1950s Meriwether was a "Today Girl" on NBC's
The Today Show from 1955 to 1956. She made her professional acting debut on December 26, 1954 in the "Run, Girl, Run" episode on
Television Playhouse. Her
feature-film debut came in 1959 as Linda Davis in
4D Man, starring
Robert Lansing. She appears in
The Phil Silvers Show episode, "Cyrano de Bilko". '' (1955)
1960s In 1961, Meriwether guest-starred once as Gloria in the episode "Buddy and the Amazon" on her first husband's (
Frank Aletter) one-season
CBS sitcom,
Bringing Up Buddy. She also appeared in
Leave It To Beaver episode "Community Chest" in season four. In 1962, she was cast as Martha Elweiss in the episode "My Child Is Yet a Stranger" on the CBS
anthology series,
The Lloyd Bridges Show. She played Nurse Dickens in a 1962 episode of the
ABC sitcom, ''
I'm Dickens, He's Fenster. From 1963 to 1965, she was cast in different roles in eight episodes of the NBC medical drama, Dr. Kildare. In 1964, she played the character Jeanelle in "This Is Going to Hurt Me More Than It Hurts You" on the CBS adventure series, Route 66. In 1965, she appeared in an episode on The Jack Benny Program as the Secretary. In a 1965 episode of 12 O'Clock High, "Mutiny at Ten Thousand Feet", she played Lieutenant Amy Patterson, and in the episodes "The Idolator" (also 1965) and "The Outsider" (1966), she played Captain Phyllis Vincent. She also guest-starred in the season-two episode "Big Brother". She was a regular on the single season, science-fiction, television series The Time Tunnel'' with
James Darren and
Robert Colbert in 1966–1967. '' (1966) , who originated the role in the television series. Meriwether appeared as Dr. Egret on the NBC series,
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Mad, Mad Tea Party", 1965) and in an episode of
Hazel ("How to Lose 30 Pounds in 30 Minutes", also 1965) she played Miss Wilson, the owner of an exercise studio. Meriwether portrayed
Catwoman for the
Batman movie (1966), and also appeared in two episodes of the
Batman TV series in 1967 as Lisa Carson, a love interest to Bruce Wayne in the episodes "King Tut's Coup" and "Batman's Waterloo". In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she had guest-starring roles in numerous TV series, including
The Fugitive,
Mannix,
Star Trek episode "
That Which Survives" (1969),
Perry Mason episodes #245 "The Case of the Cheating Chancellor" and "The Case of the Frustrated Folksinger" (both 1965), and the
F Troop episode "O'Rourke vs. O'Reilly". In films, Meriwether joined
John Wayne and
Rock Hudson for
The Undefeated, and Andy Griffith in
Angel in My Pocket (both 1969). In the same year as those two films, she played IMF spy Tracey in six
Mission: Impossible episodes during season four after
Barbara Bain's departure.
1970s : the movie
Angel in My Pocket (1968) and the short-lived sitcom
The New Andy Griffith Show (1971). Meriwether began her award-nominated role as secretary and daughter-in-law Betty Jones in the 1973–1980 CBS series
Barnaby Jones, opposite
Buddy Ebsen. During the series' eight-year run, she enjoyed an on- and off-screen chemistry with the elder Ebsen. After 26 years, Fickett wanted to go into semiretirement as a recurring cast member. Negotiations with the network broke down and Meriwether was cast as Ruth Martin. In 1998, ABC deemed that they were at an impasse with Meriwether's agents and Mary Fickett was brought back as a recurring cast member. Fickett retired again, this time for good in December 2000. ABC decided to bring back the character of Ruth Martin in 2002, but Fickett remained in retirement. Meriwether was hence brought back and remained a featured recurring performer on the show until it ended.
2000s In 2002, she appeared in the documentary film
Miss America. In 2003, Meriwether appeared in the TV-Movie
Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt. She also appeared
off-Broadway in the interactive comedy, ''Grandma Sylvia's Funeral
. She voiced Big Mama in the video game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'' for the
PlayStation 3. She also appears in one of the game's opening videos as a talkshow host having an interview with
David Hayter, who voices
Solid Snake in the game. In 2006, she joined
James Garner,
Abigail Breslin,
Bill Cobbs, and others in
The Ultimate Gift. In 2008, Meriwether had a brief cameo as comic-book character Battle Diva in the episode "Harper Knows" of the
Disney Channel original series
Wizards of Waverly Place. In 2010, she was once again reunited on screen with Hollywood veteran Bill Cobbs in
No Limit Kids: Much Ado About Middle School. She voices President Winters in the video game
Vanquish by PlatinumGames.
2010s Meriwether continued to work on stage, television, game voice-overs, and feature films. She has made guest appearances on
Desperate Housewives,
Hawaii Five-0,
The League, and ''
Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23. Most recently, she revisited her role as Miss Hastings in the sequel/prequel to The Ultimate Gift
, The Ultimate Life
(2013), directed by Michael Landon Jr. She is also starring in the short film Kitty''. She made appearances at
Comic Cons, where she spoke about her roles in
Batman,
Star Trek, and
Time Tunnel. ==Personal life==