Julie Newmar Biography

American actress Julie Newmar's father was a college lecturer and her mother a former Ziegfeld dancer.

A lifelong student of ballet, Newmar was accepted as a dancer by the Los Angeles Opera Company at age 15, and soon became prima ballerina.

Always intelligent, she studied philosophy and French at UCLA, before leaving to try her luck in films. A stint as a gold-painted exotic dancer in 'Serpent of the Nile' (1954) was usually overlooked by Newmar's biographers, who preferred to list 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers', in 1954, as her screen debut.

She then featured in the Broadway musicals 'Can-Can', and 'Li'l Abner', but it was in 'The Marriage-Go-Round' that the actress attained true stardom - and also won a Tony Award.

Recreating her stage roles for the film versions of 'Li'l Abner' and 'Marriage-Go-Round' (1961), Newmar spent the next few years dividing her time between stage work and TV guest spots. She was cast as a beautiful robot on the TV sitcom 'My Living Doll', but the series was unsuccessful.

Her best remembered role is as Catwoman, on the weekly series 'Batman'. The role seemed made for her, but contractual commitments kept her from appearing in the 1966 feature film version.

Newmar's film career peaked with 'MacKenna's Gold' (1968) and 'The Maltese Bippy' (1969), after which she was consigned to such deathless projects as 'Hysterical', 'Nudity Required', and 'Ghosts Can't Do It'.

Julie still enjoys the occasional film or TV role that interests her. She is a favourite model for designer Thierry Mugler, and she still dances ballet. She also makes appearances as the original Catwoman.