- Born
- Died
- Birth nameBetty Jane Shaubell
- The daughter of husband-and-wife vaudevillians, Randy Stuart was born in southeastern Iola, Kansas and traveled throughout the South and Midwest with her itinerant parents before making her own stage debut with them at the ripe old age of three. The family eventually settled in California where Randy attended college, acted in school plays and caught the eye of Hollywood talent scouts; she enacted a scene from the play "The Women" in a screen test which impressed 20th Century-Fox executives enough to put her under contract. She made her film debut with an uncredited part in The Foxes of Harrow (1947) starring Maureen O'Hara (I) and Rex Harrison.
In 1950, the blonde, smoky-voiced actress made a brief impression as the calculating telephone roommate of Eve Harrington (played by Anne Baxter (I) in the classic backstage film All About Eve (1950). She then moved up front and center as the distaff part of a husband-and-wife spy team in "Biff Baker, U.S.A." (1952) which also starred Alan Hale Jr. (I). Randy later was given her best-remembered role in the cult sci-fi The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). as Louise Carey, the concerned wife of tiny Scott Carey, played by Grant Williams (I).
The next year she was cast as Nancy Dawson in the western film Man from God's Country (1958) opposite George Montgomery which was followed by a guest-star appearance in Montgomery's short-lived television western series "Cimarron City" (1958). She also had a one-season (1959-60) regular role on the western series "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" (1955).
After this she would remain focused on 1960s' TV, wherein she sporadically appeared in a number of popular series, mostly crime dramas and westerns, such as "Bonanza," "Maverick," "Peter Gunn," "Cheyenne" and "77 Sunset Strip." Retiring by the mid 1960s, she was spotted only a couple of times after that. In the series "Dragnet" she appeared a couple of times as co-star Harry Morgan (I)' and she made a single appearance in a mid 70s "Marcus Welby" episode.
She died in 1996 at age 71.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tom Weaver <TomWeavr@aol.com>
- SpousesErnest Dineen Wallis(June 15, 1971 - September 3, 1982) (his death)Lane Allan(June 25, 1954 - April 1968) (divorced, 2 children)Edward Charles George(August 2, 1947 - 1954) (divorced, 1 child)Kenneth Wayne Smith(August 21, 1943 - 1945) (divorced)
- According to Laura Wagner, in her article about Randy in Films of the Golden Age, Winter 2013/2014 issue, she was born Elizabeth Shaubell but began going by the nickname of "Randy" while a teenager.
- Auditioned for a prime role in the film Lady in the Dark (1944) but didn't get it. Her test, however, was eventually seen by Fox, who signed her to a contract a couple years later (1947).
- Joined up with her vaudeville parents, who called their act "The Shaubells," at age 3.
- Three of her four marriages were to nonprofessionals. Her first husband, Kenneth Smith, was an airplane mechanic. Her second husband, Edward Charles George, by whom she had a daughter, was a car salesman who later became a police officer. Her third husband, Lane Allan, was an actor. Her fourth husband was Ernest Deneen Wallis.
- She has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: All About Eve (1950) & The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).
- They [parents] did everything there was to do in show business, and the days were pitifully unprofitable then. My first recollections were of leaning against an upright piano played by my mother in the old-time silent movie theaters. Once we had a tent show, and the tent was washed away in a flood. My own debut at three was a failure, and embarrassed my mother.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content