Arlene Martel appearances in TV shows (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

I didn't plan this but I thought I'd embark on a quick little binge of Arlene Martel TV appearances. I know some here have done this for other actors. I mainly know her for her appearance as T'Pring in Star Trek's Amok Time episode.

This came about because I am watching Route 66 episodes, one or two a week from the Shout set. Lots of great actors in early roles. Last night I saw Miss Martel in her first Route 66 appearance.

I'll use IMDB and find what's she's been in that I have in my collection. So far one Route 66 episode. I'm now watching her two Twilight Zone episodes, What You Need and Twenty Two. I have the Wild Wild West, but I actually have not opened that set yet. I know she's there. And she's in one Columbo in a very small scene. Then Route 66. Not sure I have anything else she's in. I'll conclude with The Outer Limits Demon with A Glass Hand and Star Trek.

 

[Jack P]

Some other appearances of hers that come to mind.

1-Although her appearance is brief, I recommend her "Battlestar Galactica" (by then she was billed as Tasha Martel) where she gets to deliver the line, "What kind of offense is Starbucking?"

2-Her multiple appearances on "Hogan's Heroes" as underground agent "Tiger". Her first appearance was the first official episode of the series "Hold That Tiger" and it's one of the best of the series.

 

[Jack P]

And one word of warning. Don't try to find her appearance in the Columbo episode "Double Exposure" where all her scenes fell victim to the cutting room floor but her credit stayed in!

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Jack! I actually did watch that Columbo episode last year and after it was over, I was rewinding it trying to find her!

I do have Battlestar Galactica as well. I'll add that one. I don't have Hogan's Heroes but I have seen stills.

 

[B-ROLL]

More info here ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlene_Martel

 

[borisfw]

I think she did a Have Gun Will Travel . I want to say The Princess and the Gunfighter . I could be wrong . But i swear i watched a HGWT with her .

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks guys, I don't have Have Gun Will Travel. I had looked at her wiki entry. Interesting career, very busy in the 1960's but semi retired in the mid 1980's.

I do have Mission Impossible in my collection too and she was in one when Leonard Nimoy was in the cast. I haven't seen that one yet.

 

[Doug Wallen]

Petrocelli - Season 1 - Episode 10 - A Very Lonely Lady

A very intriguing and ultimately sad episode.

 

[Steve...O]

She's in Perry Mason as well. Beautiful lady.

 

[MattHR]

She guest stars in a decent Season One episode of The Six Million Dollar Man called "The Last of the Fourth of Julys". Steve Forrest (S.W.A.T.) and Kevin Tighe (Emergency!) also appear in the episode.

 

[Brother Theodore]

Two episodes of The Monkees ""The Spy Who Came In From the Cool" and "Monstrous Monkee Mash."

 

[GeorgeJA]

It's funny that this thread turns up now as I just saw her recently in an episode of The Fugitive - from the final season (IN COLOR) - "The Blessings Of Liberty".

 

[Nelson Au]

Lots of great replies here! More interest then I expected. I'm only going to be able to focus on shows I own in my collection so unfortunately, until I get those series, or I stream them, I'll have to get some of these for later.

This started with the Route 66 episode and I thought that was a very different role from T'Pring where she is so held back because she is a Vulcan. But she's still putting out a persona of a calculating woman. While as Lucia in Route 66, she's the opposite. Someone who is very innocent and pure and trying to do the right thing. And very emotional! I thought that was a very good episode and she had a chance to play a character.

I did see the Twilight Zone episodes, What You Need and Twenty Two. I'd seen What You Need before, but I hadn't noticed that was Arline. That was a pretty low profile role. I had never seen Twenty Two before, despite owning the series on the two sets of DVD releases and Blu Ray. Probably because it was done on video. That was a good one. I figured the ending would be like that. Arline was very sinister in that role despite repeating the same dialogue three times. No wonder you see that image of her so much, it was an iconic one.

I also watched the Mission: Impossible episode. That one wasn't one of their best efforts. I see it was directed by Marvin Chomsky who did three Star Trek episodes. It guest starred David Opatoshu whose been in many shows and Star Trek and Outer Limits. Interesting to see Arline in 1970's hair and in color after all the black and white episodes I just saw. Her role wasn't that dimensional and was pretty one note as written. Which is interesting as her work in the early 1960's seems from what I'm seeing so far is better because the writing is better.

I might not get to another show today, we'll see.

 

[Ron Lee Green]

I remember her from Bewitched. She had a small, but memorable role as a witch who sends Samantha back in time to the court of King Henry VIII.
I used to see her in person all the time at autograph shows or conventions out here in Los Angeles. She was a popular guest because of the Star Trek fan base. I always meant to buy her autograph, but I would always run out of funds getting other celebrities, and now it's too late.

 

[jperez]

The Outer Limits episode 'Demon With a Glass Hand' stars Robert Culp, pre I Spy and post Trackdown, and is one of the very best episodes of that outstanding series, written by Harlan Ellison. She's great in her role as an impoverished maintenance worker who's momentarily trapped inside the building in which she works while Culp and the aliens battle for the future of mankind and even falls briefly in love with Culp's character before the ironic truth settles in... All in less than 60 minutes. Nowdays, whole seasons -or arcs, as they are now called- would've have been built around so much imagination and plot development... and with not even half the impact, I would say..

 

[Nelson Au]

Demon with a Glass Hand is definitely a classic and favorite! I never interpreted Consuelo as a maintenance worker! I'll look for it when I rewatch the episode soon, I thought she was a seamstress.

I watched the Wild Wild West episode she guest starred in. Again, another minor role. She helps Jim in a tight spot. I am getting the sense she was often cast as the nice girl or bad girl. Stuff that can be filmed within a day. But Consuelo and T'Pring and Lucia were larger roles. I have yet to see her in Hogans Heros or The Monkees. The other Columbo she actually appears in, she is a salesgirl in one short scene with Columbo trying to buy a watch band.

Seems a similar track a lot of actors end up doing who don't break out of the pack. Playing support roles or small parts, maybe a few notable jobs that gets some attention. But that's the way of any job I imagine. Sherry Jackson, Marianne Hill and Leslie Parrish and many others went that way it seems. Miss Hill was memorable in I, Robot and Star Trek, as were the other two actresses. I only name them as they come to mind as being memorable for a Star Trek appearance.

 

[jperez]

Retro TV just presented Legacy for Lucia.

 

[borisfw]

I just seen her in a Columbo . Not sure if its the one you saw . It's from season two with Ray Milland called Greenhouse jungle . She was very blonde and very cute .

 

[Nelson Au]

I forgot about The Greenhouse Jungle, good catch!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Seems a similar track a lot of actors end up doing who don't break out of the pack.

It sorta helps makes me appreciate what an amazing phenomenon something like Star Trek and Twilight Zone are. They were just a week's job for someone like Ms. Martell, and yet, those shows have endured and I will instantly recognize her for the rest of my life, while there are more famous actors with more prestigious careers that I couldn't pick out of a lineup. I can't imagine what that's like, good and bad, being so well known and remembered for something that was such a small part of your career and life.