Joyce Bulifant
Encyclopedia
Joyce Bulifant is an American
television
actress, notable for her sunny "little girl"-like Southern
lilt of a voice. She was a frequent panelist on the television game show
Match Game
, more often than not giving bizarre answers that seldom matched the contestants.
. In the 1960s, after appearing on Broadway
, she guest starred in numerous television programs, including ABC
's Channing
, The Virginian
, in addition to portraying an intended murder victim in an episode of Thriller in 1961: "An Attractive Family", and also as the innocent young blonde defendant "Nancy Banks", in Perry Mason
1963 episode 197: "The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands", the second of her two appearances in the series. Bulifant, who has been described as "naturally funny", was the original choice for the role of Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch
, but the part ultimately went to Florence Henderson
.
After losing that role, Bulifant accepted the role of Marsha Peterson in the half-hour NBC
television series The Bill Cosby Show
(1969 – 1971). From 1971 through 1977 she portrayed the very occasional role of Marie Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show
, making 11 appearances over 7 seasons. During this time, she also played Marjorie Martin, the wife of Herbert Edelman and the aunt of Robbie Rist
in the Saturday morning show Big John, Little John
.
She later had a role in the short-lived series Flo
, playing Flo
's best friend, Miriam Willoughby. Bulifant also appeared in the movie Airplane!
, and as David Spade
's mother on Just Shoot Me!
, in addition to guest starring roles on several TV shows, and as a guest panelist on numerous game shows. Joyce appeared on GSN Live
on March 21, 2008.
Bulifant has for many years been actively involved with the child abuse prevention non-profit Childhelp
, including serving as a Celebrity Ambassador and as a Vice-President on the National Board of Directors.
(the adopted son of Charles MacArthur
and Helen Hayes
), actor Edward Mallory
, and producer William Asher
(the former husband of actress Elizabeth Montgomery
). Bulifant is also the mother of actor and director John Mallory Asher
who was born from her second marriage to Mallory and later adopted by her third husband Asher. Bulifant is also the ex-mother-in-law of actress Jenny McCarthy
. Since 2002, Bulifant has been married to actor Roger Perry
, the former husband of Jo Anne Worley
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actress, notable for her sunny "little girl"-like Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
lilt of a voice. She was a frequent panelist on the television game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
, more often than not giving bizarre answers that seldom matched the contestants.
Life and career
Bulifant was born in Newport News, VirginiaNewport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
. In the 1960s, after appearing on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, she guest starred in numerous television programs, including ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Channing
Channing (TV series)
Channing is an American drama series that aired on American Broadcasting Company from September 18, 1963 to April 8, 1964...
, The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
, in addition to portraying an intended murder victim in an episode of Thriller in 1961: "An Attractive Family", and also as the innocent young blonde defendant "Nancy Banks", in Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
1963 episode 197: "The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands", the second of her two appearances in the series. Bulifant, who has been described as "naturally funny", was the original choice for the role of Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
, but the part ultimately went to Florence Henderson
Florence Henderson
Florence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
.
After losing that role, Bulifant accepted the role of Marsha Peterson in the half-hour NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television series The Bill Cosby Show
The Bill Cosby Show
The Bill Cosby Show is an American situation comedy that aired for two seasons on NBC's Sunday night schedule from 1969 until 1971, under the sponsorship of Procter & Gamble. There were 52 episodes made in the series. It marked Cosby's first solo foray in television, after his co-starring role with...
(1969 – 1971). From 1971 through 1977 she portrayed the very occasional role of Marie Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
, making 11 appearances over 7 seasons. During this time, she also played Marjorie Martin, the wife of Herbert Edelman and the aunt of Robbie Rist
Robbie Rist
Robert Anthony Rist is an American actor and musician.-Acting and voiceover work:As a child, Rist played Cousin Oliver in the final six episodes of The Brady Bunch. With the regular children all getting older, his inclusion was intended to reintroduce cute younger children to the series...
in the Saturday morning show Big John, Little John
Big John, Little John
Big John, Little John is an American Saturday morning sitcom produced by Sherwood Schwartz which stars Robbie Rist as Little John, and Herb Edelman as Big John. The show first aired on September 11, 1976 on NBC, and ran for one season of 13 episodes...
.
She later had a role in the short-lived series Flo
Flo
Flo is an American sitcom which aired on CBS from 1980 to 1981. The series is a spin-off for Polly Holliday who portrayed the sassy and street-smart waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on the sitcom Alice...
, playing Flo
Florence Jean Castleberry
Florence Jean Castleberry , better known to all as "Flo", is a fictional character in the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, the subsequent television series, Alice, and that show's spinoff, Flo...
's best friend, Miriam Willoughby. Bulifant also appeared in the movie Airplane!
Airplane!
Airplane! is a 1980 American satirical comedy film directed and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and released by Paramount Pictures...
, and as David Spade
David Spade
David Wayne Spade is an American actor, comedian and television personality who first became famous in the 1990s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and from 1997 until 2003 when he starred as Dennis Finch on Just Shoot Me!. He also starred as C.J...
's mother on Just Shoot Me!
Just Shoot Me!
Just Shoot Me! is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from March 4, 1997 to August 16, 2003, with 148 episodes produced. The show was created by Steven Levitan, the show's executive producer.-Description:...
, in addition to guest starring roles on several TV shows, and as a guest panelist on numerous game shows. Joyce appeared on GSN Live
GSN Live
GSN Live is an American live interactive show on Game Show Network that premiered on February 25, 2008 at noon ET and officially ended its 3 year run on July 29, 2011. The last "live" edition aired May 13, 2011...
on March 21, 2008.
Bulifant has for many years been actively involved with the child abuse prevention non-profit Childhelp
Childhelp
Childhelp is a national non-profit organization dedicated to helping victims of child abuse and neglect and at-risk children through advocacy, prevention, treatment and community outreach. Founded in 1959 by Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, Childhelp is one of the largest non-profit child abuse...
, including serving as a Celebrity Ambassador and as a Vice-President on the National Board of Directors.
Family
Bulifant has been married five times, including to actor James MacArthurJames MacArthur
James Gordon MacArthur was an American actor best known for the role of Danny "Danno" Williams, the reliable second-in-command of the fictional Hawaiian State Police squad Hawaii Five-O.-Early life:...
(the adopted son of Charles MacArthur
Charles MacArthur
Charles Gordon MacArthur was an American playwright and screenwriter.-Biography:Charles MacArthur was the second youngest of seven children born to stern evangelist William Telfer MacArthur and Georgiana Welsted MacArthur. He early developed a passion for reading...
and Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
), actor Edward Mallory
Edward Mallory
Edward Mallory was an American actor, best known for his role as Dr...
, and producer William Asher
William Asher
William Asher is an American television and film producer, film director, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific early directors in the budding television industry, producing or directing over two dozen of the leading television series.With television in its infancy, he introduced the...
(the former husband of actress Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, as Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and as Lizzie Borden in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.-Early life:Born in Los...
). Bulifant is also the mother of actor and director John Mallory Asher
John Mallory Asher
John Mallory Asher is an American actor, director, writer and cinematographer.He is perhaps best known for his performance as Gary, on the USA Networks' series spinoff of the movie Weird Science.-Biography:...
who was born from her second marriage to Mallory and later adopted by her third husband Asher. Bulifant is also the ex-mother-in-law of actress Jenny McCarthy
Jenny McCarthy
Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy is an American model, comedian, actress, author, activist, and game show host. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then parlayed her Playboy fame into a successful television and...
. Since 2002, Bulifant has been married to actor Roger Perry
Roger Perry
Roger Perry is an American film and television actor whose career began in the late 1950s.In the 1960-1961 television season, Perry portrayed a handsome young attorney, Jim Harrigan, Jr., in the ABC and Desilu Studios sitcom Harrigan and Son, with co-stars Pat O'Brien, Helen Kleeb, and Georgine...
, the former husband of Jo Anne Worley
Jo Anne Worley
Jo Anne Worley is an American actress. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. She is best known for her work on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.-Biography:...
.