`The Green Girl’ and TV spy shows

Susan Oliver in The Cage, the first Star Trek pilot

The Green Girl, a documentary on the life of actress Susan Oliver (1932-1990) is nearing completion. If the name isn’t familiar, her image — seen frequently during classic TV spy shows — may be.

Oliver appeared in episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (The Bow-Wow Affair), I Spy (One Thousand Fine) and The Wild, Wild West (The Night Dr. Loveless Died).

But Oliver much more than one genre. Her versatility caused her to be cast in dramas, comedies and crime shows. The title of the documentary comes from Oliver’s part in The Cage, the first pilot for Star Trek in which Captain Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) falls in love with a woman who is the pawn of a race with greater mental powers than humans. At one point in the story, Oliver’s character appears as part of a green-skinned race whose women are irresistible to men.

Oliver was also an accomplished pilot and a director. She had the potential to be a big star. Oliver fell short but had a long career as a guest star on U.S. television shows. This unusual life spurred efforts to create The Green Girl documentary.

The makers of the documentary want to release the film in Feburary. They have launched a fund raising effort to secure $10,000, $5,000 for color correction and $5,000 for insurance. As of the night of Nov. 12, $5.570 had been collected, with 18 days to go.

We’ll see if that effort is successful. What follows is a trailer followed by a Susan Oliver gallery.

Susan Oliver as a junkie on The FBI

Susan Oliver and David McCallum in The Bow-Wow Affair

Michael Dunn and Susan Oliver in The Wild, Wild West