This blog takes a look at a show that is beginning to fade from viewers’ memories. The Farmer’s Daughter debuted in the fall of 1963, starring Inger Stevens as Katy Holstrum and William Windom as Glen Morley.

The show was based on the 1947 movie of the same name starring Loretta Young and Joseph Cotten in the lead roles.

Katy was a student who needed to earn some money and became a governess/housekeeper for Morley’s boys, Steve (Mickey Sholdar), age 14 and Danny (Rory O’Brien), age 8. Morley is a congressman. While Morley is sophisticated and refined, Katy is a no-nonsense type of girl from Minnesota. Morley’s mother Agatha (Cathleen Nesbitt) also lives with the family. The cast is rounded out by Philip Coolidge as Cooper, the family’s butler. In the early seasons, it is obvious that Glen and Katy are falling for each other, and many of the plots are one of them being jealous of the other. In the movie, Katy runs for Congress, but she is not as involved in politics in the television show.

Screen Gems produced the show which aired on ABC. The show was sponsored by Lark Cigarettes and Clairol. The two stars often promoted the products at the end of the episode. In season one, the show was on Friday nights against Burke’s Law on CBS and The Fight of the Week on NBC. Season two found the show opposite The Flintstones and The Addams Family. The show moved to Tuesday nights for season three against A Man Called Shenandoah and Ben Casey. The show was never in the top 25 but, it had respectable ratings. The critics liked the show, and it was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding comedy in 1964 but lost to Mary Tyler Moore for The Dick Van Dyke Show. It was also nominated for Emmys for writing, directing, and best actress. Stevens won the Golden Globe for best female tv star. TV Guide conducted a popularity poll, and she won the female performer of the year with David Janssen of The Fugitive, winning male performer.

At the end of season two, Katy and Glen become engaged. The third season brought full-color episodes. Early in the third season, they marry. After that ratings fell significantly, and the show was not renewed for a fourth season. In the finale, Katy adopts Danny and Steve. The chemistry between Glen and Katie and waiting to see if they got together or not kept viewers tuning in.  Once they married, viewers were not as invested.

In 1957, Inger was signed to a seven-picture contract with Paramount. In 1959, she survived after swallowing an overdose of pills and she seemed to recover with a renewed zeal to work on her career and life situation.

Stevens became a favorite actress of many viewers after The Farmer’s Daughter. The cast and crew liked her very much and she was easy to work with. She never got upset when filming ran long or had complications. She and Windom often played practical jokes on each other to bring fun to the workplace. She recalled eating an onion sandwich one day right before they filmed a kissing scene.

After the show was cancelled, she was cast in the movie, A Guide for the Married Man in1967. She then starred in films with Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin, and Clint Eastwood. She appeared in the made-for-tv film, Run Simon Run with Burt Reynolds in 1970. After seeing the film, Aaron Spelling cast her in an upcoming series, Zig Zag to air in the fall. The show was about a trio who work on hard-to-solve murders. When the show went on the air in 1970, Yvette Mimieux had to take over Inger’s role.

Unfortunately, the sunny disposition Stevens portrayed to the world hid a sad and tragic life and she committed suicide before the show aired. Her housekeeper found her in April; she was semi-conscious and died on the way to the hospital. The cause of death was determined to be acute barbiturate intoxication. The public was saddened and surprised to learn how unhappy she was.

In 2000, William Patterson published the book, The Farmer’s Daughter Remembered. He dove into her life and tried to determine whether she meant to commit suicide or not.

Windom also starred in the series, My World and Welcome to It as cartoonist John Monroe and as Dr. Seth Hazzlett on Murder She Wrote in 1985. His first movie role was in To Kill a Mockingbird in 1962. In addition to other films and Broadway, he traveled performing one-man shows of both James Thurber and Ernie Pyle. He passed away of congestive heart failure in 2012 at 88.

Cathleen Nesbitt would continue appearing in television series until 1982 when she passed away at age 93. Although she had appeared in many films, The Farmer’s Daughter was the only series she was featured in regularly.

Mickey Sholdar only appeared in five other shows after The Farmer’s Daughter. His last acting appearance was in the movie Babe. I could not verify how he spent his life up to now.

Rory O’Brien, like Sholdar, only appeared in a few shows after the series ended. He was also in one film afterward, Little Big Man. O’Brien left the acting profession in the early 1970s. I could not find any other information on him either.

Philip Coolidge was in many acclaimed movies before he took the role on The Farmer’s Daughter. Like most of his cast mates, he only appeared in a few shows in the mid-1960s, and he passed away in 1967.

The show was aired in syndication on CBN, but I cannot find any other channels that carried it, and I cannot find any evidence that it was ever released on DVD. It’s too bad because the show featured a couple with great chemistry and the quick pace of the story and well-written dialogue that made the show memorable will be lost if no one is able to see the show in the future.