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R.I.P. Jean Hale, the Mad Hatter's moll on Batman who married Dabney Coleman
She twice played an accused client of Perry Mason. She was 82.
Batman wore pink. Well, it happened one time, in "The Contaminated Cowl." In that adventure, deep into the second season of Batman, the Mad Hatter (David Wayne) turns the Caped Crusader's cowl a bright pink with radiation. Assisting him in the crime was his accomplice, Polly, played by Jean Hale. She was a hat-check girl, of course.
Months later, in the spring of 1967, Hale appeared in her largest and most memorable role — as Lisa, operative of the sinister "Fabulous Face" organization in the randy James Coburn spy spoof In Like Flint. Riding the coattails of James Bond, secret agent Derek Flint (Coburn) skewed closer to Austin Powers. As the female lead, Hale was the "Bond Girl" — well, "Flint Girl" — in this hit sequel.
Hale began her screen career at the start of the Sixties, with an uncredited role in the crime series Naked City. A year later, in 1961, she married fellow actor Dabney Coleman. The two had trained and studied acting together under Sydney Pollack at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. The couple remained hitched until 1984 and had four children together. Her classmates also included James Caan and Christopher Lloyd.
That initial role led to meatier guest spots on My Favorite Martian, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Wagon Train. Though, she turned down a breakthrough role in BUtterfield 8 (and later turned down Valley of the Dolls… and lost the lead in Bonnie and Clyde) but eventually found her footing in McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965), a movie that required her to dye her hair blonde. She kept the platinum locks and became typecast as a sensuous seductress.
The Utah native twice appeared on Perry Mason, twice charged with murder as Perry's clients Reggie Lansfield ("The Case of the Murderous Mermaid") and Carla Chaney ("The Case of the Laughing Lady"). On Hogan's Heroes, in "I Look Better in Basic Black," she portrayed an American entertainer who accidentally stumbled upon a rocket factory and ended up in Stalag 13.
Her acting career petered out in the '70s, with her last series guest spot coming in an episode of Cannon. But she moved to a role behind the scenes, co-founding Coleman-Tanasescu Entertainment with Gino Tanasescu.
On August 3, Hale passed away from natural causes, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She was 82.
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