Louise got her first role at age two in an advertisement for her father’s candy store. She began studying acting, singing, and dancing at age 17 under Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in Manhattan. Her acting debut came in 1952 in the Bette Davis musical revue Two’s Company, followed by roles in such other Broadway productions as John Murray Anderson’s Almanac, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, and the hit musical Li’l Abner. She appeared in live television dramas in the anthology series, Studio One and Producers’ Showcase.
Louise made her film debut in 1958 in God’s Little Acre. That same year, the National Art Council named her the “World’s Most Beautiful Redhead.” The next year, she starred in Day of the Outlaw with Robert Ryan. Among her Italian film credits were The Siege of Syracuse and Garibaldi (both in 1960). In 1962, she guest-starred on the situation comedy The Real McCoys, portraying a country girl from West Virginia in the episode “Grandpa Pygmalion”. She appeared with Bob Denver two years later in the beach party film For Those Who Think Young (1964) and later portayed movie star Ginger Grant on the situation comedy Gilligan’s Island. She maintained a steady acting career after the series ended, going on to appear in the Matt Helm spy spoof The Wrecking Crew (1969) with Dean Martin and in The Stepford Wives (1975).
Louise took darker roles as well, such as a heroin addict in a 1974 episode of Kojak and as a cruel corrections officer in the 1976 television movie Nightmare in Badham County. Other credits from this era include the made-for-TV films Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby (1976) and SST: Death Flight (1977), and the soap opera Dallas during the 1978–1979 seasons. In the fall of 1984, she succeeded Jo Ann Pflug as Taylor Chapin on the syndicated soap opera Rituals.
Later film roles included O.C. and Stiggs (1987) as well as the independent satire Johnny Suede (1992) starring Brad Pitt. She appeared in the situation comedy Married… with Children as Miss Beck in episode “Kelly Bounces Back” (1990). In the 1990s, she was reunited with costars Bob Denver, Dawn Wells, and Russell Johnson in an episode of Roseanne. In 2014, Louise appeared in the spiritual drama Tapestry and the horror film Late Phases.
Today she works one hour a week, tutoring school children in reading at an Upper East Side Manhattan public school, saying: “It’s better than vitamins.”
