Brenda Benet

Brenda Ann Benet (born Brenda Ann Nelson, August 14, 1945 – April 7, 1982) was an American television and film actress. Benet was best known for her roles on the soap operas The Young Marrieds and Days of Our Lives.

Brenda Benet
Brenda Benet in The Young Marrieds 1965
Born	Brenda Ann Nelson (1945-08-14)August 14, 1945 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	April 7, 1982(1982-04-07) (aged 36) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide by gunshot
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1964–82
Spouse(s)	Paul Petersen ​ ( m. 1967; div. 1970) Bill Bixby ​ ( m. 1971; div. 1980)
Partner(s)	Tammy Bruce (1980–March 1982)
Children	1

Early life and career

Benet was born Brenda Ann Nelson in Los Angeles, California. She attended UCLA for a time. Her first acting roles were in 1964, with appearances on Shindig! and The Young Marrieds. She eventually became an actress very much in demand for roles in episodic primetime television in the 1960s and 1970s, including I Dream of Jeannie, McHale's Navy, Daniel Boone, Mannix, My Three Sons, Hogan's Heroes, Love, American Style, Wonder Woman, The Love Boat, and The Courtship of Eddie's Father. She also had a major feature role in the film Walking Tall (1973).

Although many of the characters she portrayed seemed to be either sweet or seductive, she became perhaps best known for her role as scheming villainess Lee Dumonde on the daytime serial Days of Our Lives, a role she played from 1979 until her death in 1982.

Personal life

Benet was bisexual. Her first marriage was to The Donna Reed Show actor Paul Petersen in 1967. In 1969, Benet left Petersen for actor Bill Bixby.[1] After her divorce from Petersen became final, she married Bixby in 1971. The couple had a child, Christopher Sean, in September 1974,[2] and then divorced in 1980.[3] After the divorce and until her death, Benet was in a relationship with future pundit Tammy Bruce (b. 1962).[4]

Benet experienced a number of personal and professional challenges after her divorce from Bixby. Her role on Days of Our Lives made her extremely unpopular with fans; Benet's character was breaking up one of the show's popular couples, Doug and Julie, and fans were outraged. However, Benet's most personal challenge occurred when her six-year-old son Christopher died in March 1981. While they were on a skiing vacation at Mammoth Lakes, Christopher went into cardiac arrest after doctors inserted a breathing tube when he suffered acute epiglottitis.[2]

Death

Benet was devastated by her son's death and sank into a severe depression. On April 7, 1982, she died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at her home in Los Angeles.[5] She was 36. In her book The Death of Right and Wrong, talk radio host Tammy Bruce writes of her personal involvement with Bixby and Benet. Benet and Bruce were romantically involved for a time, and Benet killed herself in a home she had previously shared with Bruce. Bruce had moved out two weeks prior to the suicide. On the day of Benet's suicide, Bruce thought that she would be meeting her for lunch. According to Bruce, Benet was locked inside the bathroom of her home when she arrived. Bruce sensed something was wrong and went to get help. After Bruce stepped outside, Benet shot herself.[6]

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Beach Ball	Samantha
	Harum Scarum	Emerald	Alternative title: Harum Holiday
1967	Track of Thunder	Shelly Newman
1973	Walking Tall	Luan Paxton	Listed in credits as Brenda Benét
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	Wendy and Me	Shamir	1 episode
1965	McHale's Navy	Karema	1 episode
1965–1966	The Young Marrieds	Jill McComb #2	Unknown episodes
1966	The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.	Gizelle	1 episode
	Daniel Boone	Princess Little Fawn	1 episode
1966–1970	My Three Sons	Elyse Maureen	2 episodes
1967	The Iron Horse	Kitty Clayborne	1 episode
	The Green Hornet	Girl	1 episode
	I Dream of Jeannie	Eleanor	1 episode
1968–1969	It Takes a Thief	Nicole Angela Peters	2 episodes
1968–1970	Hogan's Heroes	Janine Robinet Marie Bizet	3 episodes
1969	The High Chaparral	Anita de Santiago y Amistad	1 episode
	To Rome With Love	Tina	1 episode
	The F.B.I.	Stewardess	1 episode
	Where the Heart Is	Sally Moore	Unknown episodes
1969–1972	Love, American Style		3 episodes
1970	Death Valley Days	Chela	1 episode
	Paris 7000		1 episode
1971	The Most Deadly Game	Mindy	1 episode
	The Courtship of Eddie's Father	Brenda	1 episode
	"The Men From Shiloh" rebranded name of The Virginian	Susan Masters	1 episode
1971–1975	Mannix	Ellen Parrish Edie	2 episodes
1972	Wednesday Night Out		Television movie
	Search	Carol Lesko	1 episode
1973	The Horror at 37,000 Feet	Sally	Television movie
	The Magician	Joanna Marsh/Osborne	1 episode
1976	Tattletales	Herself	5 episodes
1977	The Love Boat	Maureen Mitchell	1 episode
1978	Wonder Woman	Morgana	1 episode
	Fantasy Island	Ginny Winthrop	1 episode
1979	Carter Country	Natalya	1 episode
1979–1982	Days of Our Lives	Lee DuMonde Carmichael Williams	255 episodes
1980	The Incredible Hulk	Annie Caplan	1 episode
1982	Father Murphy	Rachel Hansen	1 episode, (final appearance)

References

1. Kubey, Robert William (2003). Creating Television: The First 50 Years. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 384–385. ISBN 0-8058-1077-3.
2. UPI staff (March 3, 1981). "The 6-year-old son of 'Incredible Hulk' television series star". United Press International. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
3. Lisanti, Tom; Wells, Carole (2003). Drive-in Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-movie Starlets of the Xixties. McFarland. pp. 219–220. ISBN 0-7864-1575-4.
4. Bruce, Tammy (August 22, 2004). The Death of Right and Wrong: Exposing the Left's Assault on Our Culture and Values. Three Rivers Press. p. 2. ISBN 1-4000-5294-7.
5. Post-Gazette staff writers (April 9, 1982). "Actress Brenda Benet kills self, star in soap". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. reposted 2009-08-01 at "WeLoveSoaps.net". Retrieved May 1, 2018.
6. Bruce (2004). The Death of Right and Wrong. p. 3.

External links

• Brenda Benet on IMDb
• Brenda Benet at Find a Grave