A popular character actress, mostly on TV shows, for over 30 years, Rhue discovered she had multiple sclerosis in 1977. Rather than give in to the disease, Rhue kept acting, first by hiding her condition. “I was telling people I had a car accident,” she once said, or an “arthritic hip.” By the time she had to rely on a wheelchair, acting jobs had dried up.
“It became apparent that I would have to invent a giant accident to explain the wheelchair or start telling the truth,” so she did. After getting her first job from her wheelchair, she took out a full-page ad in Variety with the headline, “See the new Madlyn Rhue.” The producer of her comeback role said the work offer was “not charity, believe me. The primary thing is that she’s the right actress for the right part.” She died December 16 from pneumonia. She was 68.