Catherine McLeod

Biography

Catherine McLeod was an American actress whose screen career spanned more than 60 television and film credits from 1944 to 1976. Born in Santa Monica, California, she was educated in Alhambra and trained at the Bliss-Hayden drama workshop after performing in a Los Angeles little theater. She worked in a Reno movie theater before becoming a chorus girl in musicals. Her film work included the lead in Frank Borzage's I've Always Loved You (1946), where she played a concert pianist, along with Courage of Lassie (1946), A Blueprint for Murder (1953), and Lipstick (1976). On television she starred in a 1950 Suspense episode and made two Perry Mason guest appearances. She also appeared in dozens of series, among them Maverick, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and The Outer Limits. In 1963 she played a woman in a headache remedy commercial whose irritated line became a catchphrase of the era.

75years old at death

Born July 2, 1921Santa Monica
Died May 11, 1997Los Angeles
Star sign: CancerThe sign runs June 21 to July 22

Movie Career

Films: 3
Career span: 30 years1946 to 1976

Every film, newest first

1976LipstickIMDb rating 5.7
1953A Blueprint for MurderIMDb rating 6.7
1946Courage of LassieIMDb rating 6.2

Genres

Did you know?!

A change of course
McLeod had her greatest impact on American consciousness as the woman in a 1963 Anacin television commercial, whose catchphrase, said plaintively but irritably, was "Mother, please! I'd rather do it myself!"
Early training
McLeod studied at the Bliss-Hayden drama workshop and acted in a little theater in Los Angeles. She later became a chorus girl in musicals, and she had worked in a movie theater in Reno.