Lee Meriwether

Lee Ann Meriwether is an American retired actress and former beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America 1955. She is best known for portraying Betty Jones in the 1970s crime drama Barnaby Jones, Catwoman in the 1966 theatrical film Batman, and co-starring in the science-fiction television series The Time Tunnel.

Meriwether was born in Los Angeles, California, to Claudius Gregg Meriwether and Ethel Eve Mulligan, and raised in San Francisco alongside her brother, Don Britt Meriwether. She attended George Washington High School and later City College of San Francisco. After winning Miss San Francisco and Miss California in 1954, she was crowned Miss America in 1955 following her recital of a John Millington Synge monologue. Following her reign, she worked as a Today Girl on NBC's The Today Show from 1955 to 1956.

Meriwether made her professional acting debut in late 1954 and her feature film debut in 1959's 4D Man. Throughout the 1960s, she appeared in numerous television programs, including guest roles on Dr. Kildare, 12 O'Clock High, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive, Star Trek, and Mission: Impossible. In 1966, she replaced Julie Newmar as Catwoman in the Batman film and starred as a regular in The Time Tunnel. She also appeared in feature films such as The Undefeated and Angel in My Pocket in 1969.

From 1973 to 1980, Meriwether played Betty Jones, the title character's secretary and daughter-in-law, opposite Buddy Ebsen in the CBS series Barnaby Jones. Her work on the series earned her Golden Globe Award nominations in 1975 and 1976, as well as an Emmy Award nomination in 1977. During the 1970s and 1980s, she starred in television films including True Grit: A Further Adventure and Cruise Into Terror, served as a regular panelist on game shows like Match Game and The $20,000 Pyramid, and portrayed Lily Munster in the revival series The Munsters Today from 1988 to 1991.

In 1996, Meriwether took over the role of Ruth Martin on the daytime soap opera All My Children. She portrayed the character in two separate stints, first from 1996 to 1998 and later from 2002 until the series ended in September 2011. Her subsequent projects include voicing characters in the video games Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Vanquish, appearing in the films The Ultimate Gift and its follow-up The Ultimate Life, and guest-starring on television series such as Desperate Housewives and Hawaii Five-0.

Meriwether married actor Frank Aletter in April 1958, and the couple had two daughters before divorcing in 1974. She has been married to Marshall Borden since September 1986.