Glamour, Gidgets, and the Girl Next Door: Television's Iconic Women from the 50s, 60s, and 70s

Pilato (The Essential Elizabeth Montgomery) highlights 45 female television stars from the 1950s through the 1970s, focusing on the archetypal and nubile characters they portrayed. Dividing the actresses into six sections—from Gilligan's Island, Tina Louise (Ginger) is a "Liberated Soul" while Dawn Wells (Mary Ann) is a "Country Girl"—Pilato provides a three- to five-page overview of each actress's life, characters, and TV productions, and closes with a summary of iconic facts. It's impossible to argue with Pilato's picks, and his breadth of knowledge allows him to spotlight lesser-known roles such as Anne Francis's single season as detective Honey West alongside more recognizable "Supersleuths"—Diana Rigg's Mrs. Peel or Barbara Feldon's Agent 99, for example. However, despite the central conceit, this book lacks cohesion and depth. Save for a few recent interviews, the author collates classic works such as Peggy Herz's TV Talk or John Javna's Cult TV. Lastly, the "iconic facts" presented here are chiefly drawn from Wikipedia and the Internet Movie Database, which interested readers will have already explored.