Her father a trumpeter with bands such as Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman, and her mother was a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer. Judy studied ballet, music, and acting, won a "Miss Stardust" beauty contest in 1949, danced with the Copacabana chorus line. and was making bit appearances on television while still in high school. At age 17, she landed the part of Princess Summerfall Winterspring on the Puppet Playhouse (1947) children's TV show, where she stayed for two years before resigning. She returned to stage work and was "rediscovered" in a play in 1956, "Pipe Dream", which landed her on the cover of "Life" magazine. She made two films, the last as Elvis Presley's co-star, Le rock du bagne (1957). Three weeks after shooting completed, she and her second husband were driving home from Los Angeles to New York when he swerved to avoid hitting a truck and collided with another vehicle; she was dead at the scene, and he died the following morning of the injuries he sustained. Buried in Hartsdale, New York. No children by either marriage.
