Hewitt was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1925 and was raised in Paola, Kansas, where her father worked as a superintendent for the Panhandle Eastern gas line company.

[1] After several talent scouts urged her to audition for movies, she decided to join a local theater group to hone her acting skills.

[6] Along with Hewitt, the cast included Ed Kemmer as Commander-in-Chief Edward "Buzz" Corry, Lyn Osborn as Cadet Happy, Ken Mayer as Major Robbie Robertson, and Nina Bara as Tonga.

Although Hewitt was famous for providing "blonde cheesecake appeal"[4] to her Saturday morning fans, her character was also a scientist who could assemble an atomic bomb and navigate the universe.

[7] Explaining the success of the show, Hewitt said in a 1984 interview:"The United States had come out of a dreadful time - the Depression and then five years tied up in a war.

Hewitt dated co-star Lyn Osborn during their time on Space Patrol but broke off the relationship when she met, and subsequently married Ernst Meer, a noted Austrian designer.

[19] A heavy smoker, Hewitt died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, on July 21, 1986, at the age of 60 from cancer, leaving a brother and sister as the closest living relatives.