Early work and stage career '' (1960), L–R:
George Tobias, Newmar, and
Gardner McKay with guest star Newmar in
Route 66 (1962) in
My Living Doll (1964) Newmar appeared in bit parts and uncredited roles in films as a dancer, including a part as the "dancer-assassin" in
Slaves of Babylon (1953) Her first major role, billed as Julie Newmeyer, was as Dorcas, one of the brides in
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). She was also the female lead in a low-budget comedy,
The Rookie (1959). Newmar made her Broadway debut in 1955 as Vera in
Silk Stockings, starring
Hildegarde Neff and
Don Ameche. In the following year she created the role of Stupefyin' Jones (a three-minute cameo) in the
Broadway production of ''
Li'l Abner. She stayed with the production for its entire run from November 1956 through July 1958, and also appeared in the film version, released in 1959. A few months later, The Marriage-Go-Round opened on Broadway, with Newmar in the role of Swedish vixen Katrin Sveg, for which Newmar won the 1959 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She later re-created this role for the 1961 film adaptation, starring James Mason and Susan Hayward. In 1961, she appeared in the Sam Spewack play Once There Was a Russian
, which lasted only one performance. She later starred opposite Joel Grey in the national tour of Stop the World – I Want to Get Off, staying with the tour from March to October 1963. In 1973, Newmar was slated to return to Broadway in the David Rabe play Boom Boom Room'', opening on November 8, 1973, at the
Vivian Beaumont Theater at
Lincoln Center. Director
Julie Bovasso fired Newmar during rehearsals, and she was replaced by her understudy,
Mary Woronov. Bovasso was then replaced as director during previews.
Television work (1966) Newmar's fame stems mainly from her television appearances. Her statuesque form and height made her a larger-than-life sex symbol, most often cast as a temptress or Amazonian beauty, including an early appearance in a sexy maid costume in
The Phil Silvers Show. She starred as Rhoda the Robot in the television series
My Living Doll (1964–1965), and is known for her recurring role in the 1960s television series
Batman as the villainess Catwoman. (
Lee Meriwether played Catwoman in the
1966 feature film because Newmar was unaware that a film was going to be made, and had already signed onto an adaptation of
Monsieur Lecoq that was never made; so
Eartha Kitt portrayed Catwoman in the series' final season. For the final season, Newmar was busy making the film ''
Mackenna's Gold'', shot during the filming of the final season, but not released until 1969.) Newmar modified her Catwoman costume—now in the
Smithsonian Institution—and placed the belt at the hips instead of the waist to emphasize her
hourglass figure. In 1962, Newmar appeared twice as the motorcycle-riding, free-spirited heiress Vicki Russell in
Route 66, filmed in
Tucson ("How Much a Pound Is Albatross") and in
Tennessee ("Give the Old Cat a Tender Mouse"). She guest-starred in
The Twilight Zone as the devil in "
Of Late I Think of Cliffordville",
F Troop ("Yellow Bird" in 1966) as a girl kidnapped as a child and raised by Native Americans,
Bewitched ("The Eight-Year Itch Witch" in 1971) as a cat named Ophelia given human form,
The Beverly Hillbillies as a Swedish actress who stays with the Clampetts to learn their accents and mannerisms for a role, and
Get Smart as a double agent, posing as a maid, assigned to Maxwell Smart's apartment. In 1967, she guest-starred as April Conquest in an episode of
The Monkees ("Monkees Get Out More Dirt", season one, episode 29), in which the main characters all fall in love with her, and played the pregnant Capellan princess, Eleen, in the
Star Trek episode "
Friday's Child". In 1969, she played a hit woman in the
It Takes a Thief episode "The Funeral is on Mundy" with
Robert Wagner. In 1983, she reprised the hit-woman role in
Hart to Hart, Wagner's later television series, in the episode "A Change of Hart". In the 1970s, she had guest roles in
Columbo and
The Bionic Woman.
Later roles Newmar appeared in several low-budget films during the next two decades. She guest-starred on TV, appearing in
The Love Boat,
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,
CHiPs, and
Fantasy Island. She was featured in the music video for
George Michael's "
Too Funky" in 1992. She appeared as herself in the 1995 film
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar and a 1996 episode of
Melrose Place. , 2014 In 2003, Newmar appeared as herself in the television movie
Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt alongside former
Batman co-stars
Adam West,
Burt Ward,
Frank Gorshin, and
Lee Meriwether. Julia Rose played Newmar in flashbacks to the production of the television series. However, due to longstanding rights issues over footage from the
Batman TV series, only footage of Meriwether taken from the feature film was allowed to be used in the television movie. In 2016, she provided the voice of Catwoman in the animated film
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. In 2017, she reprised her role in the animated sequel
Batman vs. Two-Face. Newmar also appeared on
The Home and Family Show in May 2016, where she met
Gotham actress
Camren Bicondova who portrays a younger Selina Kyle. In 2019, Newmar played the role of Dr.
Julia Hoffman (replacing the late
Grayson Hall) in the audio drama miniseries
Dark Shadows: Bloodline. ==Inventor and entrepreneur==