Women of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, and Espionage: TV Pioneers

March 08, 2021

Women of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, and Espionage: TV Pioneers

by Karen A. Romanko

I love TV history, especially the stories of groundbreaking female characters on early television, and I was thrilled to learn more about them while researching my books Television's Female Spies and Crimefighters (McFarland, 2016) and Women of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television (McFarland, 2019). The pioneering characters and the actresses who portrayed them showed that a woman could be a lead or co-lead in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and espionage series, taking women outside their traditional realm of the home and family.

I made a short video about these women, focusing on pioneers of the 1950s. It premiered at the Virtual Voices Author Fair on March 6, and is featured below. The series and characters I covered, in chronological order, are:

Space Patrol (1950-1955, 210 episodes, USA)
with Virginia Hewitt as Carol Carlisle and Nina Bara as Tonga

The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951, 10 episodes, USA)
with Anna May Wong as Madame Liu-Tsong

Rendezvous (1952, 4 episodes, USA)
with Ilona Massey as Nikki Angell

Adventures of Superman (1952-1958, 104 episodes, USA)
with Phyllis Coates and Noel Neill as Lois Lane

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1954, 39 episodes, USA)
with Sally Mansfield as Vena Ray and Patsy Parsons as Cleolanthe

Decoy: Police Woman (1957-1958, 39 episodes, USA)
with Beverly Garland as Casey Jones

Clockwise from top left, Phyllis Coates, Nina Bara, Beverly Garland, Sally Mansfield with Richard Crane, Patsy Parsons, and Anna May Wong

The film runs just shy of 11 minutes, and discusses these trailblazing women of the 50s, with a preview of those who will follow in the 60s and 70s, including Anne Francis as Honey West, Diana Rigg as Emma Peel, Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Uhura, and more. Classic photos illustrate the video.