Flint Portraits: Nancy Kovack

What does the Vehicle City have to do with Jason and the Argonauts, the awkwardly animated film that once seemed so cool and cutting edge?

Note: This post has been updated to correct two errors.

Actress Nancy Kovack, of course.

"On March 11, 1935 1936, Nancy was born in Flint, Michigan. Yes, the same Flint, Michigan, made popular by another prominent child of the city, Michael Moore, in his film documentaries," cultsirens.com breathlessly explains. "Our girl was a brainy student type, as it was reported that she enrolled at the University of Michigan at age 15 to eventually graduate around 19! She took the time to be a radio deejay and to win a lot of beauty contest titles (at least eight) by the age of 20."

And what's Flint's best-known actress doing these days? How does a bombshell who's worked with Dean Martin and Alfred Hitchcock pass the time? She lives quietly with her family in a modest house off East Court in Flint. She enjoys the Farmer's Market on Saturdays, and she's been sighted at the White Horse Tavern on occasion.

Just kidding.

"Another big honor came her way when she said ‘yes’ to a marriage proposal coming from famed orchestra conductor Zubin Mehta," according to cultsirens.com. "They were united on July 19, 1969. She subsequently popped up a couple of times on TV, credited as Nancy Mehta, and was last seen on a Bronk episode in 1976. The couple had two children. Mehta became the music director for the New York Philharmonic. And Nancy preferred to dedicate herself to family life. Of course, Mehta eventually worked with Pavarotti and Domingo. In 1998 the couple moved to Germany, where hubby became Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera. Also, Nancy lost some money to Susan McDougal, a player in the Whitewater scandal. By her own admission, Nancy Kovack refused to play the Hollywood game, be it casting couch or swingers scene, despite playing seductive and/or sexy roles. She never became a major movie star and this suited her fine."