Anna Lisa plays Ruth, The White Buffalo Woman to the Indians who has magical powers of healing.
As a child, she took parts in the children’s theater her brother ran and this gave her the inspiration to act. In her early 20‘s, she came to the United States as an au pair for a family in California and while there, visited the local theaters and took acting lessons. Acting in a small local production, Anna Lisa was discovered by a local talent agent in 1958, who cast her in an episode of Sugarfoot. Since the show was produced by Warner Brothers who also produced Bronco, Maverick and Cheyenne, Anna Lisa was eventually cast in episodes in all the shows. This was the time of the “Adult Western,” no singing cowboys such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers and the plots were adult oriented with topics of gambling, murder and saloons (as well as saloon girls!)
Her big break, as far as being well-known, was when she landed a part in a western called Black Saddle and co-starred with Peter Breck and Russell Johnson. She was cast as the character, Mary Travers. Travers owned the Marathon Hotel where Peter Breck’s character, a lawyer, was situated. The show ran for 44 episodes, from 1959-1960, and although it started on NBC, it ended on ABC.
Columbia Pictures was impressed with her and cast her in two films, neither of which did anything to help her career. They were both science fiction B-pictures: Have Rocket, Will Travel with the Three Stooges and 12 to the Moon.
Anna Lisa also appeared in two other Warner Brothers television shows in 1960, Surfside Six and 77 Sunset Strip. She also became well-know for appearing as Helga Galen in Ben Gazzara’s short-lived televsion show, Run for your Life in the 60’s.
Among the other shows in which Anna-Lisa appeared were Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Westinghouse Playhouse, The Millionaire, Laramie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Death Valley Days, Man from Uncle, That Girl and Ben Casey.
In later years, she toured the US in stage productions working with Bob Cummings, Victor Buono, John Carradine, Constance Bennett and Joan Fontaine.
In 1974, Anna-Lisa returned to Oslo, Norway and at semi-retirement in 1995, she was employed at the Oslo Century Theater. At the time of this writing, she is alive and in retirement in Oslo.
From Have Rocket, Will Travel
Promo shot for Black Saddle.
With one co-star, Peter Breck.
Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0030241/bio
http://www.lawzone.com/half-nor/anna-lisa.htm
http://blacksaddlewesterntv.com/contact-me.htm