Julie Newmar (1968)

“To Julie Newmar, thanks for everything, Historic Elitch Theatre!”

Ok, that may not be the cleverest play on a title ever, but we are grateful that the talented (and beautiful!) Julie Newmar is one of our theatre alumna. In 1968 she toured in The Only Game in T own which passed through the Elitch Theatre. Our quote above is a nod toward the legendary film, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, which included a cameo by Julie at the end of the film was

Julie Newmar stands among the most instantly recognizable performers to have graced the Elitch Theatre stage.

Newmar’s Broadway career began in 1955 with Silk Stockings and continued through Li’l Abner, but it was her performance as the Swedish vixen Katrin Sveg in the 1958 Broadway production of The Marriage-Go-Round that made her a star, earning her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She later reprised the role in the 1961 film adaptation opposite James Mason and Susan Hayward, winning the International Star of Tomorrow Award for her work. It was this celebrated role that brought her to the Historic Elitch Theatre stage a decade later.

In the summer of 1968, Newmar toured with The Only Game in Town, a production that passed through the Elitch Theatre as part of its summer stock season. By then she was already a household name, having starred as Rhoda the Robot in the CBS series My Living Doll and, most famously, as the villainess Catwoman in the 1960s Batman television series — a role she originated and made iconic, redesigning her own costume (now held by the Smithsonian Institution) to place the belt at her hips rather than her waist. Beyond her Elitch Theatre appearance, Newmar’s career spanned decades of stage, film, and television work, along with a parallel life as an inventor and businesswoman — she holds U.S. patents for both pantyhose and a brassiere design. She continued performing well into her eighties and nineties, lending her voice to two animated Batman films decades after the original series and returning to the role of Catwoman fifty years after she first played it.

Denver audiences who saw her in 1968 witnessed a performer at the height of her fame, bringing Broadway pedigree and television stardom to the Elitch stage in equal measure.

Newmar’s Bio from the Historic Elitch Theatre Program:

JULIE NEWMAR (Fran Walker)
Julie Newmar began her illustrious career in Hollywood, California, as a concert dancer. At the age of 18 she was a dance director and choreographer at Universal Studios. Her first motion picture was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Since then she has done about half a dozen films.

Miss Newmar made her Broadway debut in Marriage-Go-Round for which she won the Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award. She repeated her role in the film version of the comedy hit, and for her performance in that won the International Star of Tomorrow Award.

Television audiences will recognize Miss Newmar for her many appearances on most of the leading national TV shows. She has been on the Perry Como Show, Danny Kaye Show, Beverly Hillbillies, Batman, and has had her own CBS-TV series, aptly entitled My Living Doll.

Her latest movie is MacKenna’s Gold with Gregory Peck, to be released by Columbia.

Seasons at the Theatre

1968

Elitch Theatre Productions/Roles:

1968 – The Marriage-Go-Round (touring production) – Fran Walker

Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:

Won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (1959) for her role as Katrin Sveg in the Broadway production of The Marriage-Go-Round (1958)
Reprised the role of Katrin Sveg in the 1961 film version of The Marriage-Go-Round, winning the International Star of Tomorrow Award and earning a Golden Globe nomination
Starred as Catwoman in the 1960s television series Batman (1966–1967), one of the most iconic roles of her career, later reprising the voice role in the animated films Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016) and Batman vs. Two-Face (2017)
Starred as Rhoda the Robot in her own CBS television series, My Living Doll (1964–1965)
Broadway credits include Silk Stockings (1955), Li’l Abner (1956–1958), Damn Yankees (1961), and In the Boom Boom Room (1982)
Extensive television guest work throughout the 1960s–80s, including The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Route 66, The Beverly Hillbillies, Get Smart, Bewitched, and Hart to Hart
Holds two U.S. patents for pantyhose and two for a brassiere design, reflecting her career as an inventor and businesswoman
Longtime real estate investor and community advocate in the La Brea and Melrose Avenue areas of Los Angeles

Elitch Theatre Connections:

Newmar appeared in the 1963 film, For Love or Money, with Elitch Alumni Mitzi Gaynor and Gig Young.
Appeared with Elitch alum William Shatner in a December 1967 episode of Star Trek.
My Living Doll with Bob Cummings.
Honored alongside fellow Elitch alumni Cloris Leachman, Joan Van Ark, Julie Harris, Kim Hunter, Patricia Neal, Shelley Winters, and Tom Ewell at the First Actors Studio Awards in November 1980.