Armelia Carol Ohmart

After graduating high school, she returned to Utah where she won the title of Miss Utah, and subsequently placed fourth in the Miss America pageant. Her appearance in pageants led to modeling work, which included posing for artist Milton Caniff. Ohmart made her feature film debut in Michael Curtiz's The Scarlet Hour in 1956, followed by various television appearances, as well as roles in several horror films, such as House on Haunted Hill (1959) and Spider Baby (1968). Her final film appearance was in The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe (1974), after which she formally retired from acting, dedicating her time to studying New Age philosophy and spiritualism. Ohmart spent the majority of her later life in Seattle, before dying of natural causes in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 2002, aged 74. In 1955, Michael Curtiz said of her: "She is unusual, superior, quiet, has buried emotion. She is a girl who is searching for something. She is destined to become one of Paramount's outstanding stars."

• Birth Name — Armelia Carol Ohmart • Born — 3 June 1927 • Birthplace — Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. • Died — 1 January 2002 • Place of death — Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S. • Occupation — * Actress • model • Height — 5 ft • Years Active — 19501974

• Illustration — Milton Caniff draws Steve Canyons "Copper Calhoon", with Ohmart as his model (1947) • Illustration — Milton Caniff with Ohmart, 1947 Ohmart was born Armelia Carol Ohmart on June 3, 1927, in Salt Lake City, Utah, into a Mormon family. Her parents were C. Thomas Ohmart, a dentist who was first a professional actor, and his wife, Armelia Ohmart. Her family relocated to Seattle, Washington, shortly after Ohmart's birth. At age twelve, Ohmart sang on KFRC in San Francisco, California. She also sang on KSL, KUTA and KDYL in her hometown of Salt Lake City. Additionally, she sang with dance bands, including that of Jan Garber, as a teenager. She was raised primarily in Washington state, though she briefly attended East High School in Salt Lake City, later graduating from Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, Washington. After graduating from high school, Ohmart returned to Utah with her mother, and in 1946, won the Miss Utah pageant. She then placed fourth runner-up in the Miss America pageant. Ohmart's work in pageants led to several modeling jobs in 1947, during which time Ohmart became a model for the character "Copper Calhoun" in Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon comic strip. Ohmart would serve as a model for numerous illustrations for Caniff, and was featured in a 1947 profile in Popular Photography.

Ohmart was seen on early television doing commercials, appearing on NBC's Bonny Maid Versatile Varieties (1949–51), which aired Friday nights at 9 p.m. Ohmart was seen pitching floor wax along with Anne Francis and Eva Marie Saint, the other two hostesses of the show. She also worked on The 20th Century Fox Hour and Juke Box Jury. Ohmart moved to New York in 1955 where she worked as an understudy on Broadway. She had steady work in television until the early 1970s, with guest roles in Men into Space, Bat Masterson, Ripcord, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Get Smart, Perry Mason, Tombstone Territory, and Barnaby Jones.

Ohmart married three times, most notably to actor Wayde Preston. They wed in 1956, and were divorced in 1958. Her first marriage, in 1949, was to actor Ken Grayson; it was annulled in 1951. In 1978, she married William Traberth in Wyoming, a veteran and former firefighter, and retired in Sequim, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. She changed her name to Kariomar S. Traberth, taking her husband's surname, and was guarded about her private life. Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, Ohmart dedicated much of her time to studying spiritualism and New Age philosophy, which served as a basis for various poems and short stories she wrote. Her poetry was compiled in a manuscript titled Song of Salt. Around 1973, while filming an episode of Barnaby Jones in Los Angeles, Ohmart was attacked and beaten by three men on a street in Hollywood. After being discharged from the hospital over her injuries, Ohmart was prescribed pain killers, which marked the beginnings of a years-long addiction to prescription medication. In 1989, Ohmart agreed to be the subject of an extensive profile in the Los Angeles Times. In the profile, Ohmart revealed that she had an estranged relationship with her mother, who did not know of her daughter's whereabouts for the last ten years of her life, up until her death in 1987. Ohmart recalled:

Ohmart died in Fort Collins, Colorado, on January 1, 2002, aged 74, of natural causes. She was cremated. Her ashes were scattered over Carter Lake in Loveland, Colorado. Her death wasn't publicly announced until July 2015. Her death certificate listed her as Kari Omar Sonne Traberth.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1956 — The Scarlet Hour — Pauline "Paulie" Nevins • The Wild Party — Erica London • 1958 — Born Reckless — Liz • 1959 — House on Haunted Hill — Annabelle Loren • The Scavengers — Marion Allison • 1960 — Wild Youth — Madge — Also known as: Naked Youth • 1962 — The Red Uncle — Short film • 1964 — One Man's Way — Evelyn Grace • 1967 — Spider Baby — Emily Howe • Caxambu! — Peggy Garrat • 1974 — The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe — Lisa Grimaldi