Constance Towers, a stunning blonde singer and actress, was born on May 20, 1933, in Montana, and christened Constance Mary Towers. She began her career as a child singer on radio and later studied at the Juilliard School of Music and the American Academy of the Dramatic Arts.
Towers initially pursued a career in opera, but a chance casting in a summer production of "Carousel" led her to musical theater. She then appeared in films, co-starring with Frankie Laine in the movie musical "Bring Your Smile Along" (1955),and in strong ingénue roles in "The Horse Soldiers" (1959) and "Sergeant Rutledge" (1960).
In the early 1960s, she worked with director Samuel Fuller in his offbeat dramas, playing a stripper girlfriend in "Shock Corridor" (1963) and a former prostitute trying to clean up her act in "The Naked Kiss" (1964). She also made frequent TV guest appearances, including on "The Bob Cummings Show," "The Outer Limits," and "Perry Mason."
Towers made her Broadway debut in the title role of "Anya" (1965) and went on to star in "Carousel" (1966),"The Sound of Music" (1967),and "The King and I" (1967),opposite Yul Brynner. She won the Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance as Maria in "The Sound of Music."
She continued to work in TV, starring in the musical "Ari" and appearing in dramas such as "General Hospital" (1963),where she played the wicked Helena Cassadine. She also appeared in films, including "The Next Karate Kid" (1994),"The Relic" (1997),and "A Perfect Murder" (1998).
Towers received an Emmy nomination for her role in the single episode drama special "Once in Her Life" (1974) and has continued to work in TV and film, including appearances on "Criminal Minds," "The 4400," and "Cold Case."
In her personal life, Towers was married to John Gavin, a former Mexican ambassador, from 1974 until his death in 2018. She has four children, Cristina and Maria Gavin, and Michael and Maureen McGrath, from her prior marriage to Panamanian businessman Eugene McGrath.
