SK:  I’m quite familiar with your career and I’m really impressed with the large body of work. Going back to the beginning, do you remember what your first paying gig was?

BW: The first movie I ever did was a movie at Columbia called, The Killer’s That Stalked New York. And it was with Evelyn Keyes, William Bishop and Dorothy Malone. I played a little girl attacked by small pox and I die. I actually died in my first film. I believe I was six at the time.

SK:  How did you get started? Was your mom taking you to casting calls?

BW:  No. I actually started modeling children’s clothes when I was three. I had an agent. My agent would send me on auditions because I would never get anything because I had no credits. It was a catch 22 situation because they wouldn’t give you anything because of no credits.

My older sister Audrey and I use to go and do benefit shows at hospitals. She was an acrobat and I would sing. I was six years old. I met Jock Mahoney at one of these benefit shows. About six months later I got an audition over at Columbia for this part as Wanda Kowalski.  

And my mother who has since passed away was such a sweet lady and was always supportive and encouraging. The sides, which they call the little scenes, “there sits little Wanda Kowalski with her big brown eyes and long brown hair.” Of course I’m blonde and blue eyed. My mother said, “Now honey you know you are not going to get the part, but just go in and do the best you can.” As fate would have it, we were sitting in the lobby and Jock Mahoney walks in. He asks, “What is she doing here?” So it was explained to him and he replies, “I’ll be right back.” They took me on his say so.  I came in and they had me cry and I’ve always had over active tears. My brother use to tease me and say “You’d cry over super market openings!” It was easy for me to cry so I got the part and once I had that credit for dialogue, it segued into other things. I went on to do Here Comes the Groom with Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman, The Juggler with Kirk Douglas, The Greatest Show On Earth with Jimmy Stewart and of course Superman And The Mole Men with George Reeves and went on from there.

SK:  When you did Old Yeller, it was really the beginning of Disney’s “golden era”. Did you get to reap any of the benefits of being a part of that Disney dynasty in the day?

BW:  Not financially but certainly in other ways.

SK:  Do you still get to go in the park for free? (laughs) Did you get to meet Walt?

BW:  Yes, I met him on the audition. One of the wonderful things is that I’ve remained friends with members of the Mickey Mouse Club. Sharon Baird, who was one of the original Mousketeers is one of my very best friends. She’s sitting over there! We sang together and she lives in Reno now. We’ve known each other for so many years. It was wonderful to be a part of that movie Old Yeller because they now consider it a classic. It is one of the saddest movies ever. It’s a tear jerker. I’m a huge animal lover. His real name was Spike and they got him out of an animal shelter for four dollars and trained him. He had a dressing room that was bigger than mine!

SK:  I understand you were close friends with Jack Benny.

BW:  I’ve been blessed to have worked with some of the best in show business. I think if I would have to choose two people it would be Jack Benny and Loretta Young who I consider my heroes, mentors and friends. I stayed in touch with them until they passed away.

SK:  It’s quite refreshing to hear that there are actors that are able to build a relationship and keep it.

BW:  The first time I worked with Jack Benny I was about ten back in the days of live TV when they didn’t have a tape delay. They had a bit where I was planted in the audience. While he was doing his monologue I would come out of the audience and ask for his autograph. And it was at the time when President Truman was in office. Jack asks my name and I reply Margaret Truman. Jack replies, “You are putting me on!” “Where are you from?” I reply, “Independence Missouri.”  It was a great experience. So he had me on his radio show. I played one of the Beverly Hills Beavers, the part of Sarah Livingston. And then I went with him to Phoenix Arizona and played at the Biltmore. We stayed in touch over the years. When I was in my twenties we did a comedy act .We played Vegas, Tahoe and toured all over the country. He was the most generous, kind and wonderful man. It’s so funny because he always played the stingy tight wad. He was so the opposite.

When my father was dying of diabetes, Jack sent over his own personal physician. When I had my appendix out he sent me flowers, a string of pearls and a St. Christopher that says “With Love, Jack Benny.” He just had this big heart. And he was so generous in so many ways. He was one of those comedians who didn’t always have to have the punch line. He had a certain look that said it all. It was always for someone else to get the laugh. He was generous in that way too. He was an incredible man.

I worked with Loretta Young many times as a child on her anthology show who had many guests. And then years later she did The New Loretta Young Show where she played a widow with seven children. I played the homely intellectual one of the seven. We didn’t get good ratings because there was a show back then called, Ben Casey. It was all the rage. We were opposite Ben Casey. Our show went off the air after the first season. It is now on DVD like everything else. On the special features they did interviews with the surviving kids. Dirk and Dack Rambo of course have since passed away, but you will find Sandy Descher, Celia Kaye, Tracy Stratford and I am on the features.

Loretta Young was just the most gentle, sweet and kindest person. She accented femininity. I learned a lot from her. Honest and funny. One time I went to the mail box and received this beautiful scarf for no reason or special occasion.  She said, “I was just out shopping and I saw this scarf and thought you might like it.” I’ll keep that scarf till I die. When my husband was diagnosed with cancer she sent me a little book on angels, a crystal dove. She would do little things like that and nobody noticed.  

Now, Loretta didn’t like being addressed as Loretta or Miss Young. When we did the series we called her Mrs. Lewis. Years later she married Jean Louis. In a conversation I had with her I said, “Ms. Louis, your a legend, you're so beautiful, people love you. Would you ever consider doing a movie again because people would so love to see you again?” She said, “You know honey, I get scripts sent to me on a daily basis. It’s just so different today from the movies I use to do. It’s now all sex, violence, crashes, animated and computerized. It’s just not me. Besides, I’m too old, too tired…and I’m too rich!” That just came out of left field to me. I didn’t expect that but it was real cute.

SK:  Taking a look at this collection of photos you have in front of me, you’ve got a lot of my heroes that you’ve worked with over the years. If you don’t mind indulging me, there’s a couple I’d like to get your remembrances on. First of all, you were in Superman and the Mole Men, the original feature film that kicked off the Adventures of Superman series. But you didn’t actually work with George Reeves in that film.

BW:  No, we didn’t actually have a scene together, but he was on the set and so it was a thrill for me because I was so young that to me he was Superman not George Reeves. When you’re that young you really have no concept. It’s different. It’s like years later I realized I got to work with George Reeves. I’ve been directed by Cecil B. DeMille, Stanley Kramer and Frank Capra. When you’re that young, it doesn’t mean anything until you get old enough to appreciate it. I feel very blessed that all happened. I was thrilled because I thought…Superman!

SK:  After you did Mole Men you ended up working with George Reeves again. How many years later did you do Heart of Gold?

BW:  Not that many. A couple maybe. It was a Four Star Playhouse, or a Schlitz Playhouse. It was with Edmund Gwenn, Tommy Rettig, Anita Louise and George Reeves as our parents. It was cool that later he went from my eyes as Superman to becoming my dad. My dad is Superman! How cool is that?

SK:  You didn’t have a lot of scenes with George. I watched it recently and he sort of book ended the program, so it’s mostly you, your brother, mom and Ed Gwenn’s snowman. For the few scenes you had, how was George as a person and an actor?

BW:  He was great! Wonderful! I know it sounds corny but, I feel very fortunate that I never so far worked with anyone that hasn’t been terrific. Of course there’s some who you like better than others or who are warmer than others or kinder or whatever, but so far everybody’s been great, he was great and wonderful. One of my other favorites was Lou Costello. We were together on an episode of Wagon Train. It was the only episode that he ever did a dramatic role on. It was funny because he was so use to doing routines where he had free reign in dialogue and ad-libbing. He had to stick to the script on this episode. He would always forget his dialogue. Every single time he would look straight into the camera as if speaking to Ward Bond and say, “So, how are you Ward?” Every time.  He was wonderful, the nicest man. That was a thrill for me because I was an Abbott and Costello fan.

In that episode The Tobias Jones Story, It’s funny if you look back at the story line for people who haven’t seen it. He was a drifter and I was an orphan. We were stowaways and traveled together on this wagon train. There was this murder and everyone was thinking it was him. It just shows how the world has changed because nowadays you could never have a story about a little girl traveling with a man. It would be totally inappropriate. But back then it was so innocent that nobody even thought twice about it. It was a different world back then.

SK:  Both from a societal and production standpoint. Think back to when you worked on Mole Men and think ahead when you worked on Las Vegas in 2003. What are some of the differences between working on television back in the 50’s and today?

BW:  Well…the equipment for one thing. Looking back on the old stills like the cameras. It’s like that wardrobe still over there when I did The Lone Ranger. Back in those days, 1802 or whenever you would do wardrobe. Now days, they just do a digital. Keep it on file so I don’t have to do, or re-shoot a scene. The scenery was pretty darn hokie too. The sets have changed.

SK:  One of the other people who is always going to be a hero of mine is The Lone Ranger. I got to meet Clayton in1979 and he was just the nicest guy. What do you remember about him?

BW:  I loved working with him. I was about 12. For me it was, I got to be with The Lone Ranger. I remember filming it in Utah. There was this one scene where I get kidnapped by the Indians.  He jumped on Silver and rides off into the sunset. What happened is they did the scene he actually split his pants and the director as a joke instead of saying “Cut” kept filming to have it on the out takes. He jumps on Silver and his bare bottom is hanging out. I was like 12 and totally mortified. And the crew was cracking up. The running gag on the set was, “THE LONE RANGER WAS MOONING YOU AS HE RODE OFF INTO THE SUNSET.” He was a really good sport about it. He initially didn’t know it happened.

SK:  This is the 40^th anniversary of Star Trek.

BW:  And I’m only 39! (laughs)

SK:  Must be one of those space/time continuums they did on the show from time to time! (laughs) What was it like working on the show? As an actor working on Star Trek which is sci-fi fantasy, tell us about the costumes and make up changes that you had to go through. Is it any different for an actor working on The Lone Ranger?

BW:  In that Star Trek episode (The Deadly Years) I aged and die of old age. So when I went on the audition one of the questions they asked is if I was claustrophobic.  They were going to have to make a plaster cast to my face. I would have to breathe through a straw. After it dried they made a rubber mask. And then from there they did the make up which took 4 ½ hours. It was a bit tedious and then they put on spirit gum. Now days they are so advanced. After the days shooting it took an hour and a half to get it off. It was tedious but fun. It was only the second season and not that popular yet. I had no idea that it was going to be a huge phenomena. I’m happy to be a part of it. The Star Trek fans are like the greatest in the world. They remember every episode and character.

SK:  How was it working with the cast?

BW:  It was great. William Shatner is hilarious. Especially, when the started aging him with the gray wig. He would always make jokes. We had a lot fun. The Trekkies or Trekkers are so amazing. For me, I had done only one episode and yet the true fans know everybody, every character and I was so touched. I live in Las Vegas and the Star Trek Experience. So I appear there about once a month. I’m always so flattered and touched that they remember me. I was just a small part of Star Trek. They are so appreciative and kind.

SK:  I guess we’ve come to find out there’s no such thing as a small part on Star Trek as far as the fans are concerned.

BW:  I died but at least I got to die in Captain Kirk’s arms.

SK:  How many re-takes of that did you have to do? Oh please, let me do it one more time! (laughs)

BW:  I died and I wasn’t even wearing red. When you’re on that show and your wearing red, you are doomed! But I ended up on the blooper reel. Not intentionally. Many more people remember me for the blooper reel than they do for Old Yeller. The one scene where I come in and I say, “I’m not feeling well, there’s something wrong, my hearings going.” On the blooper I said, “I feel like hell and I can’t remember my next line!” It made the blooper reel and was a fun experience.

SK:  Do you still have your famous Autograph Book? 

BW:  You betcha! I haven’t seen it in quite a while. I have some really amazing ones. Some people wanted me to put it on eBay.

SK:  Sure, you’d pull in a lot of money, but after that the book is gone with the money soon to follow! (laughs) 

BW:  On the autographs, I have Jack Benny, Loretta Young and Jack Webb just to name a few. Speaking of Jack, he had a great line delivery at the beginning of his show. And the reason why was because he had a teleprompter. Doing that show Dragnet week after week, he didn’t want to have to deal with the line so consequently he would have that delivery. It worked. It became his trademark. I had never seen that before.

SK:  Sounds like Captain Kirk and Joe Friday have something in common! William Shatner has talked about his oft-imitated delivery, saying that people do impressions of him with his famous hesitated-line delivery. He said the reason he paused during his line delivery was because he was struggling to remember his lines. (laughs) What shows do you watch now? What type of entertainment do you indulge in?

BW:  Boston Legal is my favorite. I have to admit I like Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy.

SK:  Are you working on anything right now?

BW:  I just did a little commercial on You Tube. It’s for Friendly Computer. I play Gertrude The Obnoxious Operator. It was fun to do. I did it in Las Vegas with pointy glasses in rhinestones, purple eye shadow. My hair is all ratted and I’m filing my nails, chewing gum and just really nasty and rude.

SK:   How do you like living in Las Vegas as opposed to Hollywood?

BW:  Actually I love it. I didn’t think I would. I’ve been there 12 years. My husband was transferred there. It’s like a totally different life. At first it was, “Nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” I live on the top of a hill. It’s quiet with wonderful neighbors. I’ve made a lot of friends there. It’s close enough to Los Angeles where I can be there in an hour if need be. I enjoy living there. My husband passed away so I’m still floundering a bit. I still need to figure out what to do. My life has changed.