Biography
Ever since this beauty was five years old she knew she wanted to act. It's the story of this adventurous pioneer girl who in a Frontier Pageant, at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City jumped off the stage, and into her Daddy's arms in front of a crowd of 10,000 people. When she was young her grandfather was a lawyer for MGM, and her mother had been offered a screen test. Her grandfather did not allow it. But when Mary Linda was bitten by the acting bug her family was quite supportive. Through prep school she won trophies for Drama, was in the glee club, and was elected president of the theatrical society. After getting a BA in theatre arts at the University of Kansas she moved on to do a theatrical tour all through Europe. She came back, and her picture was in a local talent agency's book in Kansas City her home town... Which was also where In Cold Blood (1967) was being shot. Richard Brooks saw her picture and said that this is the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was cast in the role of Susan Kidwell. Richard Brooks, the director for this movie, did 40 takes for each scene he did, so originally Mary Linda was in more scenes than you can count. After this she was on a roll. She was a series regular in the ER of its day, "Medical Center", played Gregory Peck's daughter, in the Sci Fi film, Marooned (1969), had a guest-starring role on "Ironside", and played the infamous role of Irina, Pavel Chekhov's beautiful, tricky, space hippie girlfriend in the Star Trek episode, "The Way to Eden".
After a 7 year absence from film and TV, Mary Linda was back in the 1979 mini series, Blind Ambition (1979) playing Sen. Baker's wife. She was in CA filming that, when she met up with some ABC talent scouts. After meeting up with them, they wanted to give her the screen test for the role of Faith Kipling on the soap One Life to Live (1968). She nailed it, and was given the role. She left to go to As the World Turns (1956) and played the beautiful Maggie Crawford for 5 years. Unlike most stars, after those 5 years the spotlight didn't leave her, she left the spotlight. Now she is back, with that same determination to make it, just like that little girl all those years ago.
