{{short description|American actress (1913–1993)}} {{Infobox person | name = Templeton Fox | image = Templeton Fox "The Story of Mary Marlin" (1938 NBC press photo).jpg | alt = | caption = Fox in 1938 | birth_name = Esther Fox | birth_date = {{Birth date|1913|7|24}} | birth_place = Pasadena, California, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1993|1|9|1913|7|24}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = Actress | alma_mater = Pomona College | spouse = Robert Lyon Welch | children = 2 | parents = | known_for = Tony Rome }} '''Templeton Fox''' (born '''Esther Fox''';<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Stars of the Air |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23087081/templeton_fox/ |work=The Evening Independent |date=November 6, 1936 |location=Ohio, Massillon |page=21|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 23, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> July 24, 1913 – January 9, 1993)<ref name="rm">{{cite journal |title=Highlights For Monday, April 11 |journal=Radio Mirror |date=May 1938 |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=45 |url=https://archive.org/stream/rad00macf#page/n56/mode/1up |accessdate=24 August 2018}}</ref> was an American actress best known for her work in old-time radio.
== Early years == Born in Pasadena, California,<ref name="rm" /> Fox was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence B. Fox.<ref>{{cite news |title=Weddings Announced |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23113292/chicago_tribune/ |work=Chicago Tribune |date=August 17, 1938 |location=Illinois, Chicago |page=15|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 24, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> She went to school in Elgin, Illinois,<ref name="rm" /> and attended Pomona College.<ref>{{cite news |title=American Beauties |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23088236/templeton_fox/ |work=Mount Carmel Item |agency=Newspaper Enterprise Association |date=October 12, 1937 |location=Pennsylvania, Mount Carmel |page=5|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 23, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> She won a talent contest sponsored by a hotel in Los Angeles<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23086257/templeton_fox/|title=Templeton Fox|date=December 29, 1935|work=The San Bernardino County Sun|accessdate=August 23, 2018|location=California, San Bernardino|page=8|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref> and gained early acting experience at the Pasadena Community Playhouse.<ref name="rm" /> She changed her first name after being advised by a numerologist to do so.<ref name=":0" />
==Career==
=== Radio === Before Fox became an actress, she was a singer in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news |title=Began Acting in Pasadena |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23112703/templeton_fox/ |work=The Evening News |date=November 16, 1937 |location=Pennsylvania, Harrisburg |page=14|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 24, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> After her parents moved to Chicago, they challenged her to audition with NBC, which resulted in her gaining a contract as a dramatic actress on that network<ref>{{cite news |title=News of Stars and Stations |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23086517/the_st_louis_star_and_times/ |work=The St. Louis Star and Times |date=January 8, 1936 |location=Missouri, St. Louis |page=20|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 23, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> in September 1935.<ref name="rm" /> Her roles on radio programs included those shown in the table below.
{| class="wikitable" |- ! Program !! Character |- | ''Dan Harding's Wife'' || Margot Graham<ref name="rp">{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows|date=1999|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|isbn=978-0-7864-4513-4|page=90}}</ref> |- | ''Hilltop House'' || Trudy Reynolds<ref>{{cite news |title=Hilltop House, Kate Hopkins Change Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23114673/the_times/ |work=The Times |date=October 6, 1940 |location=Louisiana, Shreveport |page=27|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 24, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> |- | ''Kate Hopkins, Angel of Mercy'' || Trudy<ref>{{cite news |title=Premieres |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23114836/the_des_moines_register/ |work=The Des Moines Register |date=October 7, 1940 |location=Iowa, Des Moines |page=13|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 24, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> |- | ''Linda Fairchild, Stepmother'' || Linda Fairchild<ref>{{cite news |title=Studio Gossip |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23087986/st_louis_postdispatch/ |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=May 30, 1937 |location=Missouri, St. Louis |page=40|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 23, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> |- | ''The Story of Mary Marlin'' || Bunny Mitchell{{r|rp|page1=318}} |- | ''This Day Is Ours'' || Eleanor MacDonald{{r|rp|page1=331}} |- | ''Those We Love'' || Ann<ref>{{cite journal |title=(photo caption) |journal=Radio Mirror |date=March 1945 |volume=23 |issue=4 |page=92 |url=https://archive.org/stream/radiomirro00mac#page/n315/mode/1up |accessdate=24 August 2018}}</ref> |- | ''Young Hickory'' || Marilyn Fletcher<ref>{{cite news |title=Acts |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23087581/templeton_fox/ |work=The San Francisco Examiner |date=April 25, 1937 |location=California, San Francisco |page=20|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 23, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> |- | ''Your Family and Mine'' || Claudia Foster<ref>{{cite news |last1=Damai |first1=Paul |title=Radio Short Circuits |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23114044/the_times/ |work=The Times |date=December 10, 1939 |location=Indiana, Munster |page=7|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 24, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> |}
Programs on which Fox had supporting roles included ''Manhattan at Midnight'',<ref>{{cite news |title=In New Series |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23114280/templeton_fox/ |work=Star Tribune |date=July 28, 1940 |location=Minnesota, Minneapolis |page=26|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 24, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> ''Lights Out''<ref name=dunningota>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22lights+out+horror%22+%22Templeton+Fox%22+%22an+actress+who+had+also+worked+the+show+in+Chicago%22&pg=PA399 | last=Dunning| first=John| author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author)| title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |section=Lights Out | date=1998| publisher=Oxford University Press| location=New York, NY| isbn=978-0-19-507678-3| pages=399–401| edition=Revised| access-date=2024-12-30}}</ref> and ''The Mystery Man''.<ref name="rcf">{{cite book|last1=Cox|first1=Jim|title=Radio Crime Fighters: Over 300 Programs from the Golden Age.|date=2002|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-4324-6|pages=190–191}}</ref>
===Film=== Fox worked at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, mostly in bit parts.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Herb |title=by herb kelly |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23115928/templeton_fox/ |work=The Miami News |date=July 3, 1966 |location=Florida, Miami |page=43|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 24, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> Her film credits include ''Tony Rome'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reid |first1=John Howard |title=A Risky Business Crime in the Movies |date=2 August 2015 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781329436206 |page=150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p7NkCgAAQBAJ&q=%22Templeton+Fox%22+actress&pg=PA150 |accessdate=24 August 2018 |language=en}}</ref> ''Fate Is the Hunter'', ''Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte'', ''Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?'', and ''Shock Treatment''.<ref name=":2">{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Herb |title=Miami Was An Accident |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23115946/templeton_fox/ |work=The Miami News |date=July 3, 1966 |location=Florida, Miami |page=42|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 24, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>
=== Stage === In 1942, Fox portrayed Miriam Blake in a production of ''Guest in the House'' in Boston.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Stage: Plymouth Theatre |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23115010/the_boston_globe/ |work=The Boston Globe |date=October 20, 1942 |location=Massachusetts, Boston |page=23|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 24, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>
=== Television === Fox's television appearances include roles in ''Hazel'', ''Route 66'', ''Dennis the Menace'', ''The Thin Man'', ''My Three Sons'', ''Slattery's People'', ''Gentle Ben'', ''My Living Doll'', and ''Peyton Place''.<ref name=":2" /> In 1975, she was a last-minute replacement to play Ralph Kramden's mother-in-law on the 25th anniversary episode of ''The Honeymooners'' after Doro Merande, the actress slated for that role, died suddenly.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gardner |first1=Marilyn |last2=Gardner |first2=Hy |title=It Wasn't 'Sudden Fame' For Templeton Fox, Long-Time Performer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23116900/templeton_fox/ |work=Asheville Citizen-Times |date=December 14, 1975 |location=North Carolina, Asheville |page=64|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 24, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>
==Personal life== On August 15, 1938, Fox married Robert Lyon Welch in Chicago. Welch worked with a radio advertising agency.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Marriages |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/30s/1938/BB-1938-08-27.pdf |access-date=24 August 2018 |magazine=Billboard |date=August 27, 1938 |pages=34, 104}}</ref> She retired from acting to raise their son and daughter. Welch died in 1964. Fox died on January 9, 1993, in Los Angeles, California.<ref name=":1" /> <!-- Her son was Bob Welch, lead guitarist and vocalist for Fleetwood Mac (1970-74) and accomplished solo artist (7 solo albums). Bob Welch died from a suicide brought on from a lengthy illness in 2012.-->
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{IMDb name|0289276}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Templeton}} Category:American film actresses Category:American radio actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Actresses from Pasadena, California Category:20th-century American actresses Category:1913 births Category:1993 deaths Category:Pomona College alumni
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