Zina Bethune

• Name — Zina Bethune • Birth Name — Zina Bianca Bethune • Born — 17 February 1945 • Birthplace — Staten Island, New York City, U.S. • Died — 12 February 2012 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Occupation — Actor, ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher • Years Active — 1951–2006 • Known for — Theater Bethune • Parents — Ivy Bethune (mother)

Bethune was born on Staten Island, the daughter of Ivy (Vigder), a Russian-born (Sevastopol, present-day Ukraine) actress who started in the Superman radio series, and later became known for playing "Miss Tuttle" on Father Murphy and "Abigail" on General Hospital.

Bethune began her formal ballet training aged six at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet. By age 14 she was dancing with the New York City Ballet as Clara in the 1955 Balanchine production of The Nutcracker. Bethune's first professional acting role was at age six, with a small part in the off-Broadway play Monday's Heroes, produced by Stella Holt at the Greenwich Mews Theater.

As a child performer, Bethune appeared in the original cast of The Most Happy Fella as well as several American daytime television dramas, including a stint as the first "Robin Lang" on The Guiding Light from May 1956 to April 1958. Newspaper columnist Dick Kleiner described Bethune's performance in a 1958 television production as a "shatteringly beautiful portrayal of Tennessee Williams' young heroine in This Property Is Condemned." In October 1958, she portrayed Amy March in the CBS musical adaptation of Little Women. She portrayed nurse Gail Lucas on The Nurses (1962–65), and appeared in other series, including Kraft Television Theatre (with Martin Huston in the series finale), Route 66, The Judy Garland Show, Pantomime Quiz, Hollywood Squares, Young Dr. Malone, Dr. Kildare, Gunsmoke, The Invaders, and Emergency!

Throughout her life, Bethune worked with disabled students. She herself was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 11, and hip dysplasia. Bethune founded Bethune Theatredanse (now called Theatre Bethune) in 1981, a nonprofit dance and drama company that has toured internationally and performed at the White House. She founded Dance Outreach, now known as Infinite Dreams, in 1980, which, as of 2012, enrolls about 8,000 disabled children in dance-related activities throughout Southern California.

Bethune was killed in an apparent hit and run crash on February 12, 2012, while she was trying to help an injured opossum in Griffith Park, Los Angeles.

• 1960 — Sunrise at Campobello — Anna Roosevelt • 1967 — Who's That Knocking at My Door — Girl • 1974 — Planet of the Apes — Arn — TV series, S1 E5, "The Legacy" • 1977 — CHiPs — Mother — TV series, S1 E12, "Aweigh We Go" • 1985 — Walking the Edge — Mrs. Johnson • 1988 — The Boost — Dance Teacher / Choreographer