Kathryn Hays Movies
Kathryn Hays is best known for her work as an actress on television -- ironically, her most notable credits in that medium reside in two vastly different genres and professional engagements: as a longtime member of the cast of the daytime drama As The World Turns, portraying Kim Sullivan Hughes for more than 30 years; and for her performance in a single 1968 episode of the science fiction series Star Trek, entitled "The Empath." Hays was born in Princeton, IL, and raised in Joliet. She did theatrical work from the outset of her career, but from the early '60s also distinguished herself on television -- starting with a 1962 episode of the police drama Naked City up through a regular role on The Guiding Light, and on to her multi-decade work on As the World Turns.The Star Trek episode "The Empath" cast Hays in a mute role as "Gem," an alien who is trapped beneath the surface of a dying planet with the captain (William Shatner), first officer (Leonard Nimoy), and senior medical officer (DeForest Kelley) of the starship Enterprise. Her wonderfully expressive features (especially her eyes) and her portrayal -- which was almost balletic at times -- allowed Hays to totally dominate the screen and the episode without uttering a word of dialogue; many fans of the series regard her work as the finest guest-starring portrayal in the entire run of the show, and she helped to turn "The Empath" into the best single episode of the series' third season. Around this same time, Hays also starred in one theatrical film, Ralph Nelson's music-and-war drama Counterpoint (1967), playing opposite Charlton Heston. During this period, from 1966 through 1969, she was also married to Glenn Ford, who was then part of the shrinking ranks of genuine big-screen legends in the movie business.
As a New York-based actress, Hays' career has mostly been centered on the small screen, as well as the stage. She is virtually an acting institution among daytime drama aficionados, and her work on As the World Turns hasn't stopped her from doing occasional guest-star turns in such New York-filmed dramas as Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU in more recent years. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1999
The detectives and the lawyers tackle the mystery of a female patient found beaten to death in a hospital lounge. Ingredients vital to the solution are a glib "gentleman" specializing in wooing wealthy women and the effects of Alzheimer's disease on the sufferer's family. The supporting cast of this episode features such reliable veteran players as Glynnis O'Connor and Kathryn Hays. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
This Savage Land is the story of the Prides, a pioneer family homesteading in 19th century Kansas. Barry Sullivan and Kathryn Hays play the mother and father of the Pride brood, with Andrew Prine and Brenda Scott as the oldest children (Prine and Scott had been married and divorced before the cameras began turning). The plot covers the westward trek from Ohio to Kansas, early tussles in a hostile town, and the courtship and marriage between widower Sullivan and fellow homesteader Hays, whose father is murdered by vigilantes. Made for television, This Savage Land was originally telecast September 12 and 19, 1966, as the two-part inaugural episode of the weekly TV series The Road West. Both parts were packaged into a theatrical feature to take box-office advantage of George C. Scott, here guest-starring as the vigilante leader. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
The Enterprise arrives in orbit around planet Minara 2, whose sun is about to go nova, to pick up a research team (Jason Wingreen, Davis Roberts), but they find the station deserted. A record tape shows that the crew was abducted by some unseen force, which does the same thing to Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and McCoy (DeForest Kelley). They find themselves trapped below the planet's surface -- with the Enterprise out of range because of a solar storm -- and encounter a mute humanoid woman (Kathryn Hays) and a pair of alien captors, Lal (Alan Bergmann) and Thann (Willard Sage). The two identify themselves as Vayans, and are performing an strange experiment which has already killed the two scientists and threatens to do the same to the three Enterprise officers. The woman, christened Gem by McCoy, proves to be an empath, capable of linking emotionally and neurologically to those around her and healing physical injuries -- sometimes at great physical cost to herself. In some way that the officers can't comprehend, the Vayans' experiments have a logical basis, all surrounding Gem, the solar system that is about to be destroyed, and the relationship between the three of them -- but it may cost the lives of one or all of them, as well as that of Gem, to find out what that purpose is. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1967
The beauty of classical music confronts the ugliness and treachery of war in this unusual drama. Lionel Evans (Charlton Heston) is the director of a well-respected symphony orchestra touring European concert halls in 1944. In the midst of one concert, the city where they are playing is attacked by German troops, and as Evans and his musicians try to escape, they are captured by Nazi soldiers led by Col. Arndt (Anton Diffring). Evans and the orchestra are taken to a castle where they are to bide their time before being executed; but it turns out that Arndt's superior, Gen. Schiller (Maximilian Schell), is a classical music buff. Schiller commands Evans and his symphony to prepare a special concert for the Nazis, but Evans realizes that the moment the concert is over, he and his musicians will be killed. The orchestra's performances, which include works by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, and Schubert, were performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Maximilian Schell, (more)
Told via flashback by a saloon keeper to a census taker in a tiny Texas town, this brutal, adult-oriented western offers the tale of a drifter who settles down to marry a woman he doesn't love so he can get at her inheritance. When that is exposed, the drifter flees and does not return for eleven years. He rides back into town with a fortune that he earned while hunting buffalo. The town's crooked banker and two thugs ride out to greet him. Thinking that the only way the reprobate could have gotten so much money is from rustling cows, they engineer a brutal reception that results in his being branded with a big "T." Naturally, the drifter passes out during his painful ordeal and when he finally comes to and learns the truth about the situation immediately gallops off to get his bloody revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Connors, Michael Rennie, (more)
- 1965
Dexter and Joyce Dailey (Jeremy Slate, Kathryn Hays) are thoroughly satisfied with Frieda (Lilia Skala), the kindly German nursemaid they have hired for their new baby. But while Dexter remains satisfied, Joyce does not: reading an account of a child murder in San Francisco, she is startled that the description of the killer fits the beloved Frieda to a tee. With Dexter steadfastly refusing to fire the old woman, it falls to Joyce to find out the truth -- and to prevent a tragedy under her own roof. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathryn Hays, Jeremy Slate, (more)
- 1965
While there are many people who hate accused coward Jason McCord (Chuck Connors), few are as vehement in that hatred as ranch owner Christina Adams (Kathryn Hays). Unfortunately for her, Christina needs Jason's testimony in a lawsuit to keep from losing her land. Will Jason do the "right thing", or has he at last come to the end of his patience for people who refuse to give him the benefit of the doubt concertning the battle of Bitter Creek? Featured in the cast as Thomas Teal is Bing Russell, the father of film star Kurt Russell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
"The Wild One" is ornery Lafe Jessup (Aldo Ray), a pugnacious horse wrangler who'd sooner pick a fight than eat or sleep. While trying to pummel Hoss Cartwright, Lafe is interrupted by Prudence (Kathryn Hays), the Quaker wife whom he'd deserted a few months back. Prudence announces that Lafe is about to become a father-but in his typical bullheaded fashion, he wants nothing to do with either his wife or his unborn child. First telecast October 4, 1964, "The Wild One" was written by Jo Pagano. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1964
Sentenced to 15 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Howard Clements (Bradford Dillman) is released after serving only two years. Shortly afterward, he pays a visit to Isabel Smith (Barbara Baxley), the woman whose testimony put him behind bars. Though Isabel is worried that he seeks revenge, Howard explains that he is now running a successful business, and is willing to let bygones be bygones. Ultimately, Howard and Isabel are married...but if you've guessed that this is not the end of the story, your guess is right on the money. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bradford Dillman, Barbara Barrie, (more)
- 1963
This thought-provoking and only slightly heavy handed anti-war tract is based on a real incident that occurred during the atomic terror of the Cuban missile crisis. The tragedy begins when a civil defense siren is accidentally tripped while a school is in session. The panic-stricken children are immediately sent home. One young girl has an air-raid shelter in her backyard and invites many children inside. A less popular girl begs to be let in, but the first girl makes excuses and shuts her out leaving the terribly frightened child to hide out in an abandoned refrigerator where she dies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Connell, William Daniels, (more)
