Early life

Bain was born Mildred Fogel in Chicago, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in sociology. Developing an interest in dance, she moved to New York City, where she studied alongside Martha Graham. Dissatisfied with her career as a dancer, she went into modeling; jobs with Vogue, Harper's and other publications followed.

Still uninspired, however, Bain entered the Theater Studio to study acting; first under Curt Conway, then Lonny Chapman. Progressing to the Actors Studio, she was instructed by Lee Strasberg.

Bain's first acting role was in Paddy Chayevsky's play Middle of the Night, which embarked on a national tour in October 1957. Accompanying Bain was fellow actor and newly acquired husband Martin Landau; the final leg of the tour brought the couple to Los Angeles, where they settled permanently. After moving, Bain established herself at the Actors Studio West, where she continues to teach classes and perform scene work.

Film and television career

Bain's earliest television appearances included CBS's Tightrope, with Mike Connors, and three ABC series: The Law and Mr. Jones with James Whitmore, Adventures in Paradise with Gardner McKay, and Straightaway with Brian Kelly and John Ashley. After a recurring role as David Janssen's romantic interest in Richard Diamond, Private Detective in 1959, she guest-starred as Madelyn Terry in a 1960 episode of Perry Mason, "The Case of the Wary Wildcatter", and in 1964 played the role of Elayna Scott in "The Case of the Nautical Knot".

Between 1966 and 1969, Bain appeared—alongside her then husband, Martin Landau—in the major role of Cinnamon Carter in Mission: Impossible; she also starred as the character in a 1997 episode of Diagnosis: Murder. She won three consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Dramatic Actress for her performance in 1967, 1968 and 1969, in addition to a Golden Globe Award nomination in 1968.

She starred opposite Landau again in the science-fiction TV series Space: 1999 (1975-77), as Dr. Helena Russell, and the made-for-TV film The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island (1981). Bain also appeared in The Dick Van Dyke Show, in the episode "Will You Two Be My Wife?", and My So-Called Life, playing the main character Angela Chase's grandmother in one episode. Other appearances include "Matroyoshka", an episode of the 1990s science-fiction series Millennium.

In 1998, Bain was a special guest star in the Walker, Texas Ranger episode "Saving Grace", as the Mother Superior. In 2006, she had a minor role in one episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ("Living Legends"). In 2008, co-starring with her daughter Juliet Landau, Bain voiced the character of Verdona Tennyson in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", an episode of Ben 10: Alien Force.

On April 28, 2016, Bain was honored with the 2,579th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bain's star is located at 6767 Hollywood Blvd. Lifelong friends Edward Asner and Dick Van Dyke were on hand to speak and assist in the unveiling of the star.

Personal life

Bain married actor Martin Landau in 1957; they divorced in 1993. The couple had two daughters, actress Juliet Landau and film producer Susan Bain Landau Finch (born Susan Meredith Landau). Bain is Jewish. She has contributed to many charitable causes, including literacy.

When asked about watching the development of her daughter's acting career, Bain told Attention Deficit Delirium: "I think it's wonderful. She wants it, she's very good at it, so she should do it. She's very gifted. I've seen her in the theater, and we've been on stage together. We did a play in Los Angeles together. It was gorgeous because I was in the wings and could watch her, and she could be in the wings and watch me. I handed her a handkerchief at the end of her big crying scene. I've never been nervous about her because she knows what she's doing, so I'm very calm when I watch her and very excited to see what she's doing. I don't take pride because it doesn't seem like anything that I did. It seems more exquisite pleasure, but not pride. I didn't do anything, she did it. In kindergarten she said she wanted to be a singer or dancer or actress. She does sing and did dance. She didn't mess around. She went right after what she was going to do."

TV and Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	Harbormaster	Mary Owens	Episode: "The Captain's Gun"
1959	Mike Hammer	Dora Church	Episode: "Accentuate the Negative"
1959	Philip Marlowe	Donna Raymond	Episode: "Ugly Duckling" (pilot)
1959	State Trooper	Madge Slausen	Episode: "Fiddle Dee Dead"
1959	Richard Diamond, Private Detective	Karen Wells	5 episodes
1959	Mr. Lucky	Prudence	Episode: "The Money Game"
1959	Alcoa Theatre	Judy Coyne	Episode: "Small Bouquet"
1959	Tightrope	Sandra	Episode: "Cold Kill"
1960	The Law and Mr. Jones	D.J.	Episode: "Christmas Is a Legal Holiday"
1960	Perry Mason	Madelyn Terry	Episode: "The Case of Wary Wildcatter"
1960-1961	Adventures in Paradise	Martha Peterson	2 episodes
1962	Straightaway	Melody	Episode: "The Craziest Race in Town"
1963	The Dick Van Dyke Show	Dorothy	Episode: "Will You Two Be My Wife?"
1963	Hawaiian Eye	Anne Munroe	Episode: "Two Million Too Much"
1963	Empire	June Bates	Episode: "Hidden Asset"
1963	The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis	Veronica	Episode: "I Was a Spy for the F.O.B."
1963	The Lieutenant	Cissie Van Osten	Episode: "A Touching of Hands"
1963	77 Sunset Strip	Rachel Dent	Episode: "By His Own Verdict"
1963	Wagon Train	Lucy Garrison	Episode: "The Fenton Canaby Story"
1964	The Greatest Show on Earth	Betty	Episode: "The Night the Monkey Died"
1964	Ben Casey	Tutor	Episode: "A Woods Full of Question Marks"
1964	Perry Mason	Elayna Scott	Episode: "The Case of Nautical Knot"
1964	Valentine's Day	Unknown	Episode: "The Old School Tie"
1965	Get Smart	Alma	Episode: "KAOS in CONTROL"
1966-1969	Mission: Impossible	Cinnamon Carter	78 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama
1969	The Red Skelton Show	Newspaperwoman	Episode: "Crime Doesn't Pay But It's Tax Free"
1973	Savage!	Gail Abbot	TV movie
1975-1977	Space: 1999	Dr. Helena Russell	47 episodes
1984	The New Mike Hammer	Julia Huntley	Episode: "A Death in the Family"
1985	Moonlighting	Emily Greydon	Episode: "My Fair David"
1987	Scarecrow and Mrs. King	Christina Golitsyn	Episode: "The Khrushchev List"
1987	CBS Summer Playhouse	Julie Barrington	Episode: "Barrington"
1988	Murder, She Wrote	Nora Morgan	Episode: "Coal Miner's Daughter"
1989	Skinheads	Martha
1990	The Spirit of '76	Hipster
1991	Murder, She Wrote	Ellen Lombard	Episode: "Unauthorized Obituary"
1992	Likely Suspects	Buffy Hines-Baldi	Episode: "Pilot"
1994	My So-Called Life	Vivian Wood	Episode: "Other People's Mothers"
1997	The Visitor	Constance MacArthur	Episode: "Reunion"
1997	Diagnosis: Murder	Cinnamon Carter	Episode: "Discards"
1998	Walker, Texas Ranger	Mother Superior	Episode: "Saving Grace"
1999	Millennium	Lilly Unser	Episode: "Matryoshka"
1999	Gideon	Sarah
2000	Panic	Deidre
2002	American Gun	Anne Tillman
2003	Strong Medicine	Mrs. March	Episode: "Orders"
2003	Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales	Judy Utemeyer	TV movie
2006	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Mrs. Iris Paul	Episode: "Living Legend"
2008	Ben 10: Alien Force	Verdona	Episode: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
2009	Forget Me Not	Sister Dolores
2010	Nothing Special	Catherine
2015	Silver Skies	Eve

[ Source: Wikipedia ]