
Acting
Lorna Thayer
Born — Died
1919-03-10 — 2005-06-04
Place of birth
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Known for
Acting
Credits
49 titles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Lorna Thayer (10 March 1919 - June 4, 2005) was an American character actress. Thayer was born in Boston, the daughter of silent screen actress Louise Gibney. She appeared often in theatre and on television. In 1955 she played in The Beast with a Million Eyes with Paul Birch. She played minor roles in the films The Lusty Men, Texas City and Frankie and Johnny. It was her role in the iconic 1970 film Five Easy Pieces as the waitress who refuses to allow Jack Nicholson's character to order a side of wheat toast that she is most likely to be remembered for and identified with. The scene has come to be known as the "chicken salad scene". She died at the…
Known for
7.3Have Gun – Will Travel is an American Western television series that aired on CBS from 1957 through 1963. It was rated number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings every year of its first four seasons. It was one of the few television shows to spawn a successful radio version. The radio series debuted November 23, 1958. The television show is presently shown on the Encore-Western channel. Have Gun – Will Travel was created by Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow and produced by Frank Pierson, Don Ingalls, Robert Sparks, and Julian Claman. There were 225 episodes of the TV series, 24 written by Gene Roddenberry. Other contributors included Bruce Geller, Harry Julian Fink, Don Brinkley and Irving Wallace. Andrew McLaglen directed 101 episodes and 19 were directed by series star Richard Boone.
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
6.5Follows the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from the police term "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.
Dragnet
1951
6.8The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a television western series loosely based on the life of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black-and-white program aired for 229 episodes on ABC from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian in the title role.
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
1955
7.6The Dick Van Dyke Show centers around the work and home life of television comedy writer Rob Petrie. The plots generally revolve around problems at work, where Rob got into various comedic jams with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell, Sally Rogers and producer Mel Cooley.
The Dick Van Dyke Show
1961
6.2That Girl is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewster, New York to try to make it big in New York City. Ann has to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp played Lew Marie and Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell, Ruth Buzzi and Reva Rose played Ann and Donald's friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show earlier in the 1960s.
That Girl
1966
6.7The Detectives is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons, and on NBC during its third and final season. The series, starring motion picture star Robert Taylor, was produced by Four Star Television. Captain Matt Holbrook (Robert Taylor) is head of the detective division of a large metropolitan police force—a man whose devotion to duty, professional brilliance, and quick judgment are reflected in his 20-year career on the force. His aides, Lt. Johnny Russo (Tige Andrews), Lt. Otto Lindstrom (Russ Thorson), and Sgt. Chris Ballard (Mark Goddard) form a team that is both proficient and warmly human. The stories stress the interrelationships between the men as well as the solutions to crimes and the apprehension of criminals, adding a dimension of human drama to the excitement, action, and suspense inherent in each story of the detectives' difficult, sometimes thankless, and frequently dangerous assignments.
The Detectives
1959
Film credits
1980s · 3 titles
5.9A successful advertising executive finds his freewheeling life crashing to a halt when his parents end their longtime marriage.
Nothing in Common
1986
6.1During a high-profile Mafia testimony case in Riverside County, a hired killer checks into a hotel room near the courthouse, while his depressed neighbor contemplates suicide over marital problems.
Buddy Buddy
1981
4.4A young astrophysicist searches for sinister extraterrestrials looking for sanctuary for their comrades by possessing the bodies of humans.
The Aliens Are Coming
1980
1970s · 13 titles
7.0When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone scrambles to a secure laboratory and tries first to isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont - an old alcoholic and a six-month-old baby - survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form, unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device designed to prevent the escape of dangerous biological agents.
The Andromeda Strain
1971
7.1Robert Dupea spends his days doing various odd jobs, drinking and womanizing until an encounter with his sister makes him revisit his past.
Five Easy Pieces
1970
5.2This engaging made-for-television movie follows the adventures of Ginny "Sweetie Pie" LaRosa, who needs money after her trucker husband, Jack, is shot by hijackers. Fortunately, she finds a partner in Flatbed Annie, a freewheelin' driver. The women form an unlikely but profitable friendship while fending off the repo man who wants the truck and the criminals who are after the cocaine hidden in it.
Flatbed Annie & Sweetie Pie: Lady Truckers
1979
6.2A crazed Vietnam vet bomber hijacks a Boeing 707 and demands to be taken to Russia.
Skyjacked
1972
5.6A down on his luck former drug dealer is forced by a corrupt LAPD policeman to sell 100 kilos of confiscated marijuana in one weekend.
Cisco Pike
1972
4.5Sharon Kelly plays a naive waitress who sleeps her ways to bigger and bigger roles in a musical adaptation of Julius Caesar, only to suffer some form of physical calamity every time the cameras roll.
Alice Goodbody
1974
4.6The frisky cheerleading team at the anarchic Aloha High sets out to foil the plans of their local school board president, after he attempts to shut the school down in order to develop the land into a shopping mall.
Revenge of the Cheerleaders
1976
7.7The girlfriend of the Sundance Kid is on the run, with a price on her head, when she hears rumors that Sundance may still be alive.
Mrs. Sundance
1974
4.0When Harry Walters runs out of gas, he gets picked up by a beautiful young woman. But when she pulls a gun on him and orders him to take his clothes off, Harry puts up no resistance and is sexually assaulted. He reports the incident to the authorities, but they either don't believe him, or, if they do, can't understand why he would consider it a crime - a reaction he also gets from his friends and family.
It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy
1974
7.5The Civil War is over but in the Ozarks of Arkansas people are not ready to forgive and forget. The Mondier brothers have returned from fighting for the Union and Mort Fagan is keeping things difficult for them in the community.
Smoke In The Wind
1975
4.0A tightly-knit family headed by a beleaguered Chicago widow rallies behind the eldest son when he is charged with bribing a city health department inspector in this pilot for a possible series.
The Family Kovack
1974
5.6A boozing young man in love with his co-worker finds that everyone around him, even his pompous and condescending best friend, is changing into a rhinoceros.
Rhinoceros
1974
5.5Two rural West Virginia brothers leave home, rob an armored car and become fugitives.
The Dion Brothers
1974
1960s · 3 titles
6.2Jesse W. Haywood (Don Knotts) graduates from dental school in Philadelphia in 1870 and goes west to become a frontier dentist. Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushing (Barbara Rhoades) is offered a pardon if she will track down a ring of gun smugglers. She tricks Haywood into a sham marriage as a disguise. Haywood inadvertently becomes the legendary "Doc the Haywood" after he guns down "Arnold the Kid".
The Shakiest Gun in the West
1968
NRDr. Heidegger invites four of his respected friends to try out the elixir of youth.
Dr. Heidegger's Experiment
1969
5.3A young man with only one hand gets a job at a timber camp and falls for his boss's daughter.
Freckles
1960
1950s · 6 titles
3.8At a decrepit farm outside a remote American desert community, something takes over the minds of some of the local humans and animals and is able to see through their eyes and control their actions.
The Beast with a Million Eyes
1955
6.7Retired rodeo champion Jeff McCloud agrees to mentor novice rodeo contestant Wes Merritt against the wishes of Merritt's wife who fears the dangers of this rough sport.
The Lusty Men
1952
5.8A crusading psychiatrist battles a sadistic female warden to improve conditions at a women's prison.
Women's Prison
1955
6.0A young woman is hired to take care of an eerie old mansion, where she finds herself entangled with an enigmatic murderer.
Jennifer
1953
4.2The widows and children of survivors of the H.M.S. Bounty rule Pitcairn Island, fighting off sailors and intruders.
The Women of Pitcairn Island
1956
NRA Civil War veteran returns home to find his father has become a social pariah.
Natchez
1958
Series credits
7.3Have Gun – Will Travel is an American Western television series that aired on CBS from 1957 through 1963. It was rated number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings every year of its first four seasons. It was one of the few television shows to spawn a successful radio version. The radio series debuted November 23, 1958. The television show is presently shown on the Encore-Western channel. Have Gun – Will Travel was created by Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow and produced by Frank Pierson, Don Ingalls, Robert Sparks, and Julian Claman. There were 225 episodes of the TV series, 24 written by Gene Roddenberry. Other contributors included Bruce Geller, Harry Julian Fink, Don Brinkley and Irving Wallace. Andrew McLaglen directed 101 episodes and 19 were directed by series star Richard Boone.
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
6.5Follows the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from the police term "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.
Dragnet
1951
6.8The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a television western series loosely based on the life of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black-and-white program aired for 229 episodes on ABC from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian in the title role.
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
1955
7.6The Dick Van Dyke Show centers around the work and home life of television comedy writer Rob Petrie. The plots generally revolve around problems at work, where Rob got into various comedic jams with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell, Sally Rogers and producer Mel Cooley.
The Dick Van Dyke Show
1961
6.2That Girl is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewster, New York to try to make it big in New York City. Ann has to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp played Lew Marie and Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell, Ruth Buzzi and Reva Rose played Ann and Donald's friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show earlier in the 1960s.
That Girl
1966
6.7The Detectives is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons, and on NBC during its third and final season. The series, starring motion picture star Robert Taylor, was produced by Four Star Television. Captain Matt Holbrook (Robert Taylor) is head of the detective division of a large metropolitan police force—a man whose devotion to duty, professional brilliance, and quick judgment are reflected in his 20-year career on the force. His aides, Lt. Johnny Russo (Tige Andrews), Lt. Otto Lindstrom (Russ Thorson), and Sgt. Chris Ballard (Mark Goddard) form a team that is both proficient and warmly human. The stories stress the interrelationships between the men as well as the solutions to crimes and the apprehension of criminals, adding a dimension of human drama to the excitement, action, and suspense inherent in each story of the detectives' difficult, sometimes thankless, and frequently dangerous assignments.
The Detectives
1959
6.2Black Saddle is an American Western television series starring Peter Breck that aired 44 episodes on ABC from January 10, 1959 to May 6, 1960. The half-hour program was produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television, and the original pilot was an episode of CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, with Chris Alcaide portraying the principal character, Clay Culhane. For syndicated reruns, Black Saddle was combined with three other Western series from the same company, Law of the Plainsman starring Michael Ansara, Johnny Ringo starring Don Durant and Mark Goddard, and the critically acclaimed creation of Sam Peckinpah, The Westerner with Brian Keith, under the umbrella title, The Westerners, with new hosting sequences by Keenan Wynn.
Black Saddle
1959
7.5Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s were usually hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual, a weekly series of hour-and-a-half dramas rather than 60-minute plays. Playhouse 90 began as a pitch by Frank Stanton—the formidable, forward-thinking right-hand man to CBS chairman William S. Paley—during a brainstorming session for program ideas. The project was ultimately developed by Hubbell Robinson, a CBS vice president who received no screen credit on Playhouse 90 but is often described as its creator.
Playhouse 90
1956
5.3The Adventures of Jim Bowie is an American Western television series that aired on ABC from 1956 to 1958. Its setting was the 1830s-era Louisiana Territory. The series was an adaptation of the book Tempered Blade, by Monte Barrett. The series stars Scott Forbes as the real-life adventurer Jim Bowie. The series initially portrayed Jim Bowie as something of an outdoors-man, riding his horse through the wilderness near his home in Opelousas, where he would stumble across someone needing his assistance. He was aided by the Bowie Knife, his ever-present weapon. He designed it in the first episode, The Birth of the Blade.
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
1956
5.3The Adventures of Jim Bowie is an American Western television series that aired on ABC from 1956 to 1958. Its setting was the 1830s-era Louisiana Territory. The series was an adaptation of the book Tempered Blade, by Monte Barrett. The series stars Scott Forbes as the real-life adventurer Jim Bowie. The series initially portrayed Jim Bowie as something of an outdoors-man, riding his horse through the wilderness near his home in Opelousas, where he would stumble across someone needing his assistance. He was aided by the Bowie Knife, his ever-present weapon. He designed it in the first episode, The Birth of the Blade.
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
1956
6.8Lighthearted look at the adventures of two Highway Patrol officers in Los Angeles. The main characters are Jon Baker and Frank Poncherello, two motorcycle officers always on the street to save lives.
CHiPs
1977
6.9The Tall Man is a half-hour American western television series about Sheriff Pat Garrett and the gunfighter Billy the Kid that aired seventy-five episodes on NBC from 1960 to 1962, filmed by Revue Productions.
The Tall Man
1960
7.887th Precinct is an American crime drama starring Robert Lansing, Gena Rowlands, and Ron Harper, which aired on NBC on Monday evenings during the 1961–1962 television season.
87th Precinct
1961
6.7Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.
Lux Video Theatre
1950
4.6Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented a musical, such as an adaptation of Show Boat, and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on television from 1952 to 1957. Originally on CBS, the series pioneered the use of anthology drama for company audio advertising. Cavalcade of America documented historical events using stories of individual courage, initiative and achievement, often with feel-good dramatizations of the human spirit's triumph against all odds. This was consistent with DuPont's overall conservative philosophy and legacy as an American company dating back to 1802. The company's motto, "Maker of better things for better living through chemistry," was read at the beginning of each program, and the dramas emphasized humanitarian progress, particularly improvements in the lives of women, often through technological innovation.
Cavalcade of America
1952
4.0Blackie and gal pal Mary, and their dog Whitey, solve lots of Los Angeles crimes before the cops can do it.
Boston Blackie
1951
5.9Johnny Ringo is an American Western television series starring Don Durant that aired on CBS from October 1, 1959, until June 30, 1960. It is loosely based on the life of the notorious gunfighter and outlaw Johnny Ringo, also known as John Peters Ringo or John B. Ringgold, who tangled with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Buckskin Franklin Leslie.
Johnny Ringo
1959
8.0I Led Three Lives is an American drama series which was syndicated by Ziv Television Programs from October 1, 1953 to January 1, 1956. The series stars Richard Carlson. The show was a companion piece of sorts to the radio drama I Was a Communist for the FBI, which dealt with a similar subject and was also syndicated by Ziv from 1952 to 1954.
I Led Three Lives
1953
7.0The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin is an American children's television program. Beginning in October 1954 until May 1959, 166 episodes originally aired on ABC television network. It starred child actor Lee Aaker as Rusty, a boy orphaned in an Indian raid, who was being raised by the soldiers at a US Cavalry post known as Fort Apache. He and his German shepherd dog, Rin Tin Tin, helped the soldiers to establish order in the American West. Texas-born actor James Brown appeared as Lieutenant Ripley "Rip" Masters. Co-stars included veteran actor Joe Sawyer and actor Rand Brooks from Gone with the Wind fame.
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
1954
8.1Garrison's Gorillas is an ABC TV series broadcast from 1967 to 1968; a total of 26 hour-long episodes were produced. It was inspired by the 1967 film The Dirty Dozen, which featured a similar scenario of training Allied prisoners for World War II military missions. Garrison's Gorillas was canceled at the close of its first season and replaced by The Mod Squad in 1968. It managed to gather a cult following in China in the 1980s.
Garrison's Gorillas
1967
6.6Letter to Loretta is an American anthology drama series telecast on NBC from September 1953 to June 1961 for a total of 165 episodes. The filmed show was hosted by Loretta Young who also played the lead in various episodes. Letter to Loretta was sponsored by Procter & Gamble from 1953 through 1960. The final season's sponsor was Warner-Lambert's Listerine.
Letter to Loretta
1953
6.3Medic is an American medical drama that aired on NBC beginning in 1954. Medic was television's first doctor drama to focus attention on medical procedures. Created by its principal writer James E. Moser, Medic tried to create realism which would typify medical shows from then on. Moser had previously written for the radio shows Dragnet and Dr. Kildare. He went on to write the television series Ben Casey.
Medic
1954
7.2Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to Schlitz Playhouse, beginning with the fall 1957 season.
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951

