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A charming brunette leading lady who rose to fame in the early days of television, she was born Muriel Florence Bendelson (known as 'Midge') in the Bronx, New York. Midge entered the screen after a successful career as a photographer's model, featuring in fashion advertisements and gracing the covers of over a hundred popular magazines, including Esquire. In 1953, she was crowned "the girl with the trimmest torso" and chosen from 5,000 contestants as 'Miss No-Cal' to promote a prominent beverage brand on billboards and in print (No-Cal specialized in carbonated, sugar-free, zero-calorie soft drinks). She had already been signed by Universal-International two years earlier and appeared in several films, though mostly in minor roles. Her only leading role for the studio was in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), a swashbuckling adventure set in medieval Tangiers, now mainly remembered for Tony Curtis's portrayal of an Arabian prince and his memorable line delivered in a Brooklyn accent: "Yonduh lies de castle of de caliph, my fadder." Much later, in the 1960s, Midge starred in a rare leading role as an aspiring Broadway dancer in All Woman (1967), a little-known drama about a composer (Robert Alda) who befriends and supports three women living in the same apartment at different times.
Midge found greater success on television, briefly gaining more prominence as the lively love interest of Tony Young's post-Civil War military intelligence agent in the unconventional CBS western series Gunslinger (1961). However, the show failed to catch on and was cancelled after only 12 episodes. She went on to make guest appearances in various TV shows across genres, including The Virginian (1962), The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), and Serpico (1976). After retiring from acting in 1980, she devoted herself to community service. For her volunteer efforts at the Motion Picture and Television Retirement Community in Woodland Hills, California, she was honored with The President's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Midge was married three times, including to actor Arthur Batanides and writer/director David Moessinger.
