Antoinette Bower, the German-born British actress who starred in iconic episodes of The Twilight Zone and Star Trek, has passed away at the age of 93. Bower died on April 30 at an Eagle Rock senior retirement home in Los Angeles, according to her friend Carlotta Glackin.
Background
Born on September 30, 1932, in Baden-Baden, Germany, to a German mother and English father, Antoinette Alexandra Jane Bower was educated in England. She worked as a field language supervisor and welfare counselor with the United Nations' International Refugee Organization in the late 1940s, assisting millions of people left homeless across Europe and Asia following World War II.
Bower joined her family in Canada in 1953 and landed a job with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in Toronto, where she worked in public affairs, wrote scripts, and conducted interviews on live TV. She also started acting, appearing in a 1958 TV adaptation of The Tell-Tale Heart and in 1959 on the syndicated series Hudson's Bay.
Career Highlights
Bower's acting career spanned decades, with notable roles in various TV shows and films. She got top billing in the Filipino-shot horror film Superbeast (1972) and played the wife of Leslie Nielsen and mother of Jamie Lee Curtis in the slasher classic Prom Night (1980). Her action thriller The Evil That Men Do (1984) featured her as a character kidnapped by Charles Bronson.
On The Twilight Zone, Bower portrayed Eve Norda in the episode "Probe 7, Over and Out" (1963), while on Star Trek, she was memorable as the villainous Sylvia opposite Theo Marcuse as Korob in the second-season episode "Catspaw" (1967). For three seasons (1989-92), she recurred as the kind Fox Devlin on the Canadian TV drama Neon Rider, set on a ranch in British Columbia for troubled and abused teens.
Legacy
Bower remained quite busy through the early '80s, showing up on various TV shows and films, including Combat!, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Burke's Law, and The F.B.I. She pretty much left acting after her run on CTV's Neon Rider. About 10 years ago, Bower completed a documentary about chuckwagon racing in Canada that she shot, directed, edited, and narrated.
Glackin noted that Bower, who studied carpentry at Santa Monica College, had been a valued Home Depot employee who custom-built cabinets and tall bookshelves at her home in Beverly Glen. Bower was still getting lots of fan mail from the Star Trek faithful and that William Shatner had emailed his condolences after learning of her death.
What Happens Next
A life celebration is scheduled for September 26 in Pasadena. Bower wed Texas-born pop artist James Gill in 1963, but their marriage ended in divorce. She was pre-deceased by her half-brother, Roger. As fans and friends mourn her passing, they will remember Bower's remarkable career and her contributions to the world of entertainment.
Source: Hollywood Reporter