NEWS FROM
WARNER BROS. TELEVISION
ANGEL TOMPKINS
BIOGRAPHY
Angel Tompkins is a tall, willowy, blue-eyed blonde divorcee, with soft
flowing locks on whom a lot of Hollywood smart money is riding as a cinch
winner; an attractive lovely girl with a fine sense of humor, often tinged
with truth, a girl who once said:
"I live in a garbage can 'cross the street from Bob Hope with my son Troy,
two dogs, seven puppies, one cat and a house-full of love."
In truth, Bob Hope's neighborhood is the exclusive Tolucca Lake district,
her house was a two-bedroom affair with live-in housekeeper, its walls
covered with paintings done by friends. Now she has moved to a similar
bungalow at the Malibu colony, where garbage cans carefully are
screened-off from view by residents.
Born in Albany, California, Angel (short for Angeline) currently portrays
the role of Gloria Harding, continuing guest-star in "Search" (formerly
"Probe") series. She is in charge of medical telemetry at Probe
Control,
but current episodes see her "emerging from behind the console" to enlarge
her role as star Hugh O'Brian's feminine interest. These are in the
Leslie
Stevens Productions-Warner Pros. Television one-hour segments for
NBC. O'Brian, Tony Francisoa and Doug McClure star in the season's
series,
with various guest-stars added.
Early on, Miss Tompkins decided her inclinations were slanted toward show
business - and she decided there were a couple of ways to break into
it. One was to model, move into commercials, then television and
on to
films. Another was to model in New York, move to Europe, become a
screen
siren there, then move back to the United States. Her choice was
the
former route.
With her father in the construction business, Miss Tompkins had bounced
around the country as she followed his profession and finally settled in
Phoenix, Arizon where she attended high school. Even then, the 5'
7"
blonde was unusually attractive. Winning a local beauty contest
preparatory to entering the Miss Universe Contest at 16, she was judged
too
young to compete in the finals. However, she was awarded a trip to
Hollywood for an interview with Ben Bard, then talent head at 20th Century-Fox.
Bard advised that she return home and continue her education in college
prior to coming back. "It was the best advice I've ever received,"
says
Miss Tompkins. After high school, she enrolled in speech and drama
courses
at the University of Texas, and transferred to the University of Illinois
before taking up modeling in Chicago.
A Chicago catalogue house signed her as its image-maker and traveling
spokeswoman. Touring the country for the firm, she was considered
important enough to its business that the company insured her for $1,000,000.
When Miss Tompkins conceived an idea to co-host a Chicago TV show, she
left modeling to devote her talents to "Ted and the Angel," a one-hour
ad-lib, talk and interview show on WCIU-TV.
This brought about an invitation to Hollywood from a studio and she won
a
part after a first reading. Afterward, she returned to Chicago, packed
her
bags and returned west. During the following eleven months she appeared
on
"Dragnet," "Wild, Wild West," "Here Come the Brides," "The Good Guys" and
a
Walt Disney featurette, "Hang Your Hat on the Wind."
She marked her feature film debut in "I Love My Wife," but continued to
do
guest-starring roles on such series at "The Name of the Game," "Bonanza,"
"The F.B.I.," "Love American Style," "Mannix" and "Ironside."
Says Miss Tompkins, who writes in her spare time, "I love what I'm doing
as an actress. The challenge, the suspense, the excitement of making
good
films is worth more to me than achieving pinnacle success."
Vital Statistics
Birthplace.....................................Albany, California
Birthdate.......................................December 20
Height..........................................5' 7"
Weight.........................................123 lbs.
Eyes............................................Blue
Hair.............................................Blonde
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