Antoinette Bower, a German-born British actress best known for playing a shape-shifting alien seductress in Star Trek and starring in a famous Adam and Eve-inspired episode of the Twilight Zone, has died at the age of 93.
Her friend, Carlotta Glackin, told The Hollywood Reporter that Bower passed away April 30 in a senior retirement home in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Among Bower’s numerous film roles was Dr. Alix Pardee in the 1972 horror and science fiction movie Superbeast, for which she got top billing.
In the 1980 slasher film Prom Night, Bower portrayed the wife of Leslie Nielsen and mother of Jamie Lee Curtis who is haunted by the accidental death of her younger daughter.
In the action thriller The Evil That Men Do (1984), she played the wife of a cruel doctor and professional torturer who is kidnapped by Charles Bronson to lure out her husband.
Over a 40-year career, Bower amassed more than 100 screen credits on television.
Antoinette Bower, a German-born British actress best known for playing a shape-shifting alien seductress in Star Trek and starring in a famous Adam and Eve-inspired episode in the Twilight Zone, has died at the age of 93; pictured in 2014
Bower’s most famous role was as Sylvia, the villainous catlike alien from another galaxy in the Star Trek episode Catspaw, which aired in 1967
Her guest spot in 1963 in The Twilight Zone episode Probe 7, Over and Out was a fan favorite.
She played survivor Eve Norda, a woman stranded on a deserted planet with astronaut Adam Cook (Richard Baseheart).
Bower’s most famous role was as Sylvia, the villainous catlike alien from another galaxy in the Star Trek episode Catspaw, which aired in 1967.
She had a recurring role as Fox Devlin, the kind, supporting and grounded associate of Dr Michael Terry (played by Winston Rekert) on the Canadian TV drama Neon Rider, set at a ranch for troubled and abused teens.
Bower starred on the show for three seasons in the late 1980s and early 1990s before retiring from acting in 1992.
She was born Antoinette Jane Bower on September 30, 1932, in Baden-Baden, Germany, the daughter of a German mother and English father.
Before finding fame as an actress, she worked as a field language supervisor and welfare counselor with the United Nations’ International Refugee Organization in the late 1940s.
In 1953, Bower moved to Canada where she joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as a public affairs worker, writing scripts and conducting interviews on live TV. She began acting and, in 1958, appeared in the TV adaptation of The Tell-tale Heart and on the syndicated series Hudson’s Bay the following year.
Bower’s Hollywood career took off after an uncredited role in Marlon Brando’s Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) followed by appearances in shows such as Perry Mason, The Big Valley, Bonanza, Mannix, Columbo, Mission: Impossible, Kojak, Murder: She Wrote, and the 1983 hit miniseries The Thorn Birds as wealthy socialite Sarah MacQueen.
Her guest spot in 1963 in The Twilight Zone episode Probe 7, Over and Out was a fan favorite. She played survivor Eve Norda, a woman stranded on a deserted planet with astronaut Adam Cook (Richard Baseheart)
In the 1980 slasher film Prom Night, Bower portrayed the wife of Leslie Nielsen and mother of Jamie Lee Curtis who is haunted by the accidental death of her younger daughter
Among Bower’s numerous film roles was Dr. Alix Pardee in the 1972 horror and science fiction movie Superbeast, for which she got top billing
Bower’s Hollywood career took off after an uncredited role in Marlon Brando’s Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Her friend, Carlotta Glackin, said William Shatner sent his condolences in an email upon learning of Bower’s death; Bower pictured in 1982
Bower married Texas-born pop artist James Gill in 1963, but the couple later divorced.
Glackin told The Hollywood Reporter that Bower took courses in carpentry and cabinet-making at Santa Monica College and became a skilled carpenter who custom-built her own cabinets and bookshelves at her Los Angeles home.
Glackin said William Shatner, upon learning of Bower’s death, sent his condolences in an email.
Many fans also paid tribute on social media following news of Bower’s death.
‘Just found out that one of my favorite actresses passed away earlier this year at 93 #RIP Antoinette Bower,’ one fan wrote.
‘Rest in peace Antoinette Bower. Was great in Columbo,’ commented another fan.
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