Carol Ohmart

Early years

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, into a Mormon family her father was C. Thomas Ohmart, a dentist who was first a professional actor, and Armelia Ohmart. She attended East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, Washington.

Ohmart won the Miss Utah 1946 title at the age of 19 (an Associated Press news story published September 6, 1945, says that Ohmart won the title when she was 17). She then won fourth place in the Miss America pageant.

In 1947, Ohmart became a model for the character "Copper Calhoun" in Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon comic strip.

Singing

At age 12, Ohmart was a singer on KFRC in San Francisco, California. She also sang on KSL, KUTA and KDYL in her hometown of Salt Lake City. Additionally, she sang with dance bands, including that of Jan Garber.

Television

Ohmart was seen on early television doing commercials, appearing on NBC's Bonny Maid Versatile Varieties (1949–51), which aired Friday nights at 9 p.m. Ohmart was seen pitching floor wax along with Anne Francis and Eva Marie Saint, with the trio also hosting the show. She also worked on The 20th Century Fox Hour.

Ohmart moved to New York in 1955 where she worked as an understudy on Broadway.

Ohmart had steady work in television until the early 1970s, with guest roles in Bat Masterson, Ripcord, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Get Smart, Perry Mason and Barnaby Jones.

Film

Dubbed a "female Brando" by the press, Paramount Pictures signed her in 1955 and promoted her as the next Marilyn Monroe. Ohmart had top billing in The Scarlet Hour, a Paramount film made by the distinguished director Michael Curtiz about a married woman who persuades her lover to commit a jewelry robbery. After nearly $2 million was spent promoting her, Ohmart was released from her contract. She co-starred with Anthony Quinn in a 1956 crime drama, The Wild Party.

After marrying Wayde Preston, she briefly retired from acting, only to return a year later, starring in numerous films and television series. Producer Jack Warner offered her a supporting role in Born Reckless (1958); although she did not like the script, she accepted the role out of gratitude. One of her most noted roles was in William Castle's House on Haunted Hill (1959), playing the murder-plotting wife of Vincent Price's character. She later starred in Spider Baby; according to director Jack Hill, Ohmart was enthusiastic about the project, asking, "Do you think we can win an Academy Award for this?" Her last film role was in 1974 with The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe.

Later years

After her acting career, Ohmart left Hollywood to study metaphysics.

Personal life

Ohmart married three times, most notably to actor Wade Preston. They wed in 1956 and were divorced in 1958.

Her first marriage, in 1949, was to actor Ken Grayson; it was annulled in 1951.

In 1978, she married William Traberth, a veteran and former firefighter, and retired in Sequim, Washington. She changed her name to Kariomar S. Traberth and left her fame in the past.

Death

Ohmart died in Fort Collins, Colorado on January 1, 2002 of natural causes. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered over Carter Lake in Loveland, Colorado. Her husband died on February 21, 2005 in Lake City, Florida.