Bea Benaderet
Encyclopedia
Bea Benaderet was an American actress born in New York City
and raised in San Francisco, California
. She is best remembered for her wide variety of television work, which included a starring role in the 1960s television series Petticoat Junction
and Green Acres
as Shady Rest Hotel owner Kate Bradley, supporting roles as Blanche Morton in The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and as the voice of Betty Rubble
during the first four seasons of The Flintstones
, and a relatively brief but significant turn in The Beverly Hillbillies
as Jethro Bodine's mother Pearl. She also did a great deal of voice work for the Warner Bros.
cartoons of the 1940s and '50s.
, school principal Eve Goodwin on The Great Gildersleeve
, and appeared on the occasional Amos 'n Andy radio show, usually as a store clerk attempting to assist Andy and Kingfish in a purchase.
Benaderet also portrayed Blanche Morton, next-door neighbor to George Burns
and Gracie Allen
, on both the radio and television incarnations of "The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show." She also held down a regular role in the series "A Day in the Life of Dennis Day
" as Mrs. Anderson, Day's landlady, who was also the mother of Day's girlfriend on the program. Benaderet also voiced the widow Clara Longnecker on The Mel Blanc Show, wherein she often fended off the money-mad proposals of Mel's uncle Rupert with the exclamation, "Now, Rupert, I am in NO mood for your nincompoopity!" On the Adventures of Maisie, which starred Ann Sothern, she played various roles, including that of the title character's landlady.
She portrayed Lucille Ball
's best friend Iris Attebury on the 1940s radio series My Favorite Husband
. When Ball and husband Desi Arnaz
decided to develop this program for television in a series called I Love Lucy
, Benaderet was first choice to fill the role of Ethel Mertz
, but was ultimately unavailable to accept it since she had already been cast for the fledgeling Burns and Allen
television show. Vivian Vance
, a relatively unknown character actress and singer, was eventually cast in the part. Benaderet did appear as a guest on I Love Lucy on January 21, 1952, in the role of Miss Lewis, a love-starved spinster neighbor.
Benaderet began voicing the character of Granny (the sometimes dimwitted, sometimes assertive owner of Tweety
) in the Warner Bros. cartoon series beginning in 1943, and was one of the few female voice artists associated with the studio in its early days. Benaderet continued to perform the voice of Granny well into the 1950s, when June Foray
replaced her in that role in 1955.
Benaderet was also seriously considered for the role of Granny in The Beverly Hillbillies
by producer Paul Henning
(also the producer of The Burns & Allen Show), who ultimately felt she was too buxom and feminine for the character he envisioned as a frail but caustic little spitfire; Irene Ryan
was eventually cast. Henning instead cast Benaderet as middle-aged, widowed hillbilly woman Cousin Pearl Bodine (Jethro's mother), and she appeared in the pilot, as well as a majority of episodes throughout the series' first season. Cousin Pearl and her daughter Jethrine moved into the Clampett mansion with the rest of the Clampett clan late in the first season. The female Bodines inexplicably disappeared, however, after Henning cast Benaderet in his next series Petticoat Junction
, which premiered in September, 1963. She starred as Kate Bradley, owner/operator of the Shady Rest Hotel, who was said to be a cousin of Pearl Bodine.
Petticoat Junction proved an enormous hit in its first season, and remained a top-25 program for several years. Benaderet had done a radio variation of Green Acres
with Gale Gordon
beginning in 1950 called Granby's Green Acres. The Green Acres television series later became a spinoff of Petticoat Junction, with Eva Gabor
portraying Benaderet's original part in this new series, and Benaderet herself showing up in the first few episodes as her Petticoat Junction character, in order to establish the Hooterville
setting (Eddie Albert
took Gale Gordon's role as the lawyer who moves to the country to become a farmer; whether he was considered for the role or not, Gordon was otherwise occupied with his role on The Lucy Show
).
Benaderet was quite busy during this time, as she also played a part in another iconic television series of the 1960s, voicing Betty Rubble
on the animated series The Flintstones
, which debuted in 1960. Benaderet resigned from the show in 1964 due to the workload on Petticoat Junction, and Betty would be voiced by Gerry Johnson
for the remainder of the series' run. Benaderet was no stranger to cartoon voice work, however. She had voiced numerous female characters in the Warner Bros. animated shorts of the 1940s, displaying a great deal of versatility in her repertoire, from her natural feminine voice, to the "Granny" character, to the loquacious bobby-soxer (inspired by loud-mouthed comedienne Cass Daley
) in Little Red Riding Rabbit
. The Flintstones reunited Benaderet with her 1940s co-workers Alan Reed
(Fred Flintstone
) and Mel Blanc
(Barney Rubble
and Dino). Benaderet never received any on-screen credit for her many voice characterizations with Warner Bros., as the studio was bound by Blanc's iron-clad contractual stipulation that no other voice actor could ever receive credit for their work while he himself was under contract to Warner's.
and Maggie, from her first marriage to actor Jim Bannon
. Jack is known for his work as a regular cast member on the CBS television series Lou Grant
.
was brought in to play Aunt Helen in scripts obviously written for Benaderet's character Kate. Benaderet, however, was well enough to return for a few additional episodes in the fall of 1968 before being written out permanently. Shortly after Bea's death, June Lockhart
was brought in to play a female doctor who had set up her practice at the Shady Rest hotel, and thus became the show's surrogate mother figure.
On October 13, 1968, Bea Benaderet died in Los Angeles, California
at the Good Samaritan Hospital
from pneumonia
and lung cancer
. She was entombed in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
. Her second husband Eugene Twombley
died of a heart attack on the day of her funeral (four days after her death), and was interred beside her. For many years, Mr. Twombley had been a sound-effects artist for a number of radio and television shows, including The Jack Benny Program, on which Bea was a regular cast member.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and raised in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. She is best remembered for her wide variety of television work, which included a starring role in the 1960s television series Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning; the others are The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The setting for the series...
and Green Acres
Green Acres
Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...
as Shady Rest Hotel owner Kate Bradley, supporting roles as Blanche Morton in The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and as the voice of Betty Rubble
Betty Rubble
Elizabeth 'Betty' Jean Rubble is a fictional character in the television animated series The Flintstones and its spin-offs and live-action motion pictures. She is the black-haired wife of caveman Barney Rubble and the adoptive mother of Bamm-Bamm Rubble...
during the first four seasons of The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
, and a relatively brief but significant turn in The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
as Jethro Bodine's mother Pearl. She also did a great deal of voice work for the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
cartoons of the 1940s and '50s.
Career
Benaderet first received notice for her radio work in the 1940s playing Millicent Carstairs on Fibber McGee & Molly, telephone operator Gertrude Gearshift (and many other roles) on The Jack Benny ProgramThe Jack Benny Program
The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.-Cast:*Jack Benny - Himself...
, school principal Eve Goodwin on The Great Gildersleeve
The Great Gildersleeve
The Great Gildersleeve , initially written by Leonard Lewis Levinson, was one of broadcast history's earliest spin-off programs. Built around Throckmorton Philharmonic Gildersleeve, a character who had been a staple on the classic radio situation comedy Fibber McGee and Molly, first Introduced to...
, and appeared on the occasional Amos 'n Andy radio show, usually as a store clerk attempting to assist Andy and Kingfish in a purchase.
Benaderet also portrayed Blanche Morton, next-door neighbor to George Burns
George Burns
George Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
and Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
, on both the radio and television incarnations of "The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show." She also held down a regular role in the series "A Day in the Life of Dennis Day
Dennis Day
Dennis Day born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty, was an Irish-American singer and radio, television and film personality.-Early life:...
" as Mrs. Anderson, Day's landlady, who was also the mother of Day's girlfriend on the program. Benaderet also voiced the widow Clara Longnecker on The Mel Blanc Show, wherein she often fended off the money-mad proposals of Mel's uncle Rupert with the exclamation, "Now, Rupert, I am in NO mood for your nincompoopity!" On the Adventures of Maisie, which starred Ann Sothern, she played various roles, including that of the title character's landlady.
She portrayed Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
's best friend Iris Attebury on the 1940s radio series My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband is the name of an American radio program and network television series. The original radio show, co-starring Lucille Ball, was the initial basis for what evolved into the groundbreaking TV sitcom I Love Lucy. The series was based on the novel Mr. and Mrs...
. When Ball and husband Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is probably best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the American TV series I Love Lucy, starring with Lucille Ball, to...
decided to develop this program for television in a series called I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
, Benaderet was first choice to fill the role of Ethel Mertz
Ethel Mertz
Ethel Roberta Louise Mae Mertz is one of the four main fictional characters in the highly popular 1950s and 1960s American television sitcom I Love Lucy, played by Vivian Vance. Ethel is the main character Lucy's middle-aged landlady - supposed to have been born about 1905, and raised in New Mexico...
, but was ultimately unavailable to accept it since she had already been cast for the fledgeling Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen, an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, worked together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio and television and achieved great success over four decades.-Vaudeville:...
television show. Vivian Vance
Vivian Vance
Vivian Roberta Jones was an American television and theater actress and singer. Often referred to as “TV’s most beloved second banana,” she is best known for her role as Ethel Mertz, sidekick to Lucille Ball on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, and as Vivian Bagley on The Lucy...
, a relatively unknown character actress and singer, was eventually cast in the part. Benaderet did appear as a guest on I Love Lucy on January 21, 1952, in the role of Miss Lewis, a love-starved spinster neighbor.
Benaderet began voicing the character of Granny (the sometimes dimwitted, sometimes assertive owner of Tweety
Tweety
Tweety Bird is a fictional Yellow Canary in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being a typical English onomatopoeia for the sounds of birds...
) in the Warner Bros. cartoon series beginning in 1943, and was one of the few female voice artists associated with the studio in its early days. Benaderet continued to perform the voice of Granny well into the 1950s, when June Foray
June Foray
June Foray is an American voice actress, best known as the voice of many animated characters...
replaced her in that role in 1955.
Benaderet was also seriously considered for the role of Granny in The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
by producer Paul Henning
Paul Henning
Paul William Henning was an American producer and writer. Most famous for the successful TV sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, he was crucial in the development of several "rural" comedies for CBS.-Early life:...
(also the producer of The Burns & Allen Show), who ultimately felt she was too buxom and feminine for the character he envisioned as a frail but caustic little spitfire; Irene Ryan
Irene Ryan
Irene Ryan was an American actress, one of the few entertainers who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television and Broadway....
was eventually cast. Henning instead cast Benaderet as middle-aged, widowed hillbilly woman Cousin Pearl Bodine (Jethro's mother), and she appeared in the pilot, as well as a majority of episodes throughout the series' first season. Cousin Pearl and her daughter Jethrine moved into the Clampett mansion with the rest of the Clampett clan late in the first season. The female Bodines inexplicably disappeared, however, after Henning cast Benaderet in his next series Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning; the others are The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The setting for the series...
, which premiered in September, 1963. She starred as Kate Bradley, owner/operator of the Shady Rest Hotel, who was said to be a cousin of Pearl Bodine.
Petticoat Junction proved an enormous hit in its first season, and remained a top-25 program for several years. Benaderet had done a radio variation of Green Acres
Green Acres
Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...
with Gale Gordon
Gale Gordon
Gale Gordon was an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil—and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J. Mooney, on Ball's second television situation comedy, The Lucy Show...
beginning in 1950 called Granby's Green Acres. The Green Acres television series later became a spinoff of Petticoat Junction, with Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor was a Hungarian-born socialite and actress. She was widely known for her role on Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, Duchess in the 1970 Disney film The Aristocats, and Miss Bianca in Disney's The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under...
portraying Benaderet's original part in this new series, and Benaderet herself showing up in the first few episodes as her Petticoat Junction character, in order to establish the Hooterville
Hooterville
Hooterville was a fictional town that was the setting of the American television sitcoms Petticoat Junction and Green Acres.-Citizens:The town of Hooterville was founded in 1868 by Horace Hooter...
setting (Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
took Gale Gordon's role as the lawyer who moves to the country to become a farmer; whether he was considered for the role or not, Gordon was otherwise occupied with his role on The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1962 until 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965-66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program...
).
Benaderet was quite busy during this time, as she also played a part in another iconic television series of the 1960s, voicing Betty Rubble
Betty Rubble
Elizabeth 'Betty' Jean Rubble is a fictional character in the television animated series The Flintstones and its spin-offs and live-action motion pictures. She is the black-haired wife of caveman Barney Rubble and the adoptive mother of Bamm-Bamm Rubble...
on the animated series The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
, which debuted in 1960. Benaderet resigned from the show in 1964 due to the workload on Petticoat Junction, and Betty would be voiced by Gerry Johnson
Gerry Johnson
Gerry Johnson was an American actress who provided the voice of Betty Rubble in seasons five and six of the US cartoon series The Flintstones...
for the remainder of the series' run. Benaderet was no stranger to cartoon voice work, however. She had voiced numerous female characters in the Warner Bros. animated shorts of the 1940s, displaying a great deal of versatility in her repertoire, from her natural feminine voice, to the "Granny" character, to the loquacious bobby-soxer (inspired by loud-mouthed comedienne Cass Daley
Cass Daley
Cass Daley was an American radio, television and film actress, singer, and comedienne. The daughter of an Irish streetcar conductor, Daley started to perform at nightclubs and on the radio as a band vocalist in the 1940s....
) in Little Red Riding Rabbit
Little Red Riding Rabbit
Little Red Riding Rabbit is a 1944 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Bugs Bunny. It is a sendup of the Little Red Riding Hood story, and is the first time in which Mel Blanc receives a voice credit...
. The Flintstones reunited Benaderet with her 1940s co-workers Alan Reed
Alan Reed
Alan Reed was an American actor and voice actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on The Flintstones and various spinoff series...
(Fred Flintstone
Fred Flintstone
Frederick Joseph “Fred” Flintstone, also known as Fred W. Flintstone or Frederick J. Flintstone, is the protagonist of the animated sitcom The Flintstones, which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960-66. He is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles...
) and Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
(Barney Rubble
Barney Rubble
Bernard "Barney" Rubble is the deuteragonist of the television animated series The Flintstones. He is the diminutive blonde-haired caveman husband of Betty Rubble and father of Bamm-Bamm Rubble...
and Dino). Benaderet never received any on-screen credit for her many voice characterizations with Warner Bros., as the studio was bound by Blanc's iron-clad contractual stipulation that no other voice actor could ever receive credit for their work while he himself was under contract to Warner's.
Personal life
Her father, Samuel Benaderet, was a Turkish immigrant, and her mother was Margaret O'Keefe Benaderet. Bea had two children, JackJack Bannon
John James "Jack" Bannon is an American television actor. He is most famous for his role as Assistant City Editor Art Donovan on Lou Grant, a role he played for the duration of the series, from 1977 until 1982....
and Maggie, from her first marriage to actor Jim Bannon
Jim Bannon
Jim Bannon was an actor in radio and Hollywood western films during the 1940s and 1950s. He is best remembered as the fourth cinema Red Ryder from 1949 - 1950...
. Jack is known for his work as a regular cast member on the CBS television series Lou Grant
Lou Grant
Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Edward Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was Mary Tyler Moore , in which the character was the news director at the fictional television station WJM-TV...
.
Death
Benaderet fell ill in 1967, which led to her departure from Petticoat Junction in what was hoped would be a temporary retirement. In her absence, Rosemary DeCampRosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp was an American radio, film and television actress.DeCamp first came to fame in November 1937, when she took the role of Judy Price, the secretary of Dr. Christian in the long-running radio series of the same name. She made her film debut in Cheers for Miss Bishop and appeared in...
was brought in to play Aunt Helen in scripts obviously written for Benaderet's character Kate. Benaderet, however, was well enough to return for a few additional episodes in the fall of 1968 before being written out permanently. Shortly after Bea's death, June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
was brought in to play a female doctor who had set up her practice at the Shady Rest hotel, and thus became the show's surrogate mother figure.
On October 13, 1968, Bea Benaderet died in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
at the Good Samaritan Hospital
Good Samaritan Hospital (Los Angeles)
Good Samaritan Hospital is a hospital in Los Angeles, California, United States. The hospital has 408 beds.-History:Good Samaritan Hospital was founded in 1885, although the current hospital was built in 1976...
from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. She was entombed in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 10621 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood, California.The cemetery has a special section called the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation that is the final resting place for a number of aviation pioneers — barnstormers, daredevils and...
in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
North Hollywood is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, along the Tujunga Wash. It is bounded on the south by Moorpark Street and the Ventura Freeway, on the southwest by Burbank Blvd...
. Her second husband Eugene Twombley
Eugene Twombley
Sound effects man Eugene Tracy Twombly was the sound effects director on several radio shows, including The Jack Benny Show, where his wife, American actress Bea Benaderet, played telephone operator Gertude Gearshift...
died of a heart attack on the day of her funeral (four days after her death), and was interred beside her. For many years, Mr. Twombley had been a sound-effects artist for a number of radio and television shows, including The Jack Benny Program, on which Bea was a regular cast member.
Features
- Notorious (19461946 in filmThe year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
) - On the TownOn the Town (film)On the Town is a 1949 musical film with music by Leonard Bernstein and Roger Edens and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It is an adaptation of the Broadway stage musical of the same name produced in 1944, although many changes in script and score were made from the original stage...
(19491949 in filmThe year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
) - The First Time (19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) - Black Widow (19541954 in filmThe year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
) - Plunderers of Painted Flats (19591959 in filmThe year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
) - Tender Is the NightTender is the Night (1962 film)Tender Is the Night is a 1962 film directed by Henry King, based on the novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The soundtrack featured a song, also called "Tender Is the Night", by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster , which was nominated for the 1962 Academy Award for Best Song...
(19621962 in filmThe year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
)
Short Subjects
- Puss n' Booty (19431943 in filmThe year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
) (voice) - Little Red Riding RabbitLittle Red Riding RabbitLittle Red Riding Rabbit is a 1944 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Bugs Bunny. It is a sendup of the Little Red Riding Hood story, and is the first time in which Mel Blanc receives a voice credit...
(19441944 in filmThe year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
) (voice) - Bugs Bunny and the Three BearsBugs Bunny and the Three BearsBugs Bunny and the Three Bears is a Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short released in 1944, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Tedd Pierce...
(19441944 in filmThe year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
) (voice) - The Weakly ReporterThe Weakly ReporterThe Weakly Reporter is a Warner Bros. cartoon released on March 25, 1944. Directed by Chuck Jones, written by Michael Maltese, and with music directed by Carl Stalling, this cartoon is a spoof of sacrifices made by those on the homefront during World War II....
(19441944 in filmThe year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
) (voice) - The Shooting of Dan McGooThe Shooting Of Dan McGooThe Shooting of Dan McGoo is a cartoon directed by Tex Avery. It starred Frank Graham as the Wolf. Both Avery and Bill Thompson voiced the lead character Droopy. Bea Benaderet did the speaking voice of Lou, while her singing was provided by Imogene Lynn...
(19451945 in filmThe year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
) (MGM) - Baseball BugsBaseball BugsBaseball Bugs is a Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released on February 2, 1946 starring Bugs Bunny. It had a similar theme to MGM's 1944 Batty Baseball, which was directed by former WB cartoon director Tex Avery.-Overview:...
(19461946 in filmThe year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
) (voice) - Quentin QuailQuentin QuailQuentin Quail is a screwball animated cartoon, part of the Merrie Melodies series. It presents a tale about a quail who goes through various trials and tribulations to try to get a worm for his baby, Toots , only to be rebuffed by her because the worm looks like Frank Sinatra.-External links:*Big...
(19461946 in filmThe year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
) (voice) - Scent-imental Over YouScent-imental Over YouScent-imental Over You is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated short film featuring Pepé Le Pew . It was produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc., directed by Chuck Jones, and written by Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce...
(19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) (voice) - Tweetie PieTweetie PieTweetie Pie is a 1947 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng and produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, depicting the first pairing of Tweety and Sylvester.When Tweety's creator, director Bob Clampett, left the Warner Bros...
(19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) (voice) - Doggone CatsDoggone CatsDoggone Cats , is a 1947-released Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series.It stars Sylvester and a dog named Wellington and a Cat . It was officially released in Cinecolor, but was reissued in Technicolor....
(19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) (voice) - What's Brewin', Bruin? (19481948 in filmThe year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
) (voice) - I Taw a Putty TatI Taw a Putty TatI Taw a Putty Tat is a 1947 short animated cartoon, released in 1948, directed by Friz Freleng. It stars Tweety and Sylvester, both voiced by Mel Blanc...
(19481948 in filmThe year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
) (voice) - Kit For CatKit for CatKit for Cat is a 1948 Looney Tunes cartoon starring the cat that would eventually be known as Sylvester, an unknown cat, and Elmer Fudd. This cartoon features Elmer Fudd without his hat or hunting clothes just like he does with others....
(19481948 in filmThe year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
) (voice) - A Hick a Slick and a Chick (19481948 in filmThe year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
) (voice) - The Bee-Deviled Bruin (19491949 in filmThe year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
) (voice) - Bear FeatBear FeatBear Feat is a 1947-animated Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones, released in 1949 featuring The Three Bears.-Plot:Papa Bear sees an ad about a circus and makes his family practice until he learns it was called in 1928 and throws himself off a cliff.-Censorship:*When this cartoon aired on...
(19491949 in filmThe year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
) (voice) - The Scarlet PumpernickelThe Scarlet PumpernickelThe Scarlet Pumpernickel is a 1949 animated Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in 1950, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese....
(19501950 in filmThe year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
) (voice) - An Egg Scramble (19501950 in filmThe year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
) (voice) - All a Bir-r-r-rdAll a Bir-r-r-rdAll A Bir-r-r-d! is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon featuring Tweety, Sylvester and an unnamed bulldog, who would later became known as Hector the Bulldog...
(19501950 in filmThe year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
) (voice) - Canary RowCanary RowCanary Row is a 1949 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short, released in 1950 and directed by Friz Freleng, written by Tedd Pierce, and starring Tweety Bird and Sylvester. This is the first Sylvester and Tweety cartoon to feature Granny...
(19501950 in filmThe year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
) (voice) - Two's a Crowd (19501950 in filmThe year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
) (voice) - Room and BirdRoom and BirdRoom and Bird is a 1950 animated short,released in 1951, featuring Sylvester and Tweety.-Plot:Two elderly ladies , the owners of Sylvester and Tweety, sneak their pets into a hotel where no pets are allowed. Sylvester, hearing Tweety's singing in the room next to his, writes a letter to the canary...
(19511951 in filmThe year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
) (voice) - Chow HoundChow HoundChow Hound is a Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. Released June 16, 1951, the voices were performed by Mel Blanc, Bea Benaderet and John T...
(19511951 in filmThe year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
) (voice) - Lovelorn LeghornLovelorn LeghornLovelorn Leghorn is a 1950 cartoon short starring Foghorn Leghorn, the Barnyard Dawg, and Miss Prissy. It was released in 1951 by Warner Bros. and directed by Robert McKimson.-Plot:Miss Prissy is trying to land a husband and sets her sights on Foghorn....
(19511951 in filmThe year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
) (voice) - Tweety's S.O.S.Tweety's S.O.S.Tweety's SOS is a Merrie Melodies cartoon featuring Sylvester and Tweety. It was directed by Friz Freleng. It was released on September 22, 1951.-Plot:...
(19511951 in filmThe year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
) (voice) - A Bear for PunishmentA Bear for PunishmentA Bear for Punishment is a 1951 animated Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon released in 1951, featuring The Three Bears. That was the last cartoon of The Three Bears series...
(19511951 in filmThe year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
) (voice) - Feed the KittyFeed the KittyFeed the Kitty is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, in which bulldog Marc Antony adopts a small cat, Pussyfoot , and tries to hide it from his owner...
(19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) (voice) - Gift WrappedGift WrappedGift Wrapped is a greatest hits compilation by the Canadian comedy music group The Arrogant Worms, released in 2002 under the Oglio Records label...
(19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) (voice) - Kiddin' the Kitten (19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) (voice) - Orange Blossoms for Violet (19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) (voice) - Terrier-Stricken (19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) (voice) - From A to Z-Z-Z-ZFrom A to Z-Z-Z-ZFrom A to Z-Z-Z-Z is a 1953 animated cartoon short by Chuck Jones in the Looney Tunes series. It was released by Warner Bros. in 1954.-Plot:The cartoon begins with an exterior shot of a school classroom. Through the windows, children are visible at their desks. They are learning arithmetic by rote...
(19531953 in filmThe year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
) (voice) - Kiss Me Cat (19531953 in filmThe year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
) (voice) - Easy Peckin's (19531953 in filmThe year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
) (voice) - Of Rice and HenOf Rice and HenOf Rice and Hen is a "Looney Tunes" cartoon animated short starring Foghorn Leghorn, Miss Prissy and The Barnyard Dog. The title is a play on John Steinbeck's 1937 novel Of Mice and Men...
(19531953 in filmThe year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
) (voice) - Sandy Claws (19541954 in filmThe year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
) (voice) - Wild Wife (19541954 in filmThe year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
) (voice) - The Cats Bah (19541954 in filmThe year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
) (voice) - Bewitched BunnyBewitched BunnyBewitched Bunny is a Looney Tunes cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. Jones created the character Witch Hazel which debuted in this episode. Witch Hazel later appeared in Broom-Stick Bunny , A Witch's Tangled Hare , and in A-Haunting We Will Go...
(19541954 in filmThe year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
) (voice) - Goo Goo GoliathGoo Goo GoliathGoo Goo Goliath is a 1954 cartoon short, which features the drunk stork as the main character.-Sources:http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon_story/583-Goo_Goo_Goliath.html...
(19541954 in filmThe year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
) (voice) - Feather DustedFeather DustedFeather Dusted is a Foghorn Leghorn animated short film from Warner Bros. released in 1955 and directed by Robert McKimson. Foghorn tries to play games with Egghead Jr., but finds that playing with Egghead Jr. can be dangerous.-Plot:...
(19551955 in filmThe year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
) (voice) - The Hole Idea (19551955 in filmThe year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
) (voice)
Television Work
- The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–1958)
- The George Burns Show (1958–1959)
- The FlintstonesThe FlintstonesThe Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
(cast member from 1960–1964) (voice) - Peter Loves Mary (1960–1961)
- The Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
(recurring cast member from 1962–1963) - Petticoat JunctionPetticoat JunctionPetticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning; the others are The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The setting for the series...
(cast member from 1963–1968) - Green AcresGreen AcresGreen Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...
(1965–1966)
Further reading
- Sitcom Queens: Divas of the Small Screen by Michael Karol (2005) ISBN 0-595-40251-8
- The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms by David C. Tucker (2007) ISBN 978-0786429004