Early TV’s Virginia Hewitt Dies; Member of ‘Space Patrol’ Crew

Virginia Hewitt, unarguably the most attractive occupant of Commander Buzz Corey’s spaceship Terra when “Space Patrol” reigned supreme in the small galaxy that was television in the 1950s, died Monday of cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Miss Hewitt, who later became the wife of Viennese architect Ernst Meer and with him designed custom chandeliers for the homes and playgrounds of many of her fellow actors, was 58.

She came to Los Angeles with her sister after attending schools in Louisiana and Missouri and was working as a model when a bit part in the film “My Dear Secretary” in 1948 brought her to the attention of producer Mike Moser, who was about to bring a space adventure to the small screen.

Miss Hewitt became Carol Karlyle, daughter of the Secretary General of the United Planets who, when she wasn’t helping Corey (portrayed by World War II flier Ed Kemmer) battle an assortment of evil-doers in the 30th Century, was trying to lure him into matrimony.

The show (“high adventure in the wild vast regions of space,” trumpeted the announcer) ran from 1951 until 1955 on ABC, mostly on weekend afternoons.

In 1954 she married Meer, a noted designer, and abandoned her acting career.

The two then began to design some of the better-known chandeliers around town, including the spectacular one in the Cecil B. DeMille Room at the old Hollywood Brown Derby. They later divorced.

She leaves her sister and a brother. At her request, there will be no funeral.