Elen Willard

Elen Willard (born September 1, 1941) is a former American character actress who worked in American network dramatic television series from 1960 to 1966. Her first aired performance was a supporting role in a 1960 episode of the CBS detective series Markham.

Collectively, over a six year period Willard portrayed twenty four characters in 20 different dramatic television series consisting of various featured guest star and supporting performances including most notably Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, Perry Mason, Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, Combat!, Gunsmoke, and Have Gun - Will Travel. During the last two years of her career, she guest starred in four episodes of the ABC/Quinn Martin World War II based series Twelve O'Clock High.

Willard is most distinctly remembered for her standout portrayal of the character of Ione Sykes in the gothic-themed western episode of the science fiction/fantasy/horror anthology series The Twilight Zone entitled, "The Grave," with a cast that included Lee Marvin, Lee Van Cleef, Strother Martin, James Best, and Stafford Repp. Her last aired appearance was in a December 1966 Christmas-themed episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. entitled, "The Jingle Bells Affair."

Actor Earl Holliman, who guest starred opposite Willard in the second of her four appearances in Twelve O'Clock High, said in an interview for a book on that series published in 2005 that he had "...heard she had quit acting because it was such an emotionally painful experience for her." ^[1]

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