Julie Sommars (born April 15, 1942 in Fremont, Nebraska- tv.com reports year of birth to be 1940) is an American actress. She played the role of assistant District Attorney Julie March on the TV series Matlock from 1987 to 1994. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for this role.
She has appeared in other TV crime shows including Diagnosis Murder (1994), Perry Mason Movie: The Case of the Glass Coffin (1991), Magnum, P.I. (1982), Barnaby Jones (1979), McCloud (1974), The Rockford Files (1974) as well as movie roles. Her career spans 30 years with more than 250 TV and film credits. In the early 70's, she played "J.J." the daughter of Dan Dailey's the "Governor" in a series called, what else but "The Governor and J.J." for which she won a Golden Globe.
She is also known for her role as race car driver Diane Darcy, the lead female character in Disney's Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo.
She resides in Los Angeles, California and is married with 3 children.
Born in Fremont, Nebraska in 1942, actress Julie Sommars grew up in the Midwest -- both Iowa and South Dakota. As she matured, she showed early signs of talent as a public orator in high school and won awards for her abilities. This confidence steered her towards an acting career following graduation. At age 18, Julie won her first television role as Loretta Young's daughter on an episode of Loretta's TV show in 1960. From there, Julie's career took off with TV episodes of "Gunsmoke" (1955), "Bonanza" (1959) and "Flipper" (1964) coming her way. She made a very inauspicious film debut with Sex and the College Girl (1964), and, while she did manage to turn heads slightly co-starring in the sexy movie comedy Pad and How to Use It, The (1966), Julie found TV a much more satisfying medium. By the end of the decade, she broke through the ranks co-starring with Dan Dailey on the sitcom "Governor & J.J., The" (1969). Though the run itself was brief (one season), it was enough to earn, both Julie and Dan, Golden Globe awards and the show "Best Comedy" for 1969. Julie actually tied with Carol Burnett in her "best actress" category. In the early 1970s, the pert and pretty actress played a few vulnerable young beauties in routine TV movies such as Five Desperate Women (1971) (TV) and Harness, The (1971) (TV). Her career went into a bit of a lull for a time but was revived handsomely after winning the part of Asst. D.A. Julie March opposite Andy Griffith (I) on "Matlock" (1986). Nominated for a Golden Globe for that role, she left the series after five seasons and has since stayed pretty much away from the limelight, save for some "Matlock" TV reunion specials. Married to John Karns, Julie has three children.
