Madlyn Soloman Rhue (née Madeline Roche; October 3, 1935 – December 16, 2003) was an American film and television actress.
Early life and education
Rhue was born in Washington, D.C., graduated from Los Angeles High School, and studied drama at Los Angeles City College. At that time she decided to create a stage name for herself by adapting the title of the film 13 Rue Madeleine (1947).
Rhue played regulars Marjorie Grant in Bracken's World (1969–70) and Hilary Madison in Executive Suite (1976–77). Other guest appearances included Have Gun – Will Travel, Gunsmoke (S5E15, "Tag You're It"), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (as Consuela Sandino in episode "The Dark Pool"), Route 66 (as Ara Rados in the episode, "Every Father's Daughter"), The Untouchables, The Rebel, Perry Mason, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive, Ironside, The Wild Wild West, Mannix, Hawaii Five-O, Land of the Giants, Mission: Impossible, Longstreet, Fantasy Island, Charlie's Angels (as Georgia in "Angels on the Street" in 1979) and Fame (as Angela Schwartz). She also appeared in the television movie Goldie and the Boxer, and made appearances on the game show Match Game during 1974–1976.
In the early 1960s, Rhue was injured in an automobile accident that resulted in lost teeth and a cut lower lip. She was hospitalized before returning to acting.
In 1962, Rhue married actor Tony Young and acted with him in the Western He Rides Tall. They divorced in 1970. She continued to work, including a role in Days of Our Lives, but by 1985, Rhue's legs had become so weak that she could only get around by wheelchair. She also played a judge in the scripted court show, Trial by Jury, lasting only the 1989–90 television season. She performed the role in a wheelchair, unseen by viewers behind the judge's bench. Her casting was uncharacteristic for court shows, a genre dominated by male actors previously. Angela Lansbury created a role for her when she heard that Rhue was at risk of losing her health insurance because she could no longer work enough hours.
In 1991, she played a wheelchair-using character in her last film role, the made for television thriller A Mother's Justice.
Death
Rhue eventually became completely incapacitated by multiple sclerosis and died from pneumonia in 2003 at the age of 68 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills in Los Angeles, California. She was a registered Republican who supported the administrations of Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush.