis, Indiana, her father, a former teacher, founded the Lain Business College which had locations in Evansville, Fort Wayne and Indianpolis, Indiana. She has two younger sisters and one younger brother. A one-time child model, she made her debut while quite young (age 8) in "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew" at the Civic Theater and also took ballet lessons. Following high school, Jewell moved to New York and was accepted as a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Art and studied with Charles Jehlinger. She made ends meet as a Conover Agency model and at one point was promoted as "Miss Television Film" for the number of TV shorts she did for NBC and CBS. Besides finding radio work, she also appeared on stage. Jewell toured in the comedy "Time Out for Ginger" playing Steve McQueen's girlfriend and played Stella opposite Grant Williams and Iris Whitney in a production of "A Streetcar Named Desire". She also made an appearance on TV's "The Colgate Comedy Hour" that showcased Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In Los Angeles from 1955, the lovely blonde first appeared on stage in "Fifth Season" with Gene Raymond and Angela Greene, which later moved to San Francisco. She also worked with Marsha Hunt in the play "Rooms". She broke into films with a bit part as a cashier in Death of a Scoundrel (1956) starring George Sanders and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Along with Barbara Eden and Fay Spain, she was further promoted as a "Wampas Baby Star of 1956". She later earned a co-star role in the lowbudget Suicide Battalion (1958) opposite Mike Connors and Bing Russell and also had a featured roles as a flight attendant in Crash Landing (1958) starring Gary Merrill and Nancy Reagan while sharing love interest scenes with Roger Smith, and in Three Blondes in His Life (1961) starring Jock Mahoney and Greta Thyssen. She had an unbilled part in the film Red Line 7000 (1965). TV was also a viable medium for Jewell. She was featured on such 50s and 60s programs as "The Millionaire," "Line-Up," "The Texan," "My Sister Eileen," "Highway Patrol," "The Hathaways," "Bachelor Father," "The Rogues", "Dr. Kildare," "Ben Casey," I Dream of Jeannie," "Mannix" (reuniting with her film co-star Mike Connors), "Bewitched," and "The Bold Ones". She retired in the late 1960s and focused on her marriage to producer Berman Swarttz. They divorced a few years later but she didn't return for quite some time. Jewell recently made an effort to perform again and appeared in a couple of music videos in 2010. She is also working on her autobiography entitled "What? And Give Up Show Business!"