Janice Rule
Press photo from a 1973 guest appearance on the second episode ofBarnaby Jones
Born	Mary Janice Rule (1931-08-15)August 15, 1931 Norwood, Ohio, U.S.
Died	October 17, 2003(2003-10-17) (aged 72) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute (PhD)
Occupation(s)	Actress, psychotherapist
Years active	1951–2003
Spouses	N. Richard Nash ​ ​ (m. 1955; div. 1955)​ Robert Thom ​ ​ (m. 1956; div. 1961)​ Ben Gazzara ​ ​ (m. 1961; div. 1979)​
Children	2

Mary Janice Rule (August 15, 1931 – October 17, 2003)^[1] was an American actress and psychotherapist. Beginning her career as a dancer, she gained early recognition in the original 1953 Broadway production ofWilliam Inge'sPicnic.

Rule appeared in over 20 films, includingBell, Book and Candle (1958) withJames Stewart,The Swimmer (1968) withBurt Lancaster, andRobert Altman's3 Women (1977) withShelley Duvall andSissy Spacek. Her television work included appearances inThe Twilight Zone,Route 66, andThe Fugitive.

Rule began studyingpsychoanalysis in 1973 and received her PhD in 1983, specializing in treating fellow actors. She practiced psychotherapy in New York and Los Angeles and continued to act occasionally until her death in 2003.

Rule was born inNorwood, Ohio, to parents of Irish origin.^[2] Her father was a dealer in industrial diamonds.^[3] She began dancing at theChez Paree nightclub in Chicago at age 15, which paid for ballet lessons,^[2] and was a dancer in the 1949 Broadway production ofMiss Liberty.^[4] Rule also studied acting at the Chicago Professional School.^[3]

She was pictured on the cover ofLife magazine on January 8, 1951, as being someone to watch in the entertainment industry.^[5][6] Gaining a contract byWarner Bros., her first credited screen role was as Virginia inGoodbye, My Fancy (1951), which featuredJoan Crawford in the lead. The established star belittled the younger woman, making Rule's work on the film difficult, although Crawford years later wrote a letter of apology to Rule for treating her badly on this film.^[4][a] Rule's Warner contract was allowed to lapse after only two films.^[7] She was troubled by the attitude toward women's beauty at the studios in the early 1950s: "Because I was afraid of being robbed of my individuality, I fought with the makeup people, the hairdressers, and I didn't understand problems of the publicity department," she was reported as saying in 1957.^[8]

Rule was in the original 1953 Broadway cast ofWilliam Inge'sPicnic (in the role of Madge Owens, the innocent beauty, played byKim Novak in the film version),^[7] whose company also includedPaul Newman in his Broadway debut. This commitment led her to turn down the role ultimately played byEva Marie Saint inOn the Waterfront (1954). "I knew I couldn't shoot in a movie all day and work on a stage at night and do my best in both," she was quoted as saying byHedda Hopper of theLos Angeles Times in 1966.^[8] Among her other Broadway shows wereThe Flowering Peach,The Happiest Girl in the World, andMichael V. Gazzo'sNight Circus, a 1958 production which lasted for only a week,^[9] but introduced Rule toBen Gazzara, who became her third husband.^[7]

Her other films in the 1950s includedA Woman's Devotion (1956), the WesternGun for a Coward (1957) andBell, Book and Candle (1958), in which she played the fiancée who loses publisher 'Shep' Henderson (James Stewart) to the spell-casting witch Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak). On television, she appeared in an episode ofCheckmate ("The Mask of Vengeance", 1960), where she played Elena Nardos, the roommate ofCloris Leachman's character, Marilyn Parker. She played Helen Foley inThe Twilight Zone S1 E29 "Nightmare as a Child" which aired on April 29, 1960. She appeared as different characters in three episodes ofRoute 66. She acted as both Barbara Webb and Barbara Wells withDavid Janssen in two episodes ofThe Fugitive entitled "Wife Killer" and "The Walls of Night". She also had a major role as Nancy Reade in "Three Bells to Perdido", the debut episode of theRichard Boone westernHave Gun – Will Travel. Rule also starred, second billing toYul Brynner, in the western filmInvitation to a Gunfighter (1964).

Among her later film roles were Emily Stewart inThe Chase (1966), Sheila Sommers inThe Ambushers (1967),Burt Lancaster's bitter ex-lover inThe Swimmer (1968), Willie inRobert Altman's3 Women (1977), journalist Kate Newman inCosta Gavras' political thrillerMissing (1982), andKevin Costner's mother inAmerican Flyers (1985).

Rule had a brief engagement toFarley Granger in 1955.^[10] They had appeared in the Broadway playThe Carefree Tree in 1955. Next followed a relationship withRalph Meeker; Meeker had played Hal inPicnic.^{[citation needed]}

Rule was briefly married, during 1955, to television and film writerN. Richard Nash.^[11][10] Her second marriage was to television and film writerRobert Thom in 1956;^[12] they had one daughter, Kate, before divorcing in 1961.^[13] Her last marriage was to actorBen Gazzara in 1961, having one daughter together before their divorce in 1979.^[3]

In the 1960s, she became interested inpsychoanalysis. She began her formal studies in 1973, specialising in treating her fellow actors,^[2] and received her PhD 10 years later from theSouthern California Psychoanalytic Institute in Los Angeles. She practised in New York and Los Angeles, and continued to act occasionally until her death from acerebral hemorrhage in 2003. She wascremated after her death.^[14]

Notes

Citations

• "Movies: The First Steps Up a Familiar Ladder; Janice Rule Dances and Smiles Her Way from Glen Ellyn, Ill. to Hollywood, Calif".Life. January 8, 1951. pp. 78–79.
• Rule, Janice (November 1973)."The Actor's Identity Crisis (Postanalytic Reflections of an Actress)".Mental Health Digest. pp. 54–58.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toJanice Rule.

• Janice Rule atIMDb
• Janice Rule at theInternet Broadway Database
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• 1931 births
• 2003 deaths
• Actresses from Ohio
• American film actresses
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• People from Norwood, Ohio
• Actresses from Manhattan
• American people of Irish descent
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American women

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