Joan Taylor

Her mother was a former vaudeville singer and dancer, her father was employed as a Hollywood prop-man. He later operated a cinema theater in the Northern Chicago-suburb of Lake Forest, where Rose was both exposed to and enthralled by motion pictures which shaped her future life. Initially she dreamed of becoming a dancer and studied at the Chicago National Association of Dancing Masters, prior to embarking upon California in 1946, where she became associated with the Pasadena Playhouse. Actor Victor Jory was so impressed by her performances that he took her to an impromptu script reading for the part of Evelyn Slocum for the picture “Fighting Man of the Plains” (1949). She got the part changing her name to Joan Taylor, thus making her movie debut in the film which starred Randolph Scott also co-starring Jory. This led to her being put under contract with Paramount Pictures and securing a role opposite Charlton Heston in “The Savage” (1952), followed by “Off Limits” (1953) with Bob Hope. Her film efforts later declined to low-budget pictures including “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956), “Girls in Prison” (1956) and “20 Million Miles to Earth” (1957), before moving onto an abundance of television credits. Taylor may perhaps be best remembered by TV audiences for playing Milly Scott during a two-year run on the series “The Rifleman” (1960 to 1962). She retired from acting in 1962 to raise her family. She relocated to Hawaii with her children and husband Leonard Freeman who found fame as the creator and producer of the TV series “Hawaii-Five O”. After Freeman’s death, she married longtime television director Walter Grauman. Taylor turned to screenwriting and contributed a story for the series “Family”, also co-writing the screenplay for the film “Fools Rush In” (1997). She died from natural causes.