Joan Leslie Freeman is a retired American actress. Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, she started her career as a child actress in the 1949 television series Sandy Dreams before making her film debut with the western Pistol Harvest. Starting from 1961, she appeared in TV series and films like Bus Stop, Panic in Year Zero!, and Tower of London, and in 1962 was nominated as Most Promising New Star in the film magazine Photoplay. In 1964, she played alongside Elvis Presley in Roustabout, and earned another Photoplay Gold Medal nomination. Her last acting role was in 1994.
Freeman started as a child actress, having appeared in the 1949 television series Sandy Dreams, along with Richard Beymer and Jill St. John. Her first film role was in Pistol Harvest (1951), where she had a small part playing the lead actress' character as a child. At fourteen, she played the character Jeannie Harlow in the 1956 episode "The Frontier Theatre" of the ABC western series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, with Hugh O'Brian in the title role.
In 1961–62, Freeman was cast in 26 episodes as the young waitress Elma Gahrigner, in the ABC drama series Bus Stop, in a role that gave her some prominence.[5] After Bus Stop, she appeared in guest-starring roles on the NBC modern western series, Empire, with Richard Egan and on the ABC/Warner Brothers western, The Dakotas. She also played defendant Jennifer Wakely in Perry Mason's, "The Case of the Fickle Filly" in 1962.
In 1962, Freeman was cast as Marilyn Hayes in the post-atomic war black-and-white classic film Panic in Year Zero! alongside veteran film stars Ray Milland and Jean Hagen.[5] Alabama newspaper The Anniston Star described Freeman as "lovely" in the part.[6]
Also in 1962, she appeared in the quasi-historical film Tower of London with Vincent Price. Her work to that point was enough to gain her a Photoplay Gold Medal nomination from Photoplay film magazine as Most Promising New Star (Female).[7] That was followed up by being named as a Hollywood Deb Star in 1963.[7]
In 1964, Freeman played the role of Elizabeth Dunn secretary to Dr. James Stone in the episode "Behold, Eck!" in the TV series The Outer Limits. She co-starred in The Rounders, a 1965 comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Max Evans.
Freeman is perhaps best known for her roles in two musical films. In 1964, she was the love interest of Elvis Presley in Roustabout. There she played the "good girl" pursuing Elvis and competing against a vixen type played by Sue Ane Langdon, all the while being stuck in arguments with her father, a bitter carnival hand played by Leif Erickson.[7]Variety magazine said that "Miss Freeman hasn't much to do except wring her hands ... but does it prettily."[7] In 1964 Freeman received a Photoplay Gold Medal nomination for Best Female Star.[7]
In 1966, Freeman guest starred on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in "The Bat Cave Affair". She appeared four times on the NBC western series The Virginian. Her last motion picture performance came as "Mrs. Jarvis" in the 1984 horror film, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. In 1994, Freeman appeared as an actress for the last time in an episode of the TV series Renegade.
