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Mala Powers

Mala Powers

Known For Acting
Birthday Dec 20, 1931
Died Jul 11, 2007 (75)
Birthplace San Francisco, California, USA
Popularity 1.0 (history)
Updated Aug 08, 2025
Entry Date Apr 13, 2024
Links TMDb IMDb
Biography

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mary Ellen "Mala" Powers (December 20, 1931 – June 11, 2007) was an American film actress. She was born in San Francisco, California. In 1940, her family moved to Los Angeles. Her father was an executive with United Press. In the summer of her relocation, Pow ... ers attended the Max Reinhardt Junior Workshop where she enjoyed her first role in a play before a live audience. She continued with her drama lessons, and a year later she auditioned and won a part in the 1942 Dead End Kids film Tough as They Come. At the age of 16 she began working in radio drama, before becoming a film actress in 1950. Her first roles were in Outrage and Edge of Doom in 1950. That same year, Stanley Kramer signed Powers to star opposite Jose Ferrer in what may be her most remembered role as Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her part in this movie. While on a USO entertainment tour in Korea in 1951, she acquired a blood disease and almost died. She was treated with chloromycetin, but a severe allergic reaction resulted in the loss of much of her bone marrow. Powers barely survived, and her recovery took nearly nine months. She began working again in 1952 and 1953, including a part in City Beneath the Sea and City That Never Sleeps, although she was still taking medication. Following her recovery, she appeared in B-movie westerns, such as Rage at Dawn (1955), and science fiction films, among them The Colossus of New York (1958), Flight of the Lost Balloon (1961), and Doomsday Machine (1972). She also had a large role in Tammy and the Bachelor (1957) She appeared on more than one hundred television programs, including episodes of Appointment with Adventure, John Payne's The Restless Gun, Maverick, Bonanza, Wild Wild West and Perry Mason. She co-starred opposite Anthony Quinn in the television movie The Man and the City, later a television series. She was married to Monte Vanton in 1954, but they divorced in 1962; they had a son, Toren Vanton, who survived his mother. Powers remarried in 1970 to M. Hughes Miller, a book publisher. Powers was a successful children's author of "Follow the Star" and "Follow the Year" and of "Dial a Story". Shortly before her death from complications of leukemia June 11, 2007, aged 75, she had been on a lecture tour at universities. She was a master teacher for the past 14 years in the summer program at the University of Southern Maine for the Michael Chekhov Theatre Institute, training actors and teachers of acting. Mala Powers co-founded the National Michael Chekhov Association with teaching colleagues Wil Kilroy and Lisa Dalton, who continue to teach the curriculum developed by the trio in Maine. Powers was the executrix of the Michael Chekhov estate and instrumental in publishing Chekhov's books On the Technique of Acting, To the Actor, and The Path of the Actor. She also published Chekhov's audio series "On Theatre and the Art of Acting", to which she added a 60 page study guide. She co-narrates with Gregory Peck a documentary on Chekhov entitled "From Russia To Hollywood". She was patron of the Michael Chekhov Studio London and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Powers also had a small but recurring role on Shirley Booth's Hazel series. In that capacity she became a close friend of Lynn Borden, who played Barbara Baxter in the 1965-1966 season. Later, she gave Borden several elephant figurines, one a jade piece an another purchased on a trip to India. Borden became a collector of both frog and elephant figures. Description above from the Wikipedia article Mala Powers, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

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Filmography

Hitters

Hitters

2002

as Mama Theresa

Doomsday Machine

Doomsday Machine

1972

as Maj. Georgianna Bronski

Daddy's Gone A-Hunting

Daddy's Gone A-Hunting

1969

as Meg Stone

Rogue's Gallery

Rogue's Gallery

1968

as Maggie

Fear No More

Fear No More

1961

as Sharon Carlin

Flight of the Lost Balloon

Flight of the Lost Balloon

1961

as Ellen Burton

The Colossus of New York

The Colossus of New York

1958

as Anne Spensser

Sierra Baron

Sierra Baron

1958

as Sue Russell

Man on the Prowl

Man on the Prowl

1957

as Marlan Wood

Death in Small Doses

Death in Small Doses

1957

as Valerie 'Val' Owens

The Unknown Terror

The Unknown Terror

1957

as Gina Matthews

The Storm Rider

The Storm Rider

1957

as Tay Rorick

Tammy and the Bachelor

Tammy and the Bachelor

1957

as Barbara Bissle

Rage at Dawn

Rage at Dawn

1955

as Laura Reno

Bengazi

Bengazi

1955

as Aileen Donovan

The Yellow Mountain

The Yellow Mountain

1954

as Nevada Wray

Geraldine

Geraldine

1954

as Janey Edwards

City Beneath the Sea

City Beneath the Sea

1953

as Terry McBride

City That Never Sleeps

City That Never Sleeps

1953

as Sally 'Angel Face' Connors

Rose of Cimarron

Rose of Cimarron

1952

as Rose of Cimarron

Outrage

Outrage

1950

as Ann Walton

Cyrano de Bergerac

Cyrano de Bergerac

1950

as Roxane

Edge of Doom

Edge of Doom

1950

as Julie

Tough as They Come

Tough as They Come

1942

as Esther Clark

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Organization Category Movie
Television Credits

Murder, She Wrote

as Dorothy Folkes

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 30, 1984

Kraft Suspense Theatre

as Ellen Ramsey

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 10, 1963

Charlie's Angels

as Martha

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 22, 1976

Perry Mason

as Claire Allison

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1957

General Electric Theater

as Martha Benton

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Feb 01, 1953

Rawhide

as Loretta Opel

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 09, 1959

Daniel Boone

as Polly Cooper

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 24, 1964

Switch

as Sally Odden

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 09, 1975

Thriller

as Consuelo De La Varra

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 13, 1960

Wanted: Dead or Alive

as Stacy Torrance

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 06, 1958

The Rebel

as Cassie

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 04, 1959

Sugarfoot

as Roberta Shipman

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 17, 1957

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

as Barbara Anderson

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 05, 1956

Dr. Kildare

as Julie Michaels

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 27, 1961

Perry Mason

as June Sinclair

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1957

Perry Mason

as Janet Brent

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1957

Perry Mason

as Helen Bradshaw

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1957

Perry Mason

as Elaine Bayler

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1957

Mission: Impossible

as Dr. Karen Cherlotov

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 17, 1966

Bewitched

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Sep 17, 1964

Everglades

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Oct 09, 1961

The Gallant Men

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 05, 1962

77 Sunset Strip

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 10, 1958

Cheyenne

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 20, 1955

Bourbon Street Beat

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 05, 1959

Surfside 6

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 06, 1960

Arrest and Trial

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 15, 1963

Hawaiian Eye

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 07, 1959

Ironside

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Mar 28, 1967

Bronco

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 23, 1958

Matinee Theater

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 31, 1955

Lock-Up

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 28, 1959

Jericho

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 15, 1966

Maverick

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 22, 1957

The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 26, 1958

Popularity Metrics

Popularity History


Year Month Avg Max Min
2024 6 8 13 4
2024 7 15 27 5
2024 8 14 51 5
2024 9 7 16 3
2024 10 6 14 2
2024 11 5 9 2
2024 12 5 12 2
2025 1 6 12 3
2025 2 3 6 1
2025 3 3 6 1
2025 5 1 2 1
2025 6 1 1 1
2025 7 0 1 0
2025 8 2 11 0
2025 9 0 0 0
2025 10 1 1 0

Trending Rank


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