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Antoinette Bower

Antoinette Bower built a nearly 40-year acting career by moving steadily between Canadian and American stage, radio, television and film. Born in Baden-Baden on September 30, 1932, she first worked as a disc jockey at a radio station in Owen Sound, Ontario. She later moved to Toronto to pursue acting and appeared in productions at the newly opened Crest Theatre, which focused on mounting Canadian work rather than relying on touring productions from the United States or Britain. Her television career began in Canada in 1958 with the CBC Television film The Telltale Heart and an episode of The Unforeseen. After a recurring role in Hudson's Bay and appearances on Heritage, a visit to friends in Los Angeles led to her first American television part, in a 1961 episode of Hong Kong. From there, Bower became a dependable presence across several decades of television. Her credits included Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone, where she played Eve Norda in the 1963 episode "Probe 7, Over and Out." She also appeared in Star Trek's "Catspaw," four episodes of Mission: Impossible and three different roles on Hogan's Heroes. The Fugitive, Perry Mason, Mannix, Columbo, Hawaii Five-O, Kojak, Hart to Hart and Murder, She Wrote were among the many other series that made use of her range. She also appeared in the 1983 miniseries The Thorn Birds. Bower's film work reached from Mutiny on the Bounty and The Mephisto Waltz to Superbeast, Prom Night, Blood Song, Time Walker, The Evil That Men Do and Club Paradise. Those titles reflect the varied path of a working actor comfortable crossing historical drama, suspense, horror and comedy. Her career eventually returned to Canada, where she joined the main cast of Neon Rider for its first three seasons, from 1990 to 1993. It was a fitting final stretch for a career that had begun in Canadian radio, theatre and television before expanding across a remarkably broad selection of screen roles.