Emily Banks(1933-2023)

American actress Emily Ann Banks was born in Norfolk, Virginia, but spent much of her childhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her father served in the military (he later found work as a graphic artist). After high school, Emily graduated from Simmons University in Boston and then embarked on a brief career as a model. This culminated in her election as 'Miss Rheingold' in 1960. She made several ads for the beer brand and featured as a model on a game show in 1963. On screen from 1966, Emily featured rarely on the big screen. She had a small part as a receptionist in an Elvis Presley vehicle, Live a Little, Love a Little (1968), played Buffalo Bill's wife Louisa Maud Frederici in The Plainsman (1966) and essayed the nominal female lead in a minor western, Gunfight in Abilene (1967), opposite Bobby Darin (who also wrote the theme song).

Better utilised in TV roles, Emily Banks became perhaps best known for her small role as Yeoman Tonia Barrows in the episode 'Shore Leave' of Star Trek (1966). In addition to assorted guest spots, she finally achieved star billing herself in a short-lived (though possibly underrated) sitcom, The Tim Conway Show (1970), as the girlfriend of a charter line pilot. Ironically, in real life, one of her main aspirations had been to become a pilot. A sporty type, Emily's preferred pastimes at this time in her career were said to have been swimming, diving, horseback riding and baseball.