Biography
Randy Stuart, born Elizabeth Shaubell (October 24, 1924 – July 20, 1996), was an American film and television actress. She appeared in numerous popular films during the 1940s and 1950s and later featured in Western-themed TV series. She is best known for her role as Louise Carey, wife of Scott Carey (played by Grant Williams), in the 1957 science-fiction classic The Incredible Shrinking Man, which was selected in 2009 for preservation in the Library of Congress's National Film Registry for its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.
A screen test for the play The Women led to Stuart signing a contract with 20th Century Fox. Her film debut was an uncredited role in the 1947 movie The Foxes of Harrow, where she portrayed the birth mother of the main character Stephen Fox in the opening scene.
In 1948, she played Peggy, a savvy secretary and collaborator with star Clifton Webb, in the comedy Sitting Pretty. That same year, she appeared as the wife of a returning veteran in Apartment for Peggy, alongside William Holden and Jeanne Crain.
In 1949, Stuart portrayed Lieutenant Eloise Billings, the love interest of Cary Grant, in Howard Hawks' film I Was a Male War Bride, which also starred Ann Sheridan. She also appeared opposite Jose Ferrer in Otto Preminger's psychological noir Whirlpool. Additionally, she was featured as a supporting actress in the comedy musical Dancing in the Dark, starring William Powell and Betsy Drake.
In 1950, Stuart had a brief role in the Best Picture-winning film All About Eve as a telephone friend of Anne Baxter. She held fourth billing in the noir comedy Stella, alongside Ann Sheridan and Victor Mature.
In 1951, she played Marge Boyd in I Can Get It For You Wholesale, a role considered a potential breakthrough. The following year, she reunited with Grant Williams and Betsy Drake in Warner Bros.' comedy Room for One More.
After her appearance in The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), Stuart was cast as Nancy Dawson in the 1958 Western Man from God's Country, starring George Montgomery. Around that time, she also guest-starred in Montgomery's short-lived TV Western series Cimarron City.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Stuart, known by her married name Betty Wallis, played a key role in developing the alumni program at Chaminade College Preparatory School in West Hills, California, where her two youngest children had graduated. She was listed as a contact resource for the school and later served as director of alumni affairs at Cal State Northridge.
Stuart's marriages included Kenneth Wayne Smith (1943–1945), Edward Charles George (1947–1954; one child), Lane Allan (also known as Albert Wootten, 1954–1968; three children), and Ernest Dineen Wallis (1971–1982). The first three marriages ended in divorce, and the last ended with Wallis's death.
She passed away from lung cancer on July 20, 1996, at age 71 in Bakersfield, California.
