Sheree North had one of the most amazing careers, both because of its diversity and span. She was initially hired by the studios as the blonde bombshell alternative to Marilyn Monroe. Since the early ’50s, North’s career had gone from Broadway to movies to television.
North is probably best known in the Western realm for appearing in the 1976 adaptation of Glendon Swarthout’s novel, The Shootist, which was John Wayne’s last movie. North also acted with such great Hollywood heavyweights as Charles Bronson in Breakout (1975), Burt Lancaster in Lawman (1971), and Elvis Presley in The Trouble with Girls (1969). As a television actress, she appeared in everything from The Golden Girls to Magnum P.I. to playing Kramer’s mom in the highly popular comedy sitcom, Seinfeld.
Her outstanding dramatic roles in television Westerns include The Virginian, Kung Fu, Here Come the Brides, and one of the finest episodes of The Big Valley entitled “The Man from Nowhere”.
North was 73 when she passed away due to complications during cancer surgery.