Laurel Goodwin

Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

Laurel Goodwin
Birth name:	Carolyn J. Schoenberger
Date of birth:	11 August 1942
Place of birth:	Wichita, Kansas, USA
Date of death:	25 February 2022
Place of death:	Cathedral City, California, USA
Roles:	Actress
Character(s):	J.M. Colt

Laurel Goodwin (11 August 1942 – 25 February 2022; age 79) was the actress who played J.M. Colt in the first Star Trek: The Original Series pilot, "The Cage". She was the last surviving credited performer from the episode.

She filmed her scenes on Monday 30 November 1964, Tuesday 1 December 1964, Thursday 3 December 1964, Wednesday 9 December 1964, Wednesday 16 December 1964 and Thursday 17 December 1964 at Desilu Culver Stage 15 and Stage 16.

She was born Carolyn J. Schoenberger in Wichita, Kansas, but grew up in San Diego and San Francisco. She began her career as a child model. She majored in drama at San Francisco State University, with her break coming when she was selected to star opposite Elvis Presley in Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962, featuring David Armstrong and Frank Atienza).

During the 1960s, Goodwin made three more feature films, including Papa's Delicate Condition (1963, with Elisha Cook and Arthur Tovey) and the TV movie Call to Danger (1968, with William Smithers and James Gregory), and acted in a handful of television guest star roles. These include episodes of The Virginian (with Paul Comi and Gail Bonney, directed by Don McDougall), Get Smart, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Mannix (with Tom Troupe, Lee Meriwether, Logan Ramsey, and Barbara Babcock).

Tired of "pounding the pavement," she abandoned acting in 1971 and went into the health care business. Although she had attended a few Elvis conventions over the years, it was not until 2005 that she attended her first Trek convention, along with Peter Duryea.

For many years, she lived with her husband, business executive Walter Wood, in New York City. Together they produced several films, most notably – in partnership with Hugh Wilson and others – the Burt Reynolds film, Stroker Ace, which Hal Needham directed and in which Warren Stevens was featured. In the mid 1990s, she and her husband moved to Palm Springs, where Goodwin pursued a career in home nursing. In 2009, her husband became seriously ill and she nursed him until his death. [1]

Goodwin passed away on February 22, 2022 at the age of 79 in Cathedral City, California. [2]

Further reading

• "Laurel Goodwin", Drive-In Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets of the Sixties, Tom Lisanti, McFarland, March 2003, pp. 33-44

External links

• Catching up with Laurel Goodwin at StarTrek.com
• Laurel Goodwin at the Internet Movie Database
• Laurel Goodwin at Wikipedia
• Elvis Movie Database entry^(X)