| Rebecca Welles | |
| Birth Name: | Reba Tassel |
| Birth Date: | February 5, 1928 |
| Birth Place: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 1951 - 1964 |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 2, including Gwen Welles |
| Relatives: | Gustave Tassell (brother) |
Rebecca Welles (born Reba Tassell; February 5, 1928 - February 13, 2017) was an American television and film actress.
Welles's sibling was fashion designer Gustave Tassell.[1] In 1944, she was the recipient of a $500 tuition award from the Theatre Guild to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[2] She spent two years at the academy while acting in stock theater in Philadelphia.[3]
As a youngster, she was a member of the Bessie V. Hicks Players in Philadelphia.[4]
Welles' first TV appearance was in the episode "A Chill on the Wind" on Studio One in 1951, where she was credited under her birth name, but subsequently worked under the surname Welles. (A newspaper source in February 1951 says of Welles, "Last November she had a walk-on in the Studio One drama of A Letter to Cairo.)[3]
Active from 1951 to 1964, Welles made appearances on about 50 TV shows, including 77 Sunset Strip, Gunsmoke (S2E33 “Moon”), Boots and Saddles, Bat Masterson, Alcoa Theatre, and four episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She made five appearances on Perry Mason, including three roles as defendants: in 1959 she played Carol Delaney in "The Case of the Stuttering Bishop", and Carol Taylor in "The Case of the Frantic Flyer." She played Rita Norge in the 1957 episode "The Case of the Runaway Corpse." In her other two appearances, she played the role of murderer Edith Bristol in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Waylaid Wolf" and murderer Leslie Eden in the 1964 episode "The Case of the Illicit Illusion." In addition, Welles appeared in four feature films, including Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955) and Desire Under the Elms (1958). She made her last onscreen appearance in a 1964 episode of Arrest and Trial.
In a reversal of sorts, Welles was the inspiration for an episode of Big Town on CBS. A newspaper article in The Bridgeport Telegram on February 21, 1951, reported "Susan Douglas stars as Miss Cinderella ... which was inspired by the experience of Reba Tassell, the TV Cinderella girl who made such a hit on Studio One last month."[5]
Welles married Barton Goldberg in 1946. They had two daughters together, Elizabeth and actress Gwen Welles, before they divorced in 1961.[6] Welles married television director Don Weis on August 25, 1961, in Los Angeles.[7]
| Film | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | |
| 1955 | Good Morning, Miss Dove | Polly Burnham | Uncredited | |
| 1956 | The Brass Legend | Millie Street | Credited as Reba Tassell | |
| 1958 | Desire Under the Elms | Lucinda Cabot | ||
| Juvenile Jungle | Glory | |||
| Television | ||||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
| 1951 | Studio One | 1 episode | ||
| Lights Out | 1 episode | |||
| The Web | 1 episode | |||
| 1953 | Danger | 1 episode | ||
| Harvest | Arlene | Television movie Credited as Reba Tassell | ||
| Robert Montgomery Presents | Arlene | 1 episode | ||
| 1956–1960 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Various roles | Season 1 Episode 32: "The Baby Sitter" (1956) as Jane 'Janie' Slocum (credited as Reba Tassel)Season 2 Episode 33: "A Man Greatly Beloved" (1957) as Mrs. Fell Season 2 Episode 37: "The Indestructible Mr. Weems" (1957) as Laura Weems Season 5 Episode 18: "Backward, Turn Backward" (1960) as Betty Murray | |
| 1957 | Wire Service | Julia Thomas | 1 episode | |
| Gunsmoke | Nan Mellors | 1 episode | ||
| The Web | 1 episode | |||
| Boots and Saddles | Laurie | 2 episodes | ||
| The Millionaire | Amy | 1 episode | ||
| 1957–1964 | Perry Mason | Various roles | 5 episodes | |
| 1958 | Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | Sandra Mantell | 1 episode | |
| State Trooper | Betty Dolan | 1 episode | ||
| Trackdown | Julie Corbin | 1 episode | ||
| M Squad | Mrs. Kenneth Darrell | 1 episode | ||
| Northwest Passage | Maureen Carver | 1 episode | ||
| Frontier Doctor | Maria Belotti, Circus Owner | 1 episode | ||
| 26 Men | Ruth | 1 episode | ||
| Rescue 8 | Madge | 1 episode | ||
| The Lineup | Jane Abbott | 1 episode | ||
| 1959 | The Thin Man | Maria | 1 episode | |
| Wagon Train | Jean Yates | 1 episode | ||
| Zorro | Moneta | 1 episode | ||
| Bat Masterson | Isabel Fowler | 1 episode | ||
| The Californians | Cora Sue Sommers Clara Keel | 2 episodes | ||
| Bronco | Lynne Henderson | 1 episode | ||
| The Lawless Years | Jane Cooper Mary Drew | 2 episodes | ||
| 1960 | Philip Marlowe | Julie French | 1 episode | |
| Alcoa Theatre | Phoebe Hanes | 1 episode | ||
| Tightrope | Margo | 1 episode | ||
| The Dennis O'Keefe Show | Paula Hamilton | 1 episode | ||
| The Man from Blackhawk | Janet | 1 episode | ||
| Adelle Bernheim | 1 episode | |||
| The Brothers Brannagan | Sally Ross | 1 episode | ||
| General Electric Theater | 1 episode | |||
| 1961 | Checkmate | Fay Razon | 1 episode | |
| The Case of the Dangerous Robin | 1 episode | |||
| The Untouchables | Rose Raineri | 1 episode | ||
| The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Polly | 1 episode | ||
| Hawaiian Eye | Vera Ormsby | 1 episode | ||
| 77 Sunset Strip | Ellen Martone | 1 episode | ||
| 1962 | The New Breed | 1 episode | ||
| Follow the Sun | Beverly Willis | 1 episode | ||
| 1963 | Burke's Law | Susan Rivers | 1 episode | |
| 1964 | Arrest and Trial | Reba Thayer | 1 episode |