An attractive leading lady who worked constantly during the 1950s and 60s in theater, features and TV, Janice Rule began her career as a nightclub dancer in Chicago and NYC. Her first film was "Goodbye My Fancy" (1951) and she went on to appear in mostly forgettable fare. An exception was 1968's "The Swimmer", in which she was Burt Lancaster's mistress. Perhaps her best screen role was as one of the title characters, a mysterious embittered muralist, in Robert Altman's "3 Women" (1977). By this time, Rule had begun to concentrate on a second career as a psychoanalyst, although she continued to make occasional film and TV appearances through the 80s.
From 1961 to 1979, Rule was married to actor Ben Gazzara.