Janice Rule Explained

Birth Name:Mary Janice Rule
Birth Date:15 August 1931
Birth Place:Norwood, Ohio, U.S.
Death Place:New York City, U.S.
Occupation:Actress, psychotherapist
Years Active:1951–2003
Spouse:
    Children:2
    Alma Mater:Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute (PhD)

    Mary Janice Rule (August 15, 1931 – October 17, 2003)[1] was an American actress and psychotherapist, earning her PhD while still acting, then acting occasionally while working in her new profession.

    Early life

    Rule was born in Norwood, Ohio, to parents of Irish origin.[2] Her father was a dealer in industrial diamonds.[3] She began dancing at the Chez Paree nightclub in Chicago at age 15, which paid for ballet lessons, and was a dancer in the 1949 Broadway production of Miss Liberty.[4] Rule also studied acting at the Chicago Professional School.

    Career

    She was pictured on the cover of Life magazine on January 8, 1951, as being someone to watch in the entertainment industry.[5] [6] Gaining a contract by Warner Bros., her first credited screen role was as Virginia in Goodbye, My Fancy (1951), which featured Joan Crawford in the lead. The established star belittled the younger woman, making Rule's work on the film difficult, although Crawford years later wrote a letter of apology to Rule for treating her badly on this film.[4] [7] Rule's Warner contract was allowed to lapse after only two films.[8] She was troubled by the attitude toward women's beauty at the studios in the early 1950s: "Because I was afraid of being robbed of my individuality, I fought with the makeup people, the hairdressers, and I didn't understand problems of the publicity department," she was reported as saying in 1957.[9]

    Rule was in the original 1953 Broadway cast of William Inge's Picnic (in the role of Madge Owens, the innocent beauty, played by Kim Novak in the film version),[8] whose company also included Paul Newman in his Broadway debut. This commitment led her to turn down the role ultimately played by Eva Marie Saint in On the Waterfront (1954). "I knew I couldn't shoot in a movie all day and work on a stage at night and do my best in both," she was quoted as saying by Hedda Hopper of the Los Angeles Times in 1966.[9] Among her other Broadway shows were The Flowering Peach, The Happiest Girl in the World, and Michael V. Gazzo's Night Circus, a 1958 production which lasted for only a week,[10] but introduced Rule to Ben Gazzara, who became her third husband.[8]

    Her other films in the 1950s included A Woman's Devotion (1956), the Western Gun for a Coward (1957) and Bell, Book and Candle (1958), in which she played the fiancée who loses publisher 'Shep' Henderson (James Stewart) to the spell-casting witch Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak). On television, she appeared in an episode of Checkmate ("The Mask of Vengeance", 1960), where she played Elena Nardos, the roommate of Cloris Leachman's character, Marilyn Parker. She played Helen Foley in The Twilight Zone S1 E29 "Nightmare as a Child" which aired on April 29, 1960. She appeared as different characters in three episodes of Route 66. She acted as both Barbara Webb and Barbara Wells with David Janssen in two episodes of The Fugitive entitled "Wife Killer" and "The Walls of Night". She also had a major role as Nancy Reade in "Three Bells to Perdido", the debut episode of the Richard Boone western Have Gun – Will Travel. Rule also starred, second billing to Yul Brynner, in the western film Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964).

    Among her later film roles were Emily Stewart in The Chase (1966), Sheila Sommers in The Ambushers (1967), Burt Lancaster's bitter ex-lover in The Swimmer (1968), Willie in Robert Altman's 3 Women (1977), journalist Kate Newman in Costa Gavras' political thriller Missing (1982), and Kevin Costner's mother in American Flyers (1985).

    Personal life

    Rule had a brief engagement to Farley Granger in 1956.[11] They had appeared in the Broadway play The Carefree Tree in 1955. Next followed a relationship with Ralph Meeker; Meeker had played Hal in Picnic.

    Rule was briefly married, during 1955, to television and film writer N. Richard Nash.[12] Her second marriage was to television and film writer Robert Thom in 1956;[13] they had one daughter, Kate, before divorcing in 1961.[14] Her last marriage was to actor Ben Gazzara in 1961, having one daughter together before their divorce in 1979.[3]

    During the 1960s, she became interested in psychoanalysis. She began her formal studies in 1973, specializing in treating her fellow actors,[2] and received her PhD 10 years later from the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute in Los Angeles. She practiced in New York and Los Angeles, and continued to act occasionally until her death from a cerebral hemorrhage in 2003. She was cremated after her death.[15]

    Partial filmography

    Television roles

    By an odd coincidence, Rule appeared in the first or second episode of four long-running television series: Have Gun – Will Travel episode 1; Route 66 episode 2; The Streets of San Francisco episode 2; and, Barnaby Jones episode 2.

    Further reading

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: United States Social Security Death Index . 2024-03-22 . FamilySearch.
    2. Guerin . Ann . If Ben Gazzara Gets Hung Up, the Analyst Is Always In: It's His Wife, Janice Rule . . June 28, 1976 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180418093127/http://people.com/archive/if-ben-gazzara-gets-hung-up-the-analyst-is-always-in-its-his-wife-janice-rule-vol-5-no-25/ . April 18, 2018.
    3. Kenneth Jones "Janice Rule, of Broadway's Picnic, Dead at 72", Playbill, October 22, 2003
    4. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1444925/Janice-Rule.html Obituary: Janice Rule
    5. Ben Sisario "Janice Rule, 72, Film Actress Who Became a Psychoanalyst", New York Times, October 22, 2003
    6. Life Magazine Cover, 8 January 1951
    7. For a summary of various accounts, see Lawrence J. Quirk and William Schoell Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography, Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2002, p. 157-158
    8. News: Bergan. Ronald. Ronald Bergan. Janice Rule. The Guardian. October 23, 2003. March 31, 2021.
    9. Mary Rourke "Janice Rule, 72; Broadway Dancer, 'Picnic' Actress Also Was in Films", Los Angeles Times, October 24, 2003
    10. Web site: The Night Circus @ John Golden Theatre. Playbill. Playbill, Inc.. February 3, 2018.
    11. Associated Press (November 19, 1955). "Will Wed Actor". Chicago Tribune. p. 4. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
    12. Winchell, Walter (March 23, 1955). "On Broadway: Man About Town". Camden Courier-Post. p. 20. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
    13. News: Cook. Joan. Robert Thom, Writer Of Plays, Screenplays, Novels and Poems, 49. The New York Times. May 12, 1979. 6.
    14. News: Obituaries: Janice Rule, Actress turned Psychologist. The Independent. 30 October 2003.
    15. Book: Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.. August 19, 2016. McFarland. 9781476625997. Google Books.
    16. https://www.newspapers.com/article/detroit-free-press/136578346/ "TV Programs for Sunday"
    17. https://www.newspapers.com/image/970128220/?clipping_id=136578255 "Radio and TV: Sunday Highlights; Jay Lawrence, Eartha Kitt Visit Sullivan Show"
    18. Nissen, Axel (2017). Agnes Moorehead on Radio, Stage and Television. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 55. .
    19. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-mail/136599467/ "Helen Hayes to Star on Playhouse 90"
    20. https://www.newspapers.com/article/jefferson-city-post-tribune/136600648/ "On Channel 13: 'Journey to the Day' Set for Playhouse 90"
    21. News: Merrill on 'Wagon Train'. November 24, 1957. The Sunday Home News. 42. Gary Merrill portrays a potential murderer — a man with two wives — when he stars with Ward Bond and Robert Horton in 'The Zeke Thomas Story' on NBC-TV's 'Wagon Train' Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Featured in the full-hour drama as the two women who claim to be his wife are Janice Rule as Maggie and K.T. Stevens as Violet.. .
    22. Armstrong, Stephen B. (2011). Andrew V. McLaglen: The Lifa and Hollywood Career. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 91. .
    23. Stanyard, Stewart T. (2007). Dimensions Behind The Twilight Zone: A Backstage Tribute to Television's Groundbreaking Series. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 40. .
    24. News: Preview of Tonight's Headliners: 'Two-Headed Doll?'. November 24, 1957. The Sunday Home News. 42. Janice Rule and Raymond Massey (as Dr. Gillespie) appear in a scene from 'Who Ever Heard of a Two-Headed Doll?' the new season's first episode of the Dr. Kildare series. [...] Miss Rule has the role of Lila Gregg whose husband is dying of leukemia.. .
    25. News: Todays' Complete T. V. Programs. October 14, 1960. The Record. 56. ROUTE 66: Janice Rule in 'A Lance of Straw': Charlotte Duval hires Tod and Buzz as crew for shrimp boat. But suitor gets jealous, resorts to violence.. .
    26. News: Other 128 -- No Title. October 22, 1962. Los Angeles Times. Q34. 'Once to Every Man.' The proud and stubborn heiress of a New England suipbuilder sets her cap for Tod. George Maharis and Martin Milner star as Buz Murdock and Tod Stiles. Guest Cast: Prudie Adams - Janice Rule; Grandma Adams — Ann Shoemaker; Leigh Adams — Murray Matheson.. .
    27. News: Other 10 -- No Title. September 1, 1963. Los Angeles Times. Q34. 'But What Did You Do in March?' Stikles and Case square off as the champions of two lovely women engaged in a hydroplane duel. (Repeat) Guest Cast: Sidney Brookes - Janice Rule; Midge Pierrepont — Susan Kohner; Guy Lombardo — himself.. .
    28. News: Janice Rule Is 'Fugitive' Star. April 1, 1967. Los Angeles Times. 31. In 'Walls of Night,; Kimble, working as a truck driver, becomes enamored of a clerk, Barbara Wells (Janice Rule), who returns his interest. When she fears he is losing interest, she breaks her parole.. .
    29. https://www.newspapers.com/image/255164847/?clipping_id=136584027 "Janice Rule Plays Reporter"
    30. Fellner, Chris (2019). The Encyclopedia of Hammer Films. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 432. .
    31. https://www.newspapers.com/image/12661079/?clipping_id=136587303 "Grip of Terror"
    32. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-register/136594844/ "Monday, July 7; 9:00 P.M."
    33. https://www.newspapers.com/article/anaheim-bulletin/136594098/ "Television Schedule: Wednesday Evening"
    34. News: TV Previews: 'Blow-Up' Is CBS Feature Film. May 24, 1973. The Hartford Courant. 56. 'The First Day of Forever.' A crazed man has killed three prostitutes, but his fourth intended victim, Beverly Landau (Janice Rule), escapes with minor injury.. .
    35. News: Sunday Evening. February 4, 1973. Los Angeles Times TV Times. 13, 14. 'The First Day of Forever.' A man embezzles his wife's fortune and kills another man to make it look like his own death in order to establish a new life for himself with a younger woman. [...] Guest Cast: Phil Carlyle — William Shatner; Diane Stewart — Janice Rule; Dorsey Carlyle — Victoria Shaw. .
    36. Marill, Alvin H. (1984). Movies Made for Television : The Telefeature and the Mini-Series, 1964-1984. New York, NY : New York Zoetrope. p. 178. .
    37. Lentz, Harris M. (1983). Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits : Over 10,000 Actors, Actresses, Directors. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 762. .

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