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Yvonne Lime, a former actress who worked extensively on TV and in feature films in the ’50s and ’60s before marrying producer Don Fedderson and co-founding an internationally powerful charitable organization, died Friday at 90.
In 1959, Lime Fedderson and her close friend Sara O’Meara founded Childhelp, a nonprofit devoted to helping abused, at-risk, and neglected children. Childhelp confirmed Lime’s passing at her home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, with O’Meara writing, “Yvonne was my dearest friend and my partner in this mission for more than six decades. Her compassion, strength and belief in the power of love shaped Childhelp from its earliest days. I will forever be grateful for the life we built together in service to children.”
John Stamos, a Childhelp spokesperson, mourned her on social media, writing, “Yvonne Fedderson led with love. Her smile, her warmth and her fierce unwavering dedication to protecting children left an imprint on my heart and on the world. Through Childhelp, she helped save and protect millions of children who never would have had a voice without her. That is not just a legacy, it is a living miracle.”
Another Childhelp ambassador, Kathie Lee Gifford, mourned her old friend with a statement that read, “Our precious Yvonne lived a life overflowing with extraordinary purpose and grace. Her beautiful smile lit up every room, but it was her hurting heart for children that truly illuminated the world. She believed in the depths of her soul in hope and healing, and God’s promise always wins. I am forever grateful to have known her and loved her as my treasured friend. Our loss is heaven’s gain.”
Childhelp became such an expansive and trusted charity it was the subject of the 2006 Lifetime Original Movie “For the Love of a Child,” with Teri Polo playing Lime and Peri Gilpin as O’Meara.
Lime Fedderson was born April 7, 1935, in Glendale, California.
She made her film debut in “The Rainmaker” (1956) with Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn. She acted with Elvis Presley in “Loving You” (1957) and with Michael Landon in the horror favorite “I Was a Teenage Werewolf” (1957).
In 1958, she headlined “Dragstrip Riot,” a teen melodrama about fast cars and bad boys.
Among her TV credits, she appeared on “December Bride” (1956), “The Mickey Mouse Club” (1957), “Dragnet” (1958), “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” (1957-1958, “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” (1959-1960), “The Andy Griffith Show” (1965), “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. “1964-1968), and “Dragnet 1967” (1968).
Upon marrying producer Don Fedderson in 1969 — she had acted on his series “The Millionaire” and “My Three Sons” in 1956 and 1968, bookending her career — she quit acting and focused on philanthropy.
She was stepmother to Fedderson’s seven children from his first marriage, including actors Gregg Fedderson and Mike Minor.
Lime Fedderson was preceded in death by her husband in 1994.