Julie Newmar

Julie Newmar Bio

Julie Newmar (born Julia Chalene Newmeyer; August 16, 1933) is an American actress, dancer, and singer whose career has spanned film, television, and stage for more than seven decades. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real estate entrepreneur who built a creative legacy alongside a business one. Newmar won the 1959 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Marriage-Go-Round, and she remains best known to television audiences as Catwoman in the 1966–1967 Batman series. Her long and varied career reflects a rare combination of performance, invention, and civic engagement that continues to influence popular culture.

Early Life and Background

Julie Newmar was born on August 16, 1933, in Los Angeles, California, the eldest of three children. She was born to Don Newmeyer and Helene Jesmer Newmeyer, and she has two younger brothers, Peter Bruce Newmeyer and John A. Newmeyer. Her father headed the physical education department at Los Angeles City College and had played American football professionally in the 1920s with the 1926 Los Angeles Buccaneers of the National Football League. Her Swedish-French mother was a fashion designer who worked under the professional name Chalene and later became a real estate investor, helping shape Newmar’s later interests in design and property.

Raised in her mother’s Christian Science faith, Newmar has described her religious upbringing as a strong foundation for life in the entertainment industry. She began dancing at an early age, and her natural talent quickly set her apart. By the time she was 15, she was performing as a prima ballerina with the Los Angeles Opera, an experience that gave her the poise and discipline that would later define her on-screen presence.

Path to Celebrity

Newmar moved into the entertainment industry as a dancer, first appearing in bit parts and uncredited roles in films during the early 1950s. She played the dancer-assassin in Slaves of Babylon (1953), the gilded girl in Serpent of the Nile (1953), and danced in The Band Wagon (1953) and Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954). She also worked as a choreographer and dancer for Universal Studios beginning at the age of 19, sharpening the technical skills that would later open doors on Broadway and television.

Her first major role, billed as Julie Newmeyer, came in 1954 as Dorcas, one of the brides in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. She made her Broadway debut in 1955 in Silk Stockings and later created the role of Stupefyin’ Jones in the Broadway production of Li’l Abner, a part she played for the show’s entire run from 1956 to 1958. These early stage and screen credits established her as a vivid supporting presence and paved the way for her breakout success in The Marriage-Go-Round.

Julie Newmar Career

Early Career (1953–1961)

During the 1950s, Julie Newmar built a steady résumé in film and on stage, moving from dancer to featured performer. She appeared in The Rookie (1959) and reprised her Tony-winning Broadway role in the 1961 film version of The Marriage-Go-Round, starring alongside James Mason and Susan Hayward. Her performance in the film adaptation earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer – Actress, signaling her arrival as a film talent beyond the stage.

She continued to deepen her stage profile, appearing opposite Joel Grey in the national tour of Stop the World – I Want to Get Off from March to October 1963. She also appeared in the short-lived 1961 Sam Spewack play Once There Was a Russian, demonstrating her willingness to take risks in live theater alongside her growing film career.

Breakthrough (1962–1967)

Newmar’s television work in the early-to-mid 1960s turned her into a household name. She starred as Rhoda the Robot in the series My Living Doll (1964–1965) and appeared in memorable guest spots on The Twilight Zone, F Troop, Get Smart, and The Beverly Hillbillies. In 1962, she played the motorcycle-riding heiress Vicki Russell in two episodes of Route 66, and in 1967, she guest-starred as April Conquest in The Monkees, a part in which all four main characters fall in love with her.

Her defining role, however, came in 1966 when she was cast as the villainess Catwoman in the television series Batman (1966–1967). Her statuesque figure and self-styled costume, with the belt at the hips to emphasize her hourglass shape, became a lasting pop culture image. That modified Catwoman costume is now held by the Smithsonian Institution. The role was a career milestone that defined her public image for generations.

Notable Works and Milestones

Across her career, Julie Newmar has been recognized for signature works including Batman, My Living Doll, Route 66, The Twilight Zone, Bewitched, and The Monkees on television, and films such as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Li’l Abner, and The Marriage-Go-Round. She also appeared as the pregnant Capellan princess Eleen in the Star Trek episode Friday’s Child and later made a celebrated cameo as herself in the 1995 film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. In 2016 and 2017, she returned to her most famous role, voicing Catwoman in the animated films Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders and Batman vs. Two-Face, 50 years after the original series.

Julie Newmar Award Nominations

Julie Newmar has earned a small but distinguished set of nominations across her long career, reflecting her work on both stage and screen. She received a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer – Actress for her performance in the 1961 film adaptation of The Marriage-Go-Round. She was also slated to return to Broadway in the David Rabe play Boom Boom Room in 1973, though she was replaced during rehearsals.

Julie Newmar Awards Won

Julie Newmar has received several notable honors in recognition of her contributions to stage and screen. She won the 1959 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Katrin Sveg in The Marriage-Go-Round. In 2014, she was presented with the Inkpot Award in recognition of her work in the entertainment industry. She was also honored in 2013 with a lifetime achievement award from the Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing organization in Los Angeles.

Julie Newmar Family

Julie Newmar was born to Don Newmeyer, who headed the physical education department at Los Angeles City College, and Helene Jesmer Newmeyer, a fashion designer and real estate investor who worked under the professional name Chalene. Her parents invested in real estate in the 1940s and 1950s, purchasing buildings in the La Brea and Fairfax Avenue areas of Los Angeles, a foundation that later shaped her own real estate career. She has two younger brothers: Peter Bruce Newmeyer, who was killed in a skiing accident, and John A. Newmeyer, a writer, epidemiologist, and winemaker.

Personal Life

After a broken engagement to novelist Louis L’Amour and past romances with comedian Mort Sahl and actor Ken Scott, Julie Newmar married lawyer J. Holt Smith on August 5, 1977, and moved with him to Fort Worth, Texas. The couple divorced in 1984. Newmar’s only child, her son John, was born in 1981 with Down Syndrome, and at age three he contracted meningitis that left him deaf; she raised him as a single parent after her divorce and took sign language classes at night school so she could teach him to communicate. Newmar lives with Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease, an inherited neurological condition, and she is also a classically trained pianist who has supported civic causes ranging from a temporary ban on leaf blowers in Los Angeles to LGBT rights advocacy.