Life and career

Sommars was born as Juliana Edith Sommars in Fremont, Nebraska, but raised in Iowa and South Dakota. She resides in Los Angeles with her fourth husband, John Karns. She has three children, from her third marriage

Television

Sommars is best known for her work on television. She made her television debut In 1960, at the age of nineteen, in an episode of The Loretta Young Show. She later appeared in Gunsmoke, Shirley Temple's Storybook, The Great Adventure, Bonanza, Perry Mason, Ben Casey, Death Valley Days, The Fugitive, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart, and Love, American Style.

From 1969-70, Sommars starred as Jennifer Jo "J.J." Drinkwater, the daughter of Dan Dailey's the "Governor" in the CBS comedy series, The Governor & J.J.. In 1970, she won Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy for her performance on show. The series was canceled after two seasons.

After The Governor & J.J., Sommars played the leading roles in a number of made for television movies, and starred in several pilots. She guest starred on The Rockford Files, McCloud, McMillan, Barnaby Jones, Fantasy Island, Magnum, P.I., and Diagnosis: Murder. In 1984, she was regular cast member in the short-lived syndicated soap opera, Rituals. From 1987 to 1994, Sommars played assistant District Attorney Julie March on the ABC legal series, Matlock. This role also garnered her a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television in 1990.

Film

During her career, Sommars has appeared in four movies. She played the female lead in the 1965 Columbia Pictures' western The Great Sioux Massacre opposite Joseph Cotten. The following year, she starred with Brian Bedford in the comedy film, The Pad and How to Use It. In 1977, Sommars co-starred opposite Dean Jones and Don Knotts as the beautiful but assertive young race car driver Diane Darcy in Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo.

Filmography

• Letter to Loretta as Laury Barlow (1 episode, 1960)
• Sea Hunt as Betty Crane (1 episode, 1960)
• Shirley Temple's Storybook as Princess Mary (1 episode, 1960)
• Holiday Lodge as Cecilia (1 episode, 1961)
• The Tall Man as Anna Henry (1 episode, 1961)
• Outlaws as Ellie (1 episode, 1961)
• The Great Adventure as Meg Jethro (1 episode, 1964)
• Memo from Purgatory (1964)
• Bonanza - Episode - The Roper - Emma Hewitt (1964)
• Sex and the College Girl (1964) as Susan
• The Great Sioux Massacre (1965) as Caroline Reno
• Slattery's People as Electra Walton (1 episode, 1965)
• Flipper as Tina's Mother (1 episode, 1965)
• Perry Mason as Helen Kendall (1 episode, 1965)
• Mr. Novak as Ellen Cable (1 episode, 1965)
• Ben Casey as Ruth Ann Carmody (1 episode, 1965)
• The Great Sioux Massacre (1965) as Caroline Reno
• Death Valley Days as Tulie in "Peter the Hunter" and as Sister Blandina Segale in "The Fastest Nun in the West" (2 episodes, 1964, 1966)
• Gunsmoke as Bess Campbell (4 episodes, 1964-1966)
• Gunsmoke as Sara Stone (1 episode, 1966)
• The Pad and How to Use It (1966) as Doreen Marshall
• Run Buddy Run as Betsy Jensen (1 episode, 1966)
• Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre as Maggie Lake (1 episode, 1966)
• The Fugitive as Carla Karac (2 episodes, 1965-1966)
• My Husband Tom...and John unaired pilot film (1966)
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as Darlene Sims (2 episodes, 1965-1967)
• The Invaders as Grace Vincent (1 episode, 1967)
• Dundee and the Culhane" .... Lela (1 episode, 1967)
• Get Smart as Mimsi Sage (1 episode, 1968)
• European Eye (1968) as Molly
• Felony Squad as Ellen Willis (2 episodes, 1968)
• Judd for the Defense as Trish Overbaugh (1 episode, 1968)
• The Name of the Game as Barbara Ellis (1 episode, 1968)
• The Virginian as Martha Carson (1 episode, 1968)
• The F.B.I. as Betty Caldwell (3 episodes, 1967-1969)
• Lancer as Catha Cameron (1 episode, 1969)
• The Governor & J.J. as Jennifer Jo Drinkwater (39 episodes, 1969-1970)
• Five Desperate Women (1971) as Mary Grace Brown
• The Harness (1971) as Jennifer Shagaras
• How to Steal an Airplane (1971) as Dorothy
• McCloud - Episode - Somebody's Out To Get Jennie - Jennie (1971)
• Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law as Jill Peniman (1 episode, 1972)
• Rex Harrison Presents Stories of Love (1974) as Patricia
• Thriller as Ann Rogers (1 episode, 1974)
• Fools, Females and Fun (1974) as Alice Shoemaker
• Harry O as Gertrude Blainey (1 episode, 1974)
• The Rockford Files - Episode - The Kirkoff Case - Tawnia Baker (1974)
• McCloud - Episode - The 42nd Street Cavalry - Police Sgt. Mildred Cross (1974)
• Barnaby Jones - Episode - Dark Homecoming - Ruby Deems (1974)
• Switch as Lane Cameron (1 episode, 1975)
• The Family Holvak as Kate Gifford (1 episode, 1975)
• Three for the Road as Amy Parsons (1 episode, 1975)
• Ellery Queen - Episode - The Adventures Of The Mad Tea Party - Emmy Reinhart (1975)
• Bronk as Sara (1 episode, 1976)
• Jigsaw John as Carol Chapman (1 episode, 1976)
• McMillan (formally McMillan and Wife) - Episode - Coffee, Tea, or Cyanide? - Carol Hanover (1977)
• Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) as Diane Darcy
• Fantasy Island - Episode - Vampire/The Lady and The Longhorn - Carmen Drake (1978)
• Centennial as Alice Grebe (1 episode, 1979)
• Sex and the Single Parent (1979) as Bonnie
• Barnaby Jones - Episode - Design For Madness - Amy Cameron (1979)
• Beyond Westworld as Liz Nicholson (1 episode, 1980)
• Fantasy Island - Episode - My Fair Pharaoh/The Power - Laura Crane (1980)
• Magnum, P.I. - Episode - Texas Lightning - Jennie 'JL' Lowry/Texas Lightning (1982)
• Cave-In! (1983) as Liz Johnson
• Emergency Room (1983) as Nina Cole
• Partners in Crime as Nola (1 episode, 1984)
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin (1991) as Betty Farmer
• Matlock as A.D.A. Julie March (94 episodes, 1987-1992)
• Diagnosis Murder - Episode - The Plague - Regina Baylor (1994)
• Matlock - Episode - The Confession - Julie March (1994)

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[ Source: Wikipedia ]