Carla Balenda
American actress (1925–2024)
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Carla Balenda (born Sally Bliss; November 22, 1925 – April 9, 2024) was an American film and television actress. With a career spanning from the 1940s to the 1960s, she was one of the last surviving actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
November 22, 1925
Carla Balenda | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sally Bliss November 22, 1925 Carthage, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 9, 2024 (aged 98) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1944–1966 |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 2 |
Early life
Carla Balenda was born as Sally Bliss in Carthage, New York, on November 22, 1925.[1] She attended high school in Baldwin, Long Island, and participated in summer stock theatre.[2]
Career
Balenda had contracts with RKO Pictures and Columbia Pictures, but a 1954 newspaper article noted, "she didn't really hit her stride until she was chosen to be Mickey Rooney's TV love."[3] After being billed as Sally Bliss in "a few minor roles in RKO productions," she changed her name to Carla Balenda.[4] She explained: "Sally Bliss was just too cute. And I'm not cute at all. That name would type me, probably in ingenue roles -- and I'm not the type."[4] On television, Balenda portrayed Pat in The Mickey Rooney Show (1954–1955) and Betty Leonard on The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu (1955–1956).[5]
Personal life and death
In 1944, Balenda married her high school sweetheart, John Martin, who was a pilot during World War II.[6] They stayed together for fifteen years, having two boys from the union before divorcing in 1959. She married secondly, in 1965, to William Rutter, until his death in 2012.[7]
Balenda died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles, on April 9, 2024, at the age of 98.[8]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1944 | Swing in the Saddle | Judy Bayliss |
| Dancing in Manhattan | Billie | |
| Meet Miss Bobby Socks | Pillow | |
| 1945 | Eadie Was a Lady | Doris |
| Rustlers of the Badlands | Sally Boylston | |
| 1950 | Hunt the Man Down | Rolene Wood |
| 1951 | Sealed Cargo | Margaret McLean |
| The Whip Hand | Janet Keller | |
| 1952 | The Pace That Thrills | Eve Drake |
| Outlaw Women | Beth Larabee | |
| 1953 | Prince of Pirates | Princess Maria |
| 1954 | Phantom Stallion | Claire |
| 1966 | Seconds | Operating room nurse |
Television
- The Mickey Rooney Show: Hey, Mulligan (1954–55)
- The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu (1956)
- Perry Mason (1962)
- Wagon Train (1963)
- Lassie (1958–63)
