- Born
- DiedAugust 12, 2014 · Santa Monica, California, USA (complications from heart bypass surgery and breast cancer)
- Birth nameArline Greta Sax
- Nickname
- The Chameleon
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- Arlene Martel was likely best-known (if not by name) to Star Trek (1966) fans, and possibly most television viewers of a certain age, as Spock's treacherous Vulcan betrothed, T'Pring, in the episode, Amok Time (1967).
Born Arline Greta Sax to Austrian Jewish immigrants on April 14, 1936 in New York City, she spent her early years in one of the poorest slums in the Bronx. When her mother's boss saw her poor living conditions, he personally underwrote her attendance at an upper-crust boarding school in Connecticut. At age 12, she assumed personal responsibility to audition for New York's famed High School of the Performing Arts. Not only did she gain entrance, she went on to excel at the school and graduated with the school's top drama award. Her professional career began in her teens when she landed the role of Esther in the Broadway production of 'Uncle Willie', also starring Norman Fell.
After heading to Hollywood, Martel began making guest appearances on television series such as The Untouchables (1959), Route 66 (1960) and The Twilight Zone (1959). She had the recurring role of Tiger on the situation comedy Hogan's Heroes (1965). Her facility with accents and dialects enabled her to play a wide variety of characters, earning her the nickname of "The Chameleon". Her relationship with James Dean was chronicled in Joe Hyams's biography, "The James Dean Story".
Married and divorced three times, Arlene had three children: Adam Palmer, Avra Douglas, and Jod Douglas.
Martel died at age 78 of a heart attack on August 12, 2014 in Santa Monica, California. She had battled breast cancer some years earlier.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Brian Hamilton
- SpousesMatthew Bernard Schoen(February 14, 1980 - 1988) (divorced)Jerry Douglas(October 20, 1962 - November 1973) (divorced, 2 children)Boyd Holister(1957 - May 3, 1961) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenAdam Palmer
- RelativesMolly Rose Brutsman(Grandchild)
- Frequently appeared at Star Trek Conventions worldwide from 1972 until 2014.
- Appeared on The Twilight Zone (1959) episode, Twenty Two (1961), under her birth name Arline Sax.
- Science fiction fans may be surprised to learn that she not only had an important guest appearance on the Star Trek (1966) episode Amok Time (1967), but also co-starred in what is generally considered the best episode of the original black-and-white series The Outer Limits (1963). She played Consuelo Biros opposite Robert Culp's character, Trent, in the second season episode, Demon with a Glass Hand (1964), which aired on October 17, 1964. This episode was written by famed science fiction author Harlan Ellison.
- Frequently appeared on Hogan's Heroes (1965), as a member of the French underground. She was usually referred to as "Tiger".
- Arlene Martel is listed in the credits of the Columbo episode Double Exposure (1973) as Tanya Baker. Columbo states that he spoke with her briefly on the telephone, but Tanya Baker is never heard and never seen at any time during the episode.
- I don't have a good agent who will get me the plum roles.
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