Rhue was born in Washington, D.C., graduated from Los Angeles High School, and studied drama at Los Angeles City College. Rhue's professional name was an adaptation of the title of the film 13 Rue Madeleine. She debuted in show business at age 17 as a dancer at the Copacabana night club in New York City. From the 1950s to the 1990s, Rhue appeared in some 20 films, including Operation Petticoat, The Ladies Man, A Majority of One, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Kenner, and Stand Up and Be Counted. She also was a guest star in dozens of television series. Rhue played the spouse of another character portrayed by Montalbán in a 1960 episode of Bonanza, "Day of Reckoning". That year, she also played the title role of Marian Ames in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Wayward Wife". Later in the 1960s her appearances included the classic ' episode "Space Seed" as Lt. Marla McGivers, Khan Noonien Singh's love interest. Rhue portrayed Marjorie Grant in Bracken's World and Hilary Madison in Executive Suite. Other guest appearances included Cheyenne, Have Gun – Will Travel, Gunsmoke, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Untouchables, Perry Mason, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Star Trek, The Fugitive, Ironside, The Wild Wild West, Mannix, Hawaii Five-O, ', Fantasy Island and Charlie's Angels. She also appeared in the television movieGoldie and the Boxer, and made appearances on the game show The Match Game. In the early 1960s, Rhue was injured in an automobile accident that resulted in lost teeth and a cut lower lip. She was hospitalized before returning to acting. In 1962, Rhue married actor Tony Young and acted with him in the western He Rides Tall. They divorced in 1970. In 1977, Rhue was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She continued to work, including a role in Days of Our Lives; but by 1985, she needed a wheelchair and was limited to roles that did not require her to walk or stand, such as recurring roles in Murder, She Wrote and Houston Knights. Angela Lansbury created a role for her when she heard that Rhue was at risk of losing her insurance because she could no longer work enough hours. Her illness prevented her from reprising her Star Trek role as Lieutenant Marla McGivers in the film , and the character was ultimately written out of the script as director Nicholas Meyer did not wish to re-cast the part. She eventually became completely incapacitated by multiple sclerosis and died from pneumonia at the age of 68 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills in Los Angeles, California.
