Diane Brewster
Encyclopedia
Diane Brewster was an American
television actress most noted for playing three distinctively different roles in US TV series of the 1950s and 60s: confidence trickster Samantha Crawford in Maverick
; pretty young second-grade teacher Miss Canfield in Leave It to Beaver
; and doomed wife Helen Kimble in The Fugitive
.
On Maverick
, a sophisticated ABC
western
series featuring James Garner
and Jack Kelly
, Brewster's character was a gorgeous gambling con artist who often faked a southern accent. Though she was usually on the wrong side of the law, she was also ultimately likable; perhaps this was because Samantha Crawford was named after Maverick writer/producer Roy Huggins
' mother.
Brewster had actually first played Crawford in one 1956 episode of Cheyenne, another western television series (episode entitled "Dark Rider"), before showing up opposite James Garner in the third episode of Maverick, "According to Hoyle." Brewster's other Maverick appearances include the episodes "The Savage Hills" with Jack Kelly, "The Seventh Hand" with Garner, and the famous "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres
" with both Kelly and Garner. Including the Cheyenne episode, Brewster played Samantha Crawford only five times (with her last appearance coming in 1958), but she made an indelible impression on critics and viewers. Jodie Foster
's character in the Mel Gibson
movie version was based on Brewster's Samantha Crawford.
Brewster portrayed the grade school teacher Miss Canfield on Leave It to Beaver for the series' first season in 1957/58 (a role she also played in the 1980s TV revivals). Brewster appeared in the show's pilot, "It's a Small World," as Miss Simms, a secretary with a dairy company, and in four regular season episodes as Miss Canfield. In Episode 1 she appears in the credits as 'Diana' Brewster, a mistake which was corrected in her next appearance in Episode 8.
Brewster made almost fifty appearances in various other television and film roles, including episodes of Brian Keith
'
s Cold War
drama, Crusader
, and Wendell Corey
's military series, Harbor Command
. In 1960, she had a starring role in ABC's The Islanders
, with William Reynolds
and James Philbrook
. She guest starred in the series premiere in 1964 of Dennis Weaver
's NBC
series Kentucky Jones
. As a favor to Roy Huggins
, Brewster appeared several times with no screen credit as murdered wife Helen Kimble (in flashbacks) in Huggins' TV series The Fugitive, which ran from 1963-1967.
Brewster died of heart failure at the age of sixty in 1991. She was a direct descendant of Elder William Brewster (pilgrim)
, (c. 1567 - April 10, 1644), the Pilgrim leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony and a passenger on the Mayflower; Martha Wadsworth Brewster
(1710 - c. 1757) a notable 18th-century American poet and writer, and Governor William Bradford (1590–1657) of the Plymouth Colony
and a passenger on the Mayflower
.
She and Dr. Jabe Walker (oral surgeon) had a son, Dean C., born in Los Angeles March 29, 1960 and a daughter, Lynn D., born in Los Angeles July 25, 1961.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television actress most noted for playing three distinctively different roles in US TV series of the 1950s and 60s: confidence trickster Samantha Crawford in Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
; pretty young second-grade teacher Miss Canfield in Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...
; and doomed wife Helen Kimble in The Fugitive
The Fugitive (TV series)
The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
.
On Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
, a sophisticated ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series featuring James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
and Jack Kelly
Jack Kelly (actor)
Jack Kelly was an American film and television actor most noted for the role of "Bart Maverick" in the TV series Maverick, which ran on ABC from 1957 to 1962...
, Brewster's character was a gorgeous gambling con artist who often faked a southern accent. Though she was usually on the wrong side of the law, she was also ultimately likable; perhaps this was because Samantha Crawford was named after Maverick writer/producer Roy Huggins
Roy Huggins
Roy Huggins was an American novelist and an influential writer/creator and producer of character-driven television series, including Maverick, The Fugitive, and The Rockford Files....
' mother.
Brewster had actually first played Crawford in one 1956 episode of Cheyenne, another western television series (episode entitled "Dark Rider"), before showing up opposite James Garner in the third episode of Maverick, "According to Hoyle." Brewster's other Maverick appearances include the episodes "The Savage Hills" with Jack Kelly, "The Seventh Hand" with Garner, and the famous "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres
Shady Deal at Sunny Acres
Shady Deal at Sunny Acres, starring James Garner and Jack Kelly, remains the most famous and widely discussed episode of the Western comedy television series Maverick. Written by series creator Roy Huggins and Douglas Heyes and directed by Leslie H...
" with both Kelly and Garner. Including the Cheyenne episode, Brewster played Samantha Crawford only five times (with her last appearance coming in 1958), but she made an indelible impression on critics and viewers. Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
's character in the Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
movie version was based on Brewster's Samantha Crawford.
Brewster made almost fifty appearances in various other television and film roles, including episodes of Brian Keith
Brian Keith
Brian Keith was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney family film The Parent Trap, the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and the 1975 adventure saga The Wind and...
'
s Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
drama, Crusader
Crusader (TV series)
Crusader is a half-hour black-and-white American adventure/drama series that aired on CBS for two seasons from October 7, 1955 to December 28, 1956.-Synopsis:...
, and Wendell Corey
Wendell Corey
Wendell Reid Corey was an American actor and politician.He was born in Dracut, Massachusetts, the son of Milton Rothwell Corey and Julia Etta McKenney . His father was a Congregationalist clergyman...
's military series, Harbor Command
Harbor Command
Harbor Command is a syndicated adventure/drama television series starring Wendell Corey as Captain Ralph Baxter, a fictitious officer of the United States Coast Guard. The 39-episode Ziv program aired in black and white from October 11, 1957, to July 4, 1958. Casey Walters appeared in all episodes...
. In 1960, she had a starring role in ABC's The Islanders
The Islanders (TV series)
The Islanders, an adventure television series on ABC from 1960-1961, starred William Reynolds , James Philbrook , and Diane Brewster ....
, with William Reynolds
William Reynolds (actor)
William Reynolds is a retired American television and film actor. He is best known for television roles in the 1960s and 1970s....
and James Philbrook
James Philbrook
James Philbrook was an American actor who appeared in supporting roles in three short-lived television series between 1959 and 1963: The Islanders on ABC and The Investigators and The New Loretta Young Show, both on CBS...
. She guest starred in the series premiere in 1964 of Dennis Weaver
Dennis Weaver
William Dennis Weaver was an American actor, best known for his work in television, including roles on Gunsmoke, as Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud, and the 1971 TV movie Duel....
's NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series Kentucky Jones
Kentucky Jones
Kentucky Jones is a half-hour comedy/drama starring Dennis Weaver as Kenneth Yarborough "K.Y. or Kentucky" Jones, D.V.M., a recently widowed former horse trainer and active rancher, who becomes the guardian of Dwight Eisenhower "Ike" "Wong, a 10-year-old Chinese orphan, played by Ricky Der...
. As a favor to Roy Huggins
Roy Huggins
Roy Huggins was an American novelist and an influential writer/creator and producer of character-driven television series, including Maverick, The Fugitive, and The Rockford Files....
, Brewster appeared several times with no screen credit as murdered wife Helen Kimble (in flashbacks) in Huggins' TV series The Fugitive, which ran from 1963-1967.
Brewster died of heart failure at the age of sixty in 1991. She was a direct descendant of Elder William Brewster (pilgrim)
William Brewster (Pilgrim)
Elder William Brewster was a Mayflower passenger and a Pilgrim colonist leader and preacher.-Origins:Brewster was probably born at Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, circa 1566/1567, although no birth records have been found, and died at Plymouth, Massachusetts on April 10, 1644 around 9- or 10pm...
, (c. 1567 - April 10, 1644), the Pilgrim leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony and a passenger on the Mayflower; Martha Wadsworth Brewster
Martha Wadsworth Brewster
Martha Wadsworth Brewster was an 18th-century American poet and writer. She is one of only four colonial women who published volumes of their verse before the American Revolution and was the first American-born woman to publish under her own name.-Early life:She was born on April 1, 1710 in...
(1710 - c. 1757) a notable 18th-century American poet and writer, and Governor William Bradford (1590–1657) of the Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
and a passenger on the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
.
She and Dr. Jabe Walker (oral surgeon) had a son, Dean C., born in Los Angeles March 29, 1960 and a daughter, Lynn D., born in Los Angeles July 25, 1961.