Memorable Karen Valentine TV and Movie Moments (PHOTOS)

Karen Valentine, June 20, 1970. ph: Hamilton Millard / TV Guide / courtesy Everett Collection — Credit: Hamilton Millard / TV Guide / Everett Collection

The first time I remember seeing Karen Valentine was on Friday nights — at least that’s how I remember it. She was on a couple of different ABC television shows, neither of which was approved viewing in my home. The old man wasn’t a big fan of any of the shows that came on after The Brady Bunch, but sometimes, when he wasn’t paying attention, my sister Valerie and I could sneak in an episode or two.

The shows I’m talking about, where I first noticed the pretty and very funny Karen Valentine, were Love, American Style and Room 222. Room 222 was the show that seemed to get my dad riled up the most. He didn’t appreciate that the show tried to be very topical and cover many of the controversial issues of the day. More often than not, the channel would get changed, and Karen, just like that, would disappear from the screen of my family’s one and only TV set.

ROOM 222, Karen Valentine, Lloyd Haynes, Denise Nicholas, Michael Constantine, 1969-1974. photo: Ivan Nagy/TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection

Karen Valentine, Lloyd Haynes, Denise Nicholas and Michael Constantine. Credit: Ivan Nagy/TV Guide/Everett Collection

In Room 222, Karen played student teacher Alice Johnson. The show ran from 1969 to 1974 and earned Karen an Emmy Award for her work. Between this show and her prior work on Love, American Style, Karen was well on her way to becoming a household name.

ABC/Everett Collection

When Room 222 was canceled after four seasons, Karen was given her own starring vehicle the following year, simply titled Karen. This was the first time Karen wasn’t part of an ensemble cast, and clearly, the weight of carrying a show on her own was tremendous.

When that show made its debut in 1975, Karen told columnist Marilyn Beck, “The person that you see in Karen is the person that I’ve become. She’s patterned after me.”

KAREN, Karen Valentine, March, 1971, on-set. ph: Tim Thimmes / TV Guide / courtesy Everett Collection

Karen Valentine in ‘Karen.’ Credit: Tim Thimmes / TV Guide / Everett Collection

I only have vague memories of Karen. It wasn’t on TV for very long. It ran for 13 episodes in all, and then it was gone. It is memorable only because it was so short-lived, as expectations had been so high.

Karen did not, however, let the failure of that show keep her down. Fortunately, she had a very quick wit and found herself as a semi-regular on Hollywood Squares. She and the middle square, the always wonderful Paul Lynde, really seemed to enjoy working together, trading barbs as well as finishing each other’s quips. They had true chemistry, and the show was always fun to watch when the two of them were on.

THE HOLLYWOOD SQUARES, from left: Roy Rogers, Karen Valentine, Marty Allen, Nanette Fabray in costume of 'Storybook Squares,' 1976 episode, 1966-1980

Roy Rogers, Karen Valentine, Marty Allen and Nanette Fabray in ‘Storybook Squares,’ 1976. Credit: Everett Collection

In 1976, Karen was in the very first Love Boat TV movie. This was not the iconic Love Boat that we all came to know and love; there was a completely different crew in that first movie, but it was still a lot of fun. Over the years, Karen would return to the Pacific Princess multiple times. She also found work on another Aaron Spelling vehicle, Fantasy Island, even before it became a series. Karen starred in the first two TV movies as the same character, Janet Fleming.

RETURN TO FANTASY ISLAND, Horst Buchholz, Karen Valentine, 1978

Horst Buchholz and Karen Valentine in 1978’s ‘Return to Fantasy Island.’ Credit: Everett Collection

Between Love Boat and Fantasy Island, it felt like I was seeing Karen multiple times a year. With some actors, this may have felt like too much, but not so with Karen. She had a way of connecting with her audience. It never felt like she was phoning in a performance, even when the role was episodic television from the house of Spelling.

LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE, John Davidson, Karen Valentine, Michael Burns, 'Love And The Scroungers', (Season 3, Episode 19, aired February 4, 1972), 1969-74

John Davidson, Karen Valentine and Michael Burns in ‘Love, American Style’ (Season 3). Credit: Everett Collection

Over the years, Karen did a bunch of TV movies, but one of my favorites was Go West, Young Girl, where she co-starred with Sandra Dee and Stuart Whitman. This movie really felt like it might have been a pilot for a TV series. In it, Karen plays a female New England reporter who travels out west and finds herself teamed up with the widow of a cavalry officer as they hunt for the legendary Billy the Kid.

Karen must have really enjoyed being in a Western because her next feature film was the Disney semi-classic Hot Lead and Cold Feet. I say semi-classic because the late seventies weren’t the best of times for Walt’s movie studio. After Hot Lead and Cold Feet, Karen signed with Disney to make another film titled The North Avenue Irregulars. I know this movie has its fans; that said, I can’t claim to be one of them.

Michael Sharrett, Karen Valentine, Debbie Lytton and Jim Dale in 1978’s ‘Hot Lead and Cold Feet.’ Credit: © Buena Vista/Everett Collection

After that, Karen rightfully returned to the smaller screen, where she appeared in far too many TV shows to call them all out. Memorable performances that stand out to me were in shows like The Twilight Zone (the new version from the eighties) and Murder, She Wrote. Yes, Murder, She Wrote! While my father detested Room 222, he couldn’t get enough of Jessica Fletcher, and as such, I remember Karen’s 1988 appearance on that show very well. It just goes to show that, if you give it enough time, life has a funny way of coming full circle.

Karen Valentine celebrated her 78th birthday on May 25th.