Carol Lynley

Biography

A blonde, ethereal, eternal ingenue, Carol Lynley has been acting since she was a teenager and is perhaps best recalled as the mother whose son is kidnapped in Otto Preminger’s dreary “Bunny Lake is Missing” (1965), and as the pop singer who survives “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972).

The small screen has provided some work, as has the stage. Lynley was a 14-year old teen model when she made her TV debut in an episode of “The Goodyear Playhouse” in 1956, and she continued to work in the medium throughout the next 30 years, although not necessarily with frequency. Her one regular series, “The Immortal” (ABC, 1970-71), found her in the recurring role of fiancee to the race car driving hero (Christopher George). Lynley began in TV-movies with “Shadow on the Land” (NBC, 1968), and many of her longforms were of the woman-in-terror or woman-in-jeopardy variety, such as “Weekend of Terror” (ABC, 1970), “The Night Stalker” (ABC, 1972) and “Death Stalk” (NBC, 1974). She appeared on the 1977 two-hour pilot for “Fantasy Island” (ABC) and also hosted the short-lived “The Fashion Report” (syndicated, 1987).

In 1960, she married publicist Michael Selsman. The marriage produced one child, Jill Selsman, and ended in divorce in 1964.