Rhonda Bates is an American actress.

Bates was best known for playing geeky, man-hungry, hillbilly tomboys in TV shows and films of the 1970s. She was a gangly 6'2" tall with a wide toothy smile, curly hair and an unmistakable southern down-home drawl.

Early life

Bates grew up in Evansville, Indiana. She received her Masters degree in drama from the University of Arkansas

University of Arkansas

The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...

, then taught health and physical education at Cynthia Heights Elementary School in Evansville before heading for California in 1975.

Career

Bates first received attention doing a standup comedy act at The Comedy Store

The Comedy Store

The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. It has a sister comedy club in La Jolla, San Diego, California.-History:...

. She was noticed by a producer who hired her for
a Don Rickles

Don Rickles

Donald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....

 TV special.

In 1975, Bates was hired as a featured player on the short-lived variety sketch show Keep on Truckin featuring Didi Conn

Didi Conn

Didi Conn is an American film, stage and television actress.-Personal life:Conn was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of a clinical psychologist. "Didi" was her childhood nickname...

, Fred Travalena

Fred Travalena

Frederick Albert "Fred" Travalena III was an American entertainer, specializing in comedy and impersonations.-Early life:...

 and Wayland Flowers

Wayland Flowers

Wayland P. Flowers, Jr. was an American puppeteer. He was born and raised in Dawson, Georgia. Flowers was best known for the puppet act he created with his puppet Madame...

.

Bates became a semi-regular on Rickles' sitcom CPO Sharkey (1976–78) as the love-interest of 6'7" tall actor Peter Isacksen.

Bates went on to co-star on Blansky's Beauties

Blansky's Beauties

Blansky's Beauties is an American sitcom which aired on the ABC network in 1977. The main character of the series was introduced in an episode of Happy Days.-Synopsis:...

 (a 1977 spin-off of Happy Days

Happy Days

Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....

) where she played “Arkansas” a gawky Vegas showgirl. She also appeared on the short-lived sitcom The Roller Girls

The Roller Girls

The Roller Girls is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from April 24, 1978 to May 10, 1978.-Premise:The series centered on the Pittsburgh Pitts, An all-girl roller derby team who were owned and managed by Don Mitchell.-Cast:...

 as roller derby queen “Mongo Sue Lampert”. Bates also guest starred in a Love Boat

Love Boat

The Overseas Compatriot Youth Formosa Study Tour to Taiwan, informally known as the Love Boat, is currently a four-week summer program for about 400–600 college-aged Overseas Chinese. In Chinese, it is also colloquially referred to as mei-jia-ying - America and Canada Camp, a reference to where...

 episode where she played an ugly stepsister in a ‘Cinderella’ storyline.

In 1979, Rhonda Bates played “Enid” in Gabe Kaplan

Gabe Kaplan

Gabriel W. "Gabe" Kaplan is an American comedian, actor, poker commentator, and professional poker player.He was born in Brooklyn, New York...

’s college basketball comedy film Fast Break.

In 1980, Bates was in the film Roadie (film)

Roadie (film)

Roadie is a 1980 film directed by Alan Rudolph about a truck driver who becomes a roadie for a traveling rock and roll show. The film stars Meat Loaf and marks his first starring role in a film. There are also cameo appearances by musicians such as Roy Orbison, Hank Williams Jr., Blondie and Alice...

, co-starring rocker Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf

Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...

 and comedy legend Art Carney

Art Carney

Arthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners....

.

She followed her various film & TV, game show, Battle of the Network Stars

Battle of the Network Stars

Battle of the Network Stars is the name of 19 US television specials featuring competitions among teams of popular television performers representing the three major broadcast networks at that time: ABC, CBS, and NBC.- History :...

 appearances with a co-hosting role on 1980’s
Speak Up, America (a Real People

Real People

Real People is an NBC reality television series that aired from 1979 to 1984, on Wednesday and then Sunday nights. Its initial episodes aired live in the Eastern and Central Time Zones.-Synopsis:...

 – inspired TV magazine / reality show). One of her co-hosts was former-child-evangelist-turned-actor Marjoe Gortner

Marjoe Gortner

Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner, generally known as Marjoe Gortner , is a former revivalist who first gained a certain fame in the late 1940s when he became the youngest ordained preacher at the age of four...

.

Rhonda Bates continued to work in a few TV guest shots up until 1988, then apparently quit acting around age 40. She now lives in Texas.

External links

• http://www.rip-her-to-shreds.com/archive_press_others_roadiepresskit.php Roadie press kit bio