Elen Willard Biography

Elen Willard (born November 1, 1941) is a former actress who appeared on American network television between 1960 and 1966.

Willard was cast in different roles in four episodes from 1964 to 1966 of the ABC military series Twelve O'Clock High. Earl Holliman, who appeared with her in the 1965 episode "The Ticket", said that Willard left acting entirely because she found show business emotionally taxing.

Willard's first television appearance was as Deidre Waugh in the segment "The Bad Spell" of the CBS detective series Markham, starring Ray Milland. She then played Emily MacDougall in the episode "To Know the End" of the ABC science fiction series, Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond.

On November 16, 1960, Willard appeared as Belle Bleymier in the episode "The Bleymier Story" of NBC's western series, Wagon Train, broadcast just days after the death of series lead Ward Bond. Robert Horton as the scout Flint McCullough struggles to get a wagon train through a Sioux burial ground. Dan Duryea played the mentally unstable Samuel Bleymier, Belle's father, one obsessed by demons and superstitions. Bleymier opposes the interest shown in Belle by Justin Claiborne, played by James Drury, two years before NBC launched Drury as the lead in the western series, The Virginian. The foreboding episode is filmed mostly during heavy rains, high winds, and a cyclone.

Willard's other 1960 appearances were as Ann Farwell in "The Case of the Red Riding Boots" on CBS's legal series, Perry Mason and as Agatha Evans in "And the Beast" on NBC's The Tall Man, starring Barry Sullivan and Clu Gulager.

In 1961, Willard was cast as Charlotte Laughlin in the episode "The Quest" of NBC's western detective series, Whispering Smith, starring Audie Murphy. She played Lorie Harris in "A Dark Night for Billy Harris" on the ABC medical drama, Ben Casey, starring Vince Edwards. She played Mrs. Madera in "Suitable for Framing" on Rod Taylor's Hong Kong series, which aired on ABC opposite Wagon Train. Her other 1961 appearances were as Caroline Lord in the episode "The Lords of Darkness" on the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Lawman, starring John Russell and Peter Brown, and as Jane Marsden in "Laugh Till I Die" on the CBS detective series, Checkmate, with Anthony George and Doug McClure. Willard was cast too in 1961 in the role of Ione Sykes in the episode "The Grave" of CBS' The Twilight Zone, with other guest stars were Lee Marvin, James Best, Lee Van Cleef, Strother Martin, and Stafford Repp.

In 1962, Willard appeared as Althea in "The Hunger" on CBS's Gunsmoke and as Anne Farell in "Any Second Now" of ABC's Combat!, another World War II drama, and as Joan Prentiss on NBC's medical series, Dr. Kildare in the episode "The Horn of Plenty." In 1962 and 1963, she made two appearances on Richard Boone's CBS western series, Have Gun - Will Travel. In 1964, she portrayed Pelas Delcort in "Memory of a Firing squad" on the ABC college drama, Channing, starring Jason Evers. Willard's final television appearance aired on December 23, 1966; she played Priscilla Worth in the Christmas episode "The Jingle Bells Affair" of Robert Vaughn's NBC espionage series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Her whereabouts since December 1966 are unknown.