You Know The Face...But The Name?
Their faces are beautiful and familiar to anyone who watched television and went to the movies in the 70s. Their names, however...well, that’s a very different story. Pretty sure most people can’t name even one of these actresses. Can you?
Gretchen Corbett
Jim Rockford regularly needed a lawyer, and Beth Davenport regularly had reasons to regret being his. Gretchen Corbett played the attorney who helped James Garner’s private investigator out of trouble on The Rockford Files. Their chemistry made the legal advice considerably more entertaining than it had any right to be.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Wikimedia Commons
Carol Lynley
Remember the blonde singer trying to escape that upside-down ocean liner in The Poseidon Adventure? That was Carol Lynley as Nonnie Parry. She spent much of the 1972 disaster movie frightened, soaking wet or both. Not the cruise experience anyone had signed up for.
29th Century Fox, Wikimedia Commons
Robyn Hilton
Remember the blonde secretary sitting beside Mel Brooks’s governor in Blazing Saddles? That was Robyn Hilton as Miss Stein. She didn’t need much screen time to make an impression in the 1974 comedy. Remembering her name, however, apparently required paying more attention to the credits.
Lynda Day George
Before Mission: Impossible meant Tom Cruise hanging off something expensive, Lynda Day George played Casey on the television series. She joined in 1971 as the team’s disguise expert. Her glamorous appearance was useful, but the job also required convincing people she was someone else entirely.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Caroline Munro
Caroline Munro played Naomi, the helicopter pilot pursuing Roger Moore’s Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me. She also played Margiana in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. If you remember the face but mostly knew her as “the woman from the Bond movie,” you’re probably in good company.
Hans Peters for Anefo, Wikimedia Commons
Marianna Hill
She was Callie Travers, the woman who confronted Clint Eastwood’s mysterious stranger in High Plains Drifter. A year later, Marianna Hill played Deanna, Fredo Corleone’s outspoken wife, in The Godfather Part II. Two major 70s movies, two memorable supporting roles, and a name that still might not come to mind.
unknown (Allied Artists Pictures), Wikimedia Commons
Joyce Bulifant
The smile might do it. The voice almost certainly will. Joyce Bulifant played Marie Slaughter, wife of newswriter Murray, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She was also a familiar panelist on Match Game, where her cheerful delivery could make an already ridiculous answer even funnier.
Pamela Hensley
Pamela Hensley arrived as Princess Ardala in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century in 1979, wearing outfits that made subtlety seem like a thing of the past. Earlier in the decade, she played Mackie in Rollerball. Apparently, the future had more than one place for her.
ABC Network, Wikimedia Commons
Judy Pace
If you watched Brian’s Song, you may recognize Judy Pace as Linda Sayers, wife of Billy Dee Williams’s Gale Sayers. She also starred in The Young Lawyers and appeared in Cotton Comes to Harlem. That’s courtroom drama, an emotional football classic and a crime comedy, all early in the decade.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Jo Ann Pflug
Jo Ann Pflug played Lieutenant “Dish” in the original MASH movie in 1970, before the television series became a weekly fixture. She also appeared in The Night Strangler and turned up on Match Game. You could know her from movies, television thrillers or simply watching game shows after school.
Jennifer Salt
On Soap, Jennifer Salt played Eunice Tate, whose romantic decisions helped keep the family’s problems well supplied. Away from the sitcom, she played a reporter investigating something deeply unsettling in Brian De Palma’s Sisters. Those were two very different reasons to keep watching.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
Kay Lenz
Kay Lenz played the free-spirited young woman who entered William Holden’s life in Breezy, directed by Clint Eastwood. Television viewers knew her as Kate Jordache in Rich Man, Poor Man and its sequel. Two very different roles, and two good chances to remember the face.
Mariette Hartley
You probably remember Mariette Hartley trading remarks with James Garner in those Polaroid commercials. Their chemistry convinced some viewers they were married. They weren’t, and she did considerably more than sell cameras: Hartley won a 1979 Emmy for her performance in The Incredible Hulk.
![Title: Mariette Hartley, host, C.B.S. Morning Show (actually, The Morning Program)
Creator(s): Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer
Date Created/Published: [1986 or 1987]
Medium: 1 photograph : color transparency ; 35mm (slide format)
Reproduction Number: LC-DI](https://www.factinate.com/storage/app/media/theshot/2026/9/17/1789635372cc2483ea8bf77fba65b3ea65863cccfb177b2f94.jpg)
Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer, Wikimedia Commons
Anitra Ford
If you watched The Price Is Right in the early 70s, Anitra Ford probably looks very familiar. But she also acted, playing Burt Reynolds’s girlfriend Melissa in the original The Longest Yard. Presenting prizes and dealing with that particular boyfriend were considerably different assignments.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Wikimedia Commons
Susan Howard
Before joining Dallas as Donna Culver in 1979, Susan Howard played Maggie, the wife of Barry Newman’s attorney, on Petrocelli. That earlier series gave her a regular television role in the middle of the decade. Then the Ewings came along, bringing considerably more expensive problems.
Lara Parker
For Dark Shadows viewers, Lara Parker was Angelique, the witch who made Barnabas Collins’s existence considerably more complicated. The series continued into 1971, and Parker stayed busy afterward with appearances in Save the Tiger and Race with the Devil. Angelique was a difficult character to forget, though.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Wikimedia Commons
Ann Dusenberry
Remember Tina, the terrified young woman Roy Scheider finds after a shark attack in Jaws 2? That was Ann Dusenberry. She also played Amy March in the 1978 television adaptation of Little Women. Going from shark-infested waters to the March household sounds like a sensible change of scenery.
Screenshot from Jaws 2, Universal Pictures (1978)
Madge Sinclair
Madge Sinclair played Bell, Kunta Kinte’s wife, in Roots, then got behind the wheel as Widow Woman in Convoy. One role put her in a landmark television miniseries; the other put her on the highway with Kris Kristofferson. Neither performance was short on personality.
Jose Galvez, Los Angeles Times, Wikimedia Commons
Diana Muldaur
Diana Muldaur played Chris Coughlin, the reporter who became involved with Dennis Weaver’s visiting lawman on McCloud. She also starred as conservationist Joy Adamson in the television version of Born Free. City crime stories and life with African wildlife gave 70s viewers very different opportunities to recognize her.
NBC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Claudia Jennings
Drive-in regulars may remember Claudia Jennings from The Unholy Rollers, Gator Bait and Truck Stop Women. But she also played talent agent Tami Cutler in The Brady Bunch episode “Adios, Johnny Bravo.” Yes, the one where Greg’s big break had an awful lot to do with fitting the suit.
Lynne Moody
Lynne Moody played Tracy Curtis Taylor during the first season of That’s My Mama. Then she took on the much more dramatic role of Irene Harvey in Roots, returning for Roots: The Next Generations. Depending on what your household watched, you might remember her from laughter or tears.
Joanna Pettet
Joanna Pettet appeared in four installments of Night Gallery, including “The Caterpillar” and “The Girl with the Hungry Eyes.” If your family watched Rod Serling’s unsettling stories, she had several chances to stick in your memory. Whether anyone was thinking about the cast afterward is another question.
NBC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Susan Blakely
Susan Blakely played Patty Simmons, the building owner’s daughter, in The Towering Inferno. Then she became Julie Prescott in Rich Man, Poor Man, winning a Golden Globe for the miniseries. She wasn’t just a passing face in the decade’s television landscape. She was central to one of its big events.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Marlyn Mason
On Longstreet, Marlyn Mason played Nikki Bell, assistant to James Franciscus’s blind insurance investigator. The series ran from 1971 to 1972, while her appearances on shows such as Love, American Style helped keep her familiar. She’s also a small spelling trap: it’s Marlyn, without the extra “i.”
ABC Network, Wikimedia Commons
Joan Hackett
Joan Hackett played Lee Parkman, the wealthy wife caught up in the elaborate games of The Last of Sheila. She also played Dr. Janet Ross in The Terminal Man. If your 70s movie nights leaned toward mysteries and unsettling thrillers, you’ve probably spent some time watching her.
Janet Margolin
In Annie Hall, Janet Margolin played Robin, one of Alvy Singer’s former wives, whose party he would rather avoid while watching basketball. She later starred opposite Roy Scheider in the 1979 thriller Last Embrace. A familiar face in both, even if the name doesn’t immediately come to mind.
Universal History Archive, Getty Images
Belinda Balaski
Belinda Balaski played camp counselor Betsy in the original Piranha, which made summer camp look like a very questionable investment. She also appeared in The Food of the Gods. Between those two 70s creature features, ordinary wildlife probably started looking a little less reassuring.
Screenshot from Piranha, United Artists (1978), Enhanced
Sheree North
Hollywood had promoted Sheree North as a blonde bombshell back in the 50s, but she built a substantial second act in character roles. During the 70s, she appeared in Charley Varrick and The Shootist, and played Lou Grant’s girlfriend Charlene on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Lynn Borden
Lynn Borden played Jenny Crockett in Frogs, the 1972 nature-strikes-back movie featuring Ray Milland and Sam Elliott. She also appeared in Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry. Earlier sitcom viewers knew her as Barbara Baxter from Hazel, so that familiar face may have followed you from family television to the drive-in.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Sian Barbara Allen
If you remember John-Boy Walton’s early love interest Jenny Pendleton, you remember Sian Barbara Allen. She also starred alongside Bette Davis in Scream, Pretty Peggy and earned a Golden Globe nomination for You’ll Like My Mother. That’s quite a bit more than simply being “the girl from The Waltons.”
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
You Knew Her Name Was Something Like That
So...how many names did you actually know before reading the headings? And no, “Rockford’s lawyer” doesn’t count. Neither does “the woman in the Polaroid commercials.” If you got most of them, congratulations: you apparently watched (and remembered) the credits while the rest of us went to the kitchen.
Electronovision-photo by Sinclair for Electronovision, Wikimedia Commons
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