Elizabeth Ashley

Biography: A graduate of Louisiana State University and New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, Elizabeth Ashley started her professional career as a model and ballet dancer (she had studied with Tatiana Semenova). Ashley was still travelling under her given name of Elizabeth Cole when she made her 1959 Broadway bow in The Highest Tree. She first adopted the billing of "Ashley" for her 1961 breakthrough stage appearance in Take Her, She's Mine, which won her the Theatre World Award. Ashley followed this triumph with her performance as newlywed Corrie Bratter in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (1963). She made her film debut as Monica Winthrop in The Carpetbaggers (1963), co-starring with then-husband George Peppard (she had previously been married to actor James Farentino). After the 1965 film Ship of Fools, Ashley dropped out of acting for five years. In her candid 1978 autobiography Actress: Postcards From the Road, she attributed her career hiatus to a number of mitigating circumstances:A graduate of Louisiana State University and New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, Elizabeth Ashley started her professional career as a model and ballet dancer (she had studied with Tatiana Semenova). Ashley was still travelling under her given name of Elizabeth Cole when she made her 1959 Broadway bow in The Highest Tree. She first adopted the billing of "Ashley" for her 1961 breakthrough stage appearance in Take Her, She's Mine, which won her the Theatre World Award. Ashley followed this triumph with her performance as newlywed Corrie Bratter in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (1963). She made her film debut as Monica Winthrop in The Carpetbaggers (1963), co-starring with then-husband George Peppard (she had previously been married to actor James Farentino). After the 1965 film Ship of Fools, Ashley dropped out of acting for five years. In her candid 1978 autobiography Actress: Postcards From the Road, she attributed her career hiatus to a number of mitigating circumstances: a bout with cancer, a difficult pregnancy, her increasingly unhappy marriage to Peppard, and a professional "freeze-out" because she'd turned down the film version of Barefoot in the Park. By the time she reactivated her career in 1970, Ashley's performances had taken on a harsh, dangerous edge -- which, in the long run, had a most salutary effect on her career. With her searing portrayal of Maggie in the 1974 Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, her comeback was complete. A busier-than-ever character actress in films and on stage, Elizabeth Ashley was also seen on a semiweekly basis as husky-voiced Aunt Frieda on the TV sitcom Evening Shade (1990-1994), which starred fellow Floridian Burt Reynolds. Expand

Elizabeth Ashley's Scores

Average career score: 82
Highest Metascore: 91 The Larry Sanders Show: Season 2
Lowest Metascore: 68 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Season 1
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
8 tv reviews
Title: Year: Credit: User score:
tbd Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985): Season 4 Oct 8, 1988 Karen/Kate tbd
tbd Another World: Season 24 Jun 30, 1987 Emma Frame Ordway [#3] (1990) tbd
tbd Miami Vice: Season 3 Sep 26, 1986 Elizabeth Ashley tbd
tbd The Love Boat: Season 8 Sep 22, 1984 Nancy Bricker tbd
tbd Saturday Night Live: Season 7 Oct 3, 1981 Host / Host tbd
tbd The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Season 18 Oct 8, 1979 Guest tbd
tbd The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Season 15 Oct 8, 1976 Guest tbd
tbd The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Season 12 Oct 19, 1973 Guest tbd
tbd Ironside: Season 7 Sep 13, 1973 Elizabeth Ashley / Laura tbd
tbd Mission: Impossible: Season 7 Sep 16, 1972 Andrea tbd
tbd Mission: Impossible: Season 6 Sep 18, 1971 Lois Stoner tbd
tbd Love, American Style: Season 1 Sep 29, 1969 Actor tbd
tbd Another World: Season 6 Jun 30, 1969 Emma Frame Ordway [#3] (1990) tbd
tbd Another World: Season 5 Jan 2, 1968 Emma Frame Ordway [#3] (1990) tbd
tbd Another World: Season 4 Jun 21, 1967 Emma Frame Ordway [#3] (1990) tbd
tbd Another World: Season 3 May 9, 1966 Emma Frame Ordway [#3] (1990) tbd
tbd Route 66: Season 3 Sep 21, 1962 Maria tbd
tbd The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Season 13 Oct 1, 1962 Guest tbd
tbd The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Season 16 Oct 1, 1962 Guest tbd
tbd The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Season 17 Oct 1, 1962 Guest tbd
tbd The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Season 19 Oct 1, 1962 Guest tbd
tbd The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Season 20 Oct 1, 1962 Guest tbd
tbd The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Season 21 Oct 1, 1962 Guest tbd
tbd The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Season 23 Oct 1, 1962 Guest tbd
tbd The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Season 24 Oct 1, 1962 Guest tbd