Child actress

St. John made her stage debut at age five in The Conspiracy at Geller's Theater Workshop on January 31, 1946.^[12] Her television debut came two years later, when she joined the cast of Sandy Dreams, a musical fantasy series for children featuring Richard Beymer. In December 1949, she played Missie Cratchit in The Christmas Carol, one of the earliest filmed adaptations of Charles Dickens' classic 1843 story. Shot in kinescope, it is a rare example of a 1940s live TV broadcast still surviving in entirety.^[13]

By the age of 10, St. John was a regular on KTLA's Fantastick Studios, Ink.^[14][15] At 11, she appeared in two episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. She had an uncredited role in the film Thunder in the East (1951) and was in episodes of Sky King, Fireside Theatre, and Cavalcade of America.

She attended Powers Professional School and received her high school diploma from Hollywood Professional School in the spring of 1955 at age 14.^[2] With a reported IQ of 162,^[16] at age 15 St. John enrolled at UCLA's Extension School.^[2]

During this time, she appeared on a large number of radio shows, notably Red Ryder and One Man's Family.^[5]

Universal

St. John was 16 in May 1957 when Universal Pictures signed her to a contract for seven years starting at $200 a week.^[17] Her major studio film debut was in Summer Love (1958) starring John Saxon. She also appeared on TV in episodes of The Christophers, Schlitz Playhouse, and The DuPont Show of the Month (an adaptation of Junior Miss). She said her idol was Kay Kendall.^[18]

20th Century Fox

St John then signed a contract with 20th Century Fox, who tried to build her into a star. She played the daughter of Clifton Webb in The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker and Holiday for Lovers (both 1959), then was put in an adventure movie, The Lost World (1960).

"Nothing but starlet parts," she later said. "You know, the daughter, the niece, the girlfriend."^[5]

Fox picked up their option on her. Warner Bros. borrowed her for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961), then she had a supporting role in Tender Is the Night (1962).^[19]

Comedy

St. John had a key role in Come Blow Your Horn (1963), where she starred opposite Frank Sinatra. She received a Golden Globe Award nomination as Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her performance in the film.

"I'm a comedienne," she said in 1963. "I've never pretended to be a dramatic actress. But I'm very funny."^[20]

She followed this with a series of comedies: Who's Minding the Store? (1963) with Jerry Lewis, Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963) with Dean Martin, and Honeymoon Hotel (1964) with Robert Morse and Nancy Kwan.

"Now I play the sexy comedienne, which is my forte" she said in 1964. "Comedy is what I've always wanted to do."^[5]

She guest-starred on television shows like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Burke's Law, The Rogues, and Theatre of Stars. In 1964, she guest-starred with Lauren Bacall and Bacall's then husband, Jason Robards, Jr., in the episode "Take a Walk Through the Cemetery" of the drama series Mr. Broadway. She also appeared in some variety specials with Bob Hope.

MGM gave her the female lead in a spy spoof The Liquidator (1965) with Rod Taylor, and she was in The Oscar (1966) with Stephen Boyd.

St. John appeared in the first and second episodes of the television series Batman as the Riddler's moll Molly. She became the first character to die in an episode of Batman in that second episode. She was also in an episode of The Big Valley at that time.

Universal reprise

St. John signed a contract at Universal. She was in a TV movie Fame Is the Name of the Game (1966), and had a supporting role in How I Spent My Summer Vacation (1967), starring future husband Robert Wagner.^[21]

She did the Bob Hope comedy Eight on the Run (1967), then made Banning (1967) with Wagner, and The King's Pirate (1967) with Doug McClure.

In 1966, she said: "My goal is to be at a point where I have so proved myself as an actress that I can be more discriminating in the roles I choose. I want to be able to choose the parts I know I can do next."^[22] St. John nearly landed a starring role in The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), which instead went to Sharon Tate.^[23]

She was reunited with Sinatra in Tony Rome (1967) and did a TV movie The Spy Killer (1969), which was popular enough for the sequel Foreign Exchange (1970). She guested on The Name of the Game. Decisions! Decisions! (1971) was a TV movie St. John did with Bob Newhart and Jean Simmons.

James Bond

St. John achieved her biggest success starring as diamond smuggler Tiffany Case, the love interest of James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever (1971), opposite Sean Connery. She was the first American to play a Bond girl.^[24] The character Tiffany is argumentative, abrasive, loud, and brash when compared to previous Bond girls who were more demure; film scholars have inferred that she is meant to be a stereotypical commentary on American women.^[25]

In 1972, St. John appeared alongside Oliver Reed in the British crime drama Sitting Target. After the shoot wrapped, she took a break from her career. She later explained that "two pictures in a row was exhausting... I decided I needed a new way of life."^[26]

Television

St. John did the TV movies Saga of Sonora (1973) and Brenda Starr (1976) (playing the title role), and guest-starred on Vega$, The Love Boat, Magnum, P.I., Fantasy Island, and Matt Houston. She also appeared in the pilot episode for Hart to Hart.

In 1981, following a decade-long sabbatical in Aspen, Colorado, St. John made Hollywood her primary residence again. "I really don't have to work," she said of her return. "But you know what? I got bored."^[27] St. John did the TV movies Two Guys from Muck (1982) and Rooster (1982) and was top-billed in the feature The Concrete Jungle (1982), a woman in prison film in which she played Warden Fletcher. She had a small role in The Act (1983).

During 1983–1984, she starred with Dennis Weaver on the short-lived soap opera Emerald Point N.A.S., in which she played Deanna Kinkaid, Thomas Mallory's conniving former sister-in-law. It also starred another former Bond girl, Maud Adams.

Later career

St. John and Robert Wagner were in Around the World in 80 Days (1989); Something to Believe In (1998); and The Calling (2002). They made brief cameo appearances as themselves in Robert Altman's Hollywood satire The Player (1992).

In 1996, they started appearing together on stage in a national touring production of Love Letters.^[28]

In 1997, the couple appeared together at the end of "The Yada Yada" episode of the television sitcom Seinfeld.

St. John appeared without Wagner in Out There (1995) and The Trip (2002).

In 2014, St. John played Mrs. Claus in the TV movie Northpole alongside Wagner, who played the part of Santa Claus. The film marked her first acting role after a 12-year absence from the screen. She has since officially retired from acting, but remains involved in civic activities.^[29]

Film

Television