Leigh Snowden

Leigh Snowden (June 23, 1929 – May 16, 1982) was an American actress in motion pictures and television. Early life Snowden was born Martha Lee Estes in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. When her father died when she was three, Estes and her mother moved to Covington, Tennessee. When she was 16, Estes married her classmate, James Snowden, and moved with him to San Francisco, California, when he joined the military. After the birth of two children, a girl and boy, Leigh and James Snowden got an uncontested divorce with Leigh gaining custody of the children. Early career After her divorce, Snowden moved to Los Angeles, California, and worked in modeling and in small parts on television. She got her big break into show business on a Jack Benny Christmas show that was televised from the San Diego Naval Base. When Snowden walked across the stage in front of an audience of 10,000 sailors, the sailors cheered and whistled so enthusiastically that 11 Hollywood studios contacted her the next day. The event led to the newspaper headline "Sailors' Whistles Blow Blonde into Film Studio". Snowden chose Universal Pictures because of the training provided by its film school; she began voice and acting classes with Mara Corday, Pat Crowley, Clint Eastwood, James Garner, and John Saxon. Snowden appeared in the films All That Heaven Allows, The Square Jungle, The Creature Walks Among Us, Outside the Law, I've Lived Before, and Hot Rod Rumble in addition to television appearances. Her last performance in movies was as Evie in The Comancheros (1961). Her last TV roles came in episodes of This Is Alice (1958) and Tightrope (1960).