Meet Dr. MacGregor Of The Time Tunnel • A former winner of the “Miss America” title, Lee Meriwether has a leading role in a top TV series, but insists acting is still only a “hobby”… • Beauty Contest Win Decided Her Career A talented actress, who had aimed first at a teaching career and then at medicine, found herself propelled into American show-business after she had won a “Miss America” beauty contest. She is the attractive star of “The Time Tunnel,” Lee Meriwether, who even today stoutly maintains that she still regards acting as her hobby and not as her life’s work.   Strange words, indeed, from a young married woman who, in addition to her TV commitments still devotes hours of her time to appearing in major stage productions in Los Angeles.   “This is not to say that I don’t enjoy what I'm doing now,” she says, “but if the whole show-business side of my life were to fall apart tomorrow, I could be just as happy with my home, my husband, and two children.”   (Her husband is well known to New Zealand viewers as Frank Aletter, leading man in a quaint comedy series of a few years back, Bringing Up Buddy.)   While Lee labours diligently away mastering her part as Dr Ann MacGregor in The Time Tunnel, her husband is working in another studio on his own TV series, It’s About Time. In the Aletter household, though, there is no chance of a career conflict.   • Lee Meriwether and husband, Frank Aletter. The couple have two daughters, Kyle (7) and Lesley (4). Life of Ease?   “I never headed myself toward an acting career; it just happened,” Lee says. “Acting is not the driving force in my life. As for my husband—well, he became an actor because he was led to believe they could sleep until noon. That’s true in the theatre, perhaps, but not in Hollywood. We both rise about five o’clock each morning we are on studio call.”   Lee won the “Miss America” title some years back when a fraternity at the City College of San Francisco entered her in the “Miss San Francisco” contest and she went all the way to success in the final at Atlantic City. Until that moment, her aim had been to help mentally retarded children through psycho-drama—letting them act out their own frustrations and problems in little plays or impromptu group drama sessions. She is still interested in this and devotes spare time to it on a volunteer basis.   But the “Miss America” title carried with it a firm contract calling for travel and many personal appearances. She had to leave school to comply. The title, however, also brought its winner a $5,000 scholarship at the college of her choice—and Miss Meriwether chose to attend drama classes conducted by Lee Strasberg of the famed Actors’ Studio of New York.   Real-life Study   The basis of Strasberg’s system is a theory which involves probing the motivation of the character being portrayed. Miss Meriwether follows this policy in playing Ann MacGregor, perhaps the most attractive scientist ever to appear on Television in The Time Tunnel. A friend of hers is a scientist at the University of California medical centre in Westwood and Lee spends many hours there watching and observing. “I try to move as they do,” she says. “I try to make believe that I’m really a talented woman scientist.”   Lee also admits she derives great pleasure from working in live theatre because “it enables me to enhance my potential” by playing roles which elude her in TV and motion pictures. Stage work keeps her talent finely honed—and it also exposes her to directors and producers in a variety of characterisations they would never see her play on celluloid.   Well before her TV starring days she was very active in little theatre groups around Los Angeles and Hollywood. This is a real test of an actress’ dedication to her craft, too, and it still delights her.   “I certainly don’t do it for the money,” she confesses. “In one play, for example, my take-home pay was a massive $48.16 a week!” • New Zealand TV Weekly Dec. 16, 1968 Cover Page 31 Page 32

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