Charita Bauer
Encyclopedia
Charita Bauer was an American
soap opera
radio and television actress.
Born in Newark
, New Jersey
, she began her career at the age of eight as a model for clothing ads. She attended the Professional Children's School in New York and her first theater appearance was on Broadway in Thunder on the Left (1933).
, Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons
. The March of Time
, The FBI in Peace and War
, Suspense
and other programs.
She played headstrong and opinionated Bertha "Bert" Miller Bauer on the long-running soap The Guiding Light on radio from 1950 to 1956 and on TV from 1952 to 1985. While her character was a spitfire in the earlier days, by the 1970s she had been relegated to the ceremonial role of town matriarch. To avoid confusion between her real life and her popular soap role, Charita asked the show's producers to name her TV son Michael after her own son Michael Crawford. (The show was aired live in the early days, and a mistake like addressing her TV son by an incorrect name would have been difficult to cover.)
Bauer had struggled with diabetes and its resulting health problems for most of her life. Just before Thanksgiving 1983, complications from a blood clot forced her to have her leg amputated. When she returned to the show in April 1984, her character's life mirrored her own. After visiting Aunt Meta in New York, Bert returned to Springfield and began experiencing pain in her leg (which had been fitted with a prosthesis by this time and mostly kept off camera). She ended up having her leg amputated just as the actress who played her had. For the first time in decades, Bert had to depend upon others to wait on her hand and foot, resulting in one of the series' most memorable stories. (Bert, sitting in a wheelchair at Cedars Hospital, told Josh Lewis, who had been paralyzed recently and had given up hope, that life itself was a miracle and never to forget it.) In a moving scene, Bauer dropped a teacup. She tried to get it, but could not, and in sheer frustration, she burst into tears. As she went through rehab following her operation, camera shot closed in on her remaining leg as she learned to walk again, bringing even more realism to the storyline.
Bauer was no stranger to social issue storylines—in 1962, she became the first actress on daytime television to tackle a real-life medical dilemma, as Bert was diagnosed with uterine cancer
. The storyline helped millions of women realize the importance of regular checkups and pap smear
screenings. Bauer received a record amount of mail from fans.
Bauer died of complications stemming from diabetes only weeks shy of her 35th anniversary on the show. She was 62 years old.
She received a posthumous Lifetime Contribution Daytime Emmy Award that summer, along with "Search for Tomorrow's" Larry Haines
and Mary Stuart
(who in the 1990s would play Meta Bauer). Her character Bert died in March 1986, a full year after Bauer died.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
radio and television actress.
Born in Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, she began her career at the age of eight as a model for clothing ads. She attended the Professional Children's School in New York and her first theater appearance was on Broadway in Thunder on the Left (1933).
Radio
Bauer was active throughout the 1930s and 1940s on numerous radio dramas of the day, including Let's PretendLet's Pretend
This article is on the US radio series. For the UK TV series see Let's Pretend .Let's Pretend, created and directed by Nila Mack , was a long-run CBS radio series for children....
, Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons
Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons
Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons was one of radio's longest running shows, airing , continuing well into the television era. It was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert...
. The March of Time
The March of Time
The March of Time is a radio series, and companion newsreel series, that was broadcast on CBS from 1931 to 1945 and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was created by Time, Inc. executive Roy Edward Larsen, and was produced and written by Louis de Rochemont and his brother Richard de...
, The FBI in Peace and War
The FBI in Peace and War
The FBI in Peace and War was a radio crime drama inspired by Frederick Lewis Collins' book, The FBI in Peace and War.The idea for the show came from Louis Pelletier who wrote many of the scripts. Among the show's other writers were Jack Finke, Ed Adamson and Collins...
, Suspense
Suspense (radio program)
-Production background:One of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" and focused on suspense thriller-type scripts, usually featuring leading Hollywood actors of the era...
and other programs.
She played headstrong and opinionated Bertha "Bert" Miller Bauer on the long-running soap The Guiding Light on radio from 1950 to 1956 and on TV from 1952 to 1985. While her character was a spitfire in the earlier days, by the 1970s she had been relegated to the ceremonial role of town matriarch. To avoid confusion between her real life and her popular soap role, Charita asked the show's producers to name her TV son Michael after her own son Michael Crawford. (The show was aired live in the early days, and a mistake like addressing her TV son by an incorrect name would have been difficult to cover.)
Bauer had struggled with diabetes and its resulting health problems for most of her life. Just before Thanksgiving 1983, complications from a blood clot forced her to have her leg amputated. When she returned to the show in April 1984, her character's life mirrored her own. After visiting Aunt Meta in New York, Bert returned to Springfield and began experiencing pain in her leg (which had been fitted with a prosthesis by this time and mostly kept off camera). She ended up having her leg amputated just as the actress who played her had. For the first time in decades, Bert had to depend upon others to wait on her hand and foot, resulting in one of the series' most memorable stories. (Bert, sitting in a wheelchair at Cedars Hospital, told Josh Lewis, who had been paralyzed recently and had given up hope, that life itself was a miracle and never to forget it.) In a moving scene, Bauer dropped a teacup. She tried to get it, but could not, and in sheer frustration, she burst into tears. As she went through rehab following her operation, camera shot closed in on her remaining leg as she learned to walk again, bringing even more realism to the storyline.
Bauer was no stranger to social issue storylines—in 1962, she became the first actress on daytime television to tackle a real-life medical dilemma, as Bert was diagnosed with uterine cancer
Uterine cancer
The term uterine cancer may refer to any of several different types of cancer which occur in the uterus, namely:*Uterine sarcomas: sarcomas of the myometrium, or muscular layer of the uterus, are most commonly leiomyosarcomas.*Endometrial cancer:...
. The storyline helped millions of women realize the importance of regular checkups and pap smear
Pap smear
The Papanicolaou test is a screening test used in to detect pre-cancerous and cancerous processes in the endocervical canal of the female reproductive system. Changes can be treated, thus preventing cervical cancer...
screenings. Bauer received a record amount of mail from fans.
Bauer died of complications stemming from diabetes only weeks shy of her 35th anniversary on the show. She was 62 years old.
She received a posthumous Lifetime Contribution Daytime Emmy Award that summer, along with "Search for Tomorrow's" Larry Haines
Larry Haines
Larry Haines, born Larry Hecht was an American actor. He was born in Mount Vernon, New York.-Biography:He was born on August 3, 1918....
and Mary Stuart
Mary Stuart (actress)
Mary Stuart was an American actress and singer/songwriter.She was born as Mary Stuart Houchins in Miami, Florida and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she graduated from Tulsa Central High School and attended the University of Tulsa before embarking on her professional career...
(who in the 1990s would play Meta Bauer). Her character Bert died in March 1986, a full year after Bauer died.