Dee Hartford
Dee Hartford (born Donna Beatrice Higgins; April 21, 1928 – October 21, 2018) was an American television actress. She was married to Howard Hawks from 1953 to 1959. Her younger sister was actress Eden Hartford; her former brother-in-law was comedian Groucho Marx.
Dee Hartford

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- Name
- Dee Hartford
- Birth Name
- Donna Beatrice Higgins
- Born
- 21 April 1928
- Birthplace
- Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
- Died
- 21 October 2018
- Place of death
- Palm Desert, California, U.S.
- Education
- East High School
- Known for
- A Girl in Every Port Perry Mason The Twilight Zone Batman Lost in Space Time Tunnel
- Occupation
- Actress
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q5249911 · wikipedia · Dee Hartford
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Dee Hartford • Birth Name — Donna Beatrice Higgins • Born — 21 April 1928 • Birthplace — Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. • Died — 21 October 2018 • Place of death — Palm Desert, California, U.S. • Education — East High School • Known for — A Girl in Every Port Perry Mason The Twilight Zone Batman Lost in Space Time Tunnel • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1952–1976 • Relatives — Eden Hartford (sister)
Early years
Early years
Hartford was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, the middle daughter of three daughters born to Edgar and Beatrice (née Thomas) Higgins. She attended East High School in Salt Lake City and LDS Business College, and then became a model.
Career
Career
In the late 1940s, Hartford was a model for Vogue. Her screen debut was in A Girl in Every Port (1952), directed by Chester Erskine. In 1964-65, she made three guest appearances on Perry Mason; as Leslie Ross in "The Case of the Accosted Accountant," as Lois Gray in "The Case of the Missing Button", and she played Rhonda Coleridge in "The Case of the Baffling Bug". In 1964, she appeared as the viraginous wife and mother in "The Bewitchin' Pool" (the last original episode of The Twilight Zone to be broadcast, but not the last one to be filmed). Hartford guest starred in episodes of Gunsmoke, Burke's Law, The Outer Limits, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Cara Williams Show, Batman (two episodes), Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants, and Lost in Space (three episodes). She appeared as the android Verda in the 1966 Lost in Space episode "The Android Machine" and in a sequel, "Revolt of the Androids". She also appeared in a third episode of Lost in Space as Nancy Pi Squared in the “Space Beauty” episode about an intergalactic beauty pageant.
Personal life
Personal life
Hartford married Howard Hawks on February 20, 1953, at his home in Hollywood, California. They divorced in 1959. In 1972, she married Stuart Cramer III. She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Selected filmography
Selected filmography
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) (Season 1, Episode 10: "Day of Reckoning") as Felicity Sampson • Gunsmoke (1963) (Season 8, Episode 10:E23 "Ash") as Tillie (a saloon girl). • The Outer Limits (1964) (Season 1, Episode 19: "The Invisibles") as Mrs. Clarke
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Salt Lake City.
Birth place
Palm Desert.
Death place
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Dee Hartford, revision 1370700920 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.1940 US census, ancestry.com. Accessed May 23, 2024.
- 2.SAG-AFTRA Summer 2020 Edition.
- 3.Haight, Ellen. Baby, Look at You Now. The Salt Lake Tribune. 117. November 4, 1951.
- 4.Dee Hartford - The Private Life and Times of Dee Hartford. Dee Hartford Pictures.
- 5.Abrams. Slim Aarons: Women. 2016. 9781683350897.
- 6.Run Riot With Three Stars Grand Film. The Terre Haute Tribune. 61. March 2, 1952.
- 7.Eder, Bruce. Dee Hartford. allmovie.com.
- 8.https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0636211/characters/nm0366690/?ref_=tt_cl_c_9
- 9.Film Director, 53; Model, 24, Are Wed. The Fresno Bee The Republican. United Press. 3. February 21, 1953.
- 10.https://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/308/Dee+Hartford/index.html
- 11.Biographies: Latter-day Saint and/or Utah Film Personalities: H. ldsfilm.com.
- 12.Dee Hartford. gettyimages.com.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 25 August 2026.
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