Ena Hartman R.I.P.

Ena Hartman, who was a regular on the TV series Dan August and appeared in the movie Terminal Island, died on April 16 2025 at the age of 93.

Ena Hartman was born Gerthaline Henry on April 1 1932 in Moscow, Arkansas. She was raised by her grandparents until she was 13, when she moved to Buffalo, New York to live with her mother. She dropped out of high school and opened a restaurant. She earned enough money from the restaurant to move to New York City. where she took up modelling and studied acting with Josh Shelley and Lloyd Richards.

Ena Hartman became the first Black actress to receive a talent contract from NBC. She made her television debut in the Bonanza episode "Enter Thomas Bowers." She guest starred on the shows Profiles in Courage, The Farmer's Daughter, The Jean Arthur Show, Tarzan, Dragnet 1967, Adam-12 (the very first episode), The Named of the Game, It Takes a Thief, The Outsider, and Ironside. She appeared in the TV movie Fame is the Name of the Game, which served as the pilot for the TV series The Name of the Game, and Prescription Murder, the TV movie that marked the first appearance of Peter Falk as Columbo. She was one of the stars of the TV series Dan August. She made her film debut in an uncredited role in The New Interns (1964). She appeared in the movies Our Man Flint (1966), Games (1967), and Airport (1970).

In the Seventies she continued to appear on Dan August. She guest starred on Police Story. She appeared in the movie Terminal Island (1973).  She retired from acting in the mid-Seventies.

Earlier in her career Ena Hartman had been chosen by Dorothy Dandridge to play her in a biopic that would have co-starred Sidney Poitier. Unfortunately, Mr. Poitier decided not to do the film and it was never made. She was one of the actresses in the running for the part of Lt. Uhura on Star Trek, a role which ultimately went to Nichelle Nichols. She was also in the running for the role of Sister Irene in the Elvis Presley movie Change of Habit (1969), the part going to Babara McNair in the end. 

Many of Ena Hartman's roles during her career tended to be small, but she made an impression nonetheless. In Our Man Flint she played the WAC who assists Cramden (Lee Cobb), the former boss of superspy Derek Flint (James Coburn). In the Bonanza episode "Enter Thomas Bowers," she played Caroline, the daughter of Jed (Ken Renard), a citizen of Virginia City who befriends opera singer Thomas Bowers (William Marshall). On Dan August she played the no-nonsense, plain-spoken police dispatcher Katy Grant. She was the star of the movie Terminal Island, in which she played Carmen, a  woman sentenced to life imprisonment on the island of the title, where convicted murders are sentenced following the abolition of the death penalty. Ena Hartman was a talented actress who gave solid performances regardless of the size of a given role. She was also a pioneer as a Black actress, paving the way for other women of colour.