Top Sweet Old Funny Ladies on Tv Sitcoms

by dmclaughlinabq | created - 05 Jul 2013 | updated - 31 Jan 2017 | Public

Actress | That Girl

Many well known and highly identifiable actresses have tried and failed to make the arduous crossover from fizzy TV sitcom star to mature, dramatic artist. Usually it was their hardcore fans who refused to accept them in any other light. Sally Field and Elizabeth Montgomery come first to mind as ...

--That Girl--

Actress | The Rescuers

Eva Gabor was born on February 11, 1919 in Budapest, Hungary, to Jolie Gabor (née Janka Tilleman) and Vilmos Gabor (born Farkas Miklós Grün), a soldier. Her older siblings were Magda Gabor, an actress, and Zsa Zsa Gabor, an actress and socialite. Her parents were both from Jewish families. She went...

--Green Acres--

Actress | I Love Lucy

The woman who will always be remembered as the crazy, accident-prone, lovable Lucy Ricardo was born Lucille Desiree Ball on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. Her father died before she was four, and her mother worked several jobs, so she and her younger brother were raised by their ...

--The Lucy Show-- --Here's Lucy--

Actress | I Love Lucy

Born as Vivian Roberta Jones in Cherryvale, Kansas, she had a brother and four sisters. Her family moved to Independence, Kansas, and later studied drama under Anna Ingleman and William Inge. Their next move, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, brought her to that city's Little Theatre, which provided her ...

--The Lucy Show--

Actress | The Jazz Singer

Lucie Arnaz was born on July 17, 1951 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for The Jazz Singer (1980), Here's Lucy (1968) and The Pack (2011). She has been married to Laurence Luckinbill since June 22, 1980. They have three children. She was previously ...

--Here's Lucy--

Actress | Our Miss Brooks

Diminutive, blond character comedienne whose strident voice and nervy manner made her the perfect foil to Lucille Ball's madcap antics on TV, at first, occasionally, on I Love Lucy (1951) (as "Betty Ramsay" and "Evelyn Bigsby"), then on a regular basis on The Lucy Show (1962) and Here's Lucy (1968)...

--Here's Lucy--

Actress | Sayonara

Miyoshi Umeki was born as the youngest of 9 children. The daughter of a prominent Japanese iron factory owner, she developed an early passion for music, learning to play the mandolin, harmonica & piano. She also enjoyed singing American-styled tunes, much to the chagrin of her parents. This ...

--The Courtship Of Eddie's Father--

Actress | Family Affair

Kathy Garver was born in Long Beach, California Her break-through performance came as one of the young slaves in The Ten Commandments

She is most well known for starring as the teenage niece of Uncle Bill Davis, Cissy Davis on Family Affair (1966). The show was nominated for Emmys in various ...

--Family Affair--

Actress | The Beverly Hillbillies

Before becoming known to millions as Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Irene Ryan was already an established vaudeville, radio and movie actress, though not as famous prior to her television stint. She accompanied Bob Hope on his famous military tours and she was known as "the gal who makes...

--The Beverly Hillbillies--

Actress | The Beverly Hillbillies

An honest-to-goodness Southern Belle, similar to her most famous character role, "Elly May Clampett" on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Donna Douglas grew up in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area, loving "critters". She got married soon after high school, had a son, divorced and won a couple of beauty...

--The Beverly Hillbillies--

Actress | The Beverly Hillbillies

Nancy Kulp wore many hats: Publicity person, actress, linguist, would-be politician, and teacher. Originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Kulp attended college in Florida, then headed for Hollywood to work in publicity for the movies, not star in them. Soon after arriving in Hollywood, Kulp was ...

--The Beverly Hillbillies--

Actress | The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

Bea Benaderet had a remarkable career in radio and television. In the earlier days of radio, before television, she provided the voice for numerous names of characters on the radio, on shows like "Fibber McGee and Molly," "My Favorite Husband" with Lucille Ball & "The Jack Benny Show. She was born ...

--The Beverly Hillbillies-- --Petticoat Junction--

Actress | Bikini Beach

Meredith Lynn MacRae was born on May 30, 1944, in Houston, Texas. She was born on a military base where her father was stationed.

Meredith was bitten by the show business bug at an early age. Her father, Gordon MacRae was a singer and movie idol of the 1950s (Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! (1955)...

--Petticoat Junction--

Actress | She-Wolf of London

Born in New York City on June 25, 1925, the daughter of actors Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Lockhart, June Lockhart made her professional debut at age eight in a Metropolitan Opera production of "Peter Ibbetson", playing Mimsey in the dream sequence. In the mid-1930s, the Lockharts relocated to ...

--Petticoat Junction--

Actress | The Day the Earth Stood Still

Frances Bavier was born in New York City on December 14, 1902. Her first Broadway appearance was in April 1925 in "The Poor Nut", the start of a successful Broadway career. She traveled with the USO to entertain the U.S. troops in the Pacific during World War II. Her last appearance on Broadway was...

--The Andy Griffith Show--

Actress | The Andy Griffith Show

Missouri born-and-bred Betty Ann Lynn was born in Kansas City. Her name is as light, breezy and innocent as the characters she played on film and TV. She is pleasantly remembered for playing TV's sweet-as-apple-pie "Thelma Lou," who had the tough end of the bargain as the ever-patient girlfriend of ...

--The Andy Griffith Show--

Actress | The Blob

Pretty, auburn-haired actress Aneta Louise Corsaut was born in Hutchinson, Kansas on November 3, 1933. She majored in drama at Northwestern University and studied acting with Lee Strasberg, considered by some to be the father of method acting in America. Aneta dropped out in her junior year to ...

--The Andy Griffith Show--

Actress | Rosemary's Baby

Hope Summers could portray a friendly neighbor or companion as she did for Frances Bavier's Aunt Bee character on many episodes of The Andy Griffith Show (1960) or a seemingly amiable satanist in Rosemary's Baby (1968).

Born in Mattoon, Illinois, she developed an early interest in the theater. ...

--The Andy Griffith Show--

Actress | Come Back, Little Sheba

Character actress Shirley Booth could play everything in all facets of show business, whether it was Miss Duffy the Tavern Owner's Man Crazy Daughter on "Duffy's Tavern", the sassy maid on TV's Hazel (1961) or the pathetic woman in Come Back, Little Sheba (1952). For those who only know her through...

--Hazel--

Actress | Black Mama White Mama

Most famous for her role in the 1972 low-budget shocker Frogs (1972) (a far cry from her role on Hazel (1961)), Lynn Borden rarely garnered large or leading roles. She was originally going to play the lead in 1964's Roustabout (1964) but this did not materialize. She had a memorable role in the ...

--Hazel--

Actress | Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

The daughter of a retired sea captain and his much-younger wife, actress Norma Varden was born and raised in turn-of-the-century London. A piano prodigy, she studied in Paris and appeared in concert in England during her teenage years. Acting, however, became her career of choice, studying at the ...

--Hazel--

Actress | Mr. Mom

Ann Jillian was born on January 29, 1950 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA as Ann Jura Nauseda to Lithuanian immigrant parents. Her career began as a child actress in the 1960s. She is possibly best known for her role as Cassie Cranston on the 1980s sitcom It's a Living (1980). She is also known for...

--Hazel--

Actress | Airplane!

Born Barbara Lillian Combes, she attended Los Angeles Junior College in the mid-1930s and then moved to New York City, where she worked as a model. In 1945, she received a contract from MGM, and she appeared in several films during the late 1940s and 1950s, sometimes without screen credit. In the ...

--Leave It To Beaver--

Actress | Gilligan's Island

Born in New York City, Tina was still in her teens when she burst upon the national scene by starring on Broadway in the critically acclaimed box-office success "Li'l Abner", based on the famous comic strip character created by Al Capp. Stellar reviews caught the attention of Hollywood and Tina ...

--Gilligan's Island--

Actress | Gilligan's Island

A wholesome beauty with comedic appeal, Dawn Elberta Wells was born on October 18, 1938 in Reno, Nevada. Wells' childhood was a happy and healthy one. She and her mother grew their own fruits and vegetables in their gardens and Dawn rode horses. In her high school years, she was the class treasurer...

--Gilligan's Island--

Actress | Gilligan's Island

Natalie Schafer got her start doing Broadway plays then making the move to the big screen. Even before Gilligan's Island (1964), she was typecast in roles as society women, or elegant, fashionable ladies. It was her role as "Eunice 'Lovey' Wentworth Howell" wife of multi-millionaire Thurston Howell...

--Gilligan's Island--

Actress | Death Wish

One of the most natural beauties of the 1960s with a gentle voice and personality to match, blonde Hope Lange was born in Redding Ridge, Connecticut, and performed on stage from the age of nine. She studied both drama and dance under Martha Graham, did some modeling and then worked in stock ...

--The Ghost And Mrs. Muir--

Actress | Mary Poppins

Reta Shaw is best known to television audiences as Hope Lange's housekeeper in the TV series The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1968). Disney fans will remember her as one of the singing domestics in the Oscar-winning masterpiece Mary Poppins (1964). While she never achieved stardom as a leading lady, she ...

--The Ghost And Mrs Muir--

Actress | Ordinary People

Mary Tyler Moore was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, on December 29, 1936. Moore's family relocated to California when she was eight. Her childhood was troubled, due in part to her mother's alcoholism. The eldest of three siblings, she attended a Catholic high school and married upon her graduation, in...

--The Dick Van Dyke Show--

Actress | The Dick Van Dyke Show

Rose Marie was a legend of show business, with a career stretching 90 years, since her debut as her self in a Vitaphone musical short that appeared on the bill with The Jazz Singer (1927) at its premiere in 1927. According to Rose Marie, when she approached Al Jolson at The Wintergarden Theater in ...

--The Dick Van Dyke Show--

Actress | Grumpier Old Men

Ann Morgan Guilbert was best known to television audiences as the Rob and Laura Petrie's neighbor Millie Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) and as Fran Fein's feisty Grandma Yetta on The Nanny (1993). She gave memorable performances in film and television and on stage throughout her ...

--The Dick Van Dyke Show--

Actress | It's a Wonderful Life

Donna Reed was born in the midwestern town of Denison, Iowa, on January 27, 1921, as Donna Belle Mullenger. A small town - a population of less than 3,000 people - Denison was located by the Boyer River, and was the county seat of Crawford County. Donna grew up as a farm girl, much like many young ...

--The Donna Reed Show--

Actress | The Donna Reed Show

Vibrant, increasingly lovely teen fave Shelley Fabares withstood the test of time by transitioning successfully into adult parts unlike many of her 1960s "teen queen" peers who faded quickly into the memory books. She was born Michele Marie Fabares on January 19, 1944, in sunny Santa Monica, ...

--The Donna Reed Show--

Actress | Julia

One of television's premier African-American series stars, elegant actress, singer and recording artist Diahann Carroll was born Carol Diann (or Diahann) Johnson on July 17, 1935, in the Bronx, New York. The first child of John Johnson, a subway conductor, and Mabel Faulk Johnson, a nurse; music ...

--Julia--

Actress | Psycho

Quite a familiar lady and notorious busybody on 1950s and '60s TV and film, petite, red-headed character actress Lurene Tuttle was born in Pleasant Lake, Indiana and raised on a ranch close to the Arizona border. Her father, O.V. Tuttle, started out as a performer in minstrels but found a job as a ...

--Julia--

Actress | The Man Who Knew Too Much

Carolyn Jones was born April 28, 1930, in Amarillo, Texas. Her mother was Jeannette and her sister was Bette (Moriarty). She was an imaginative child, much like her mother. In 1934, her father abandoned the family and her mother moved them in with her parents, also in Amarillo. As a child Carolyn ...

--The Addams Family--

Actress | Forrest Gump

Sally Margaret Field was born November 6, 1946 in Pasadena, California, to actress Margaret Field (née Morlan) and salesman Richard Dryden Field. Her parents divorced in 1950 and her mother then married stuntman Jock Mahoney, and they had a daughter, Princess O'Mahoney. She also has a brother, ...

--Gidget-- --The Flying Nun--

Actress | Will & Grace

Despite remaining on the periphery of character stardom for a number of years, New York-born character actress Shelley Morrison, who enjoyed a long and varied career on film, TV and the stage for decades, finally became a household favorite as the argumentative, razor-tongued maid Rosario Salazar ...

--The Flying Nun--

Actress | Our Man Flint

A native Californian of Swedish descent, Sigrid Valdis (the professional stage name of Patricia Olson) was raised in the Westwood/Brentwood suburbs of Los Angeles, and attended many exclusive private schools, including Marymount High School. Upon graduation she moved to Europe, then to New York ...

--Hogan's Heroes--

Actress | I Dream of Jeannie

Barbara Eden, born Barbara Jean Morehead in Tucson, Arizona, became one of America's most endearing and enduring actresses. A graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco, California, Eden would go on to study at San Francisco's City College as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of ...

--I Dream Of Jeannie--

Actress | Mister Ed

Connie Hines was born on March 24, 1931 in Dedham, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for Mister Ed (1961), Thunder in Carolina (1960) and Sea Hunt (1958). She was married to Lee Savin. She died on December 18, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.

--Mr. Ed--

Actress | Where the Boys Are

Discovered by a talent scout at Northwestern University in 1958, Paula Prentiss was signed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer and teamed with Jim Hutton in a string of comedies. She rapidly became one of the best American comediennes of the 1960s. Her funny voice inflections, free acting style and brunette ...

--He And She--

Actress | Bewitched

Elizabeth Montgomery was born into show business. Her parents were screen actor Robert Montgomery and Broadway actress Elizabeth Allen. Elizabeth graduated from the Spence School in New York City and attended the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. After three years' intensive training, she made ...

--Bewitched--

Actress | Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte

Agnes was born of Anglo/Irish ancestry near Boston, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister (her mother was a mezzo-soprano) who encouraged her to perform in church pageants. Aged three, she sang 'The Lord is my Shepherd' on a public stage and seven years later joined the St. Louis Municipal Opera ...

--Bewitched--

Actress | To Kill a Mockingbird

Whether portraying a glum, withering wallflower, a drab and dowdy housewife, a klutzy maid or a cynical gossip, eccentric character comedienne Alice Ghostley had the ability to draw laughs from the skimpiest of material with a simple fret or whine. Making a name for herself on the Tony-winning ...

--Bewitched--

Actress | Bewitched

Erin Murphy was born on June 17, 1964 in Encino, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Bewitched (1964), Deadly Fighters (1979) and Youthful Daze (2012). She has been married to Darren Dunckel since May 1998. They have three children. She was previously married to Eric Eden and Terry Rogers.

--Bewitched--

Actress | Strangers on a Train

Forever embraced as the mumbling, bumbling Aunt Clara on the Bewitched (1964) television series, endearing character actress Marion Lorne had a five-decade-long career on the stage before ever becoming a familiar TV household name.

Born Marion Lorne MacDougall on August 12, 1883 (other sources list ...

--Bewitched--

Actress | Strangers on a Train

Kasey Rogers was born Josie Imogene Rogers in Morehouse, Missouri, to Ina Mae (Mocabee) and Eben Elijah Rogers. She moved with her family to California at age two and a half. She got the nickname "Casey" when her neighborhood playmates discovered how well she handled a baseball bat ("I could hit a ...

--Bewitched--

Actress | Get Smart

Barbara Feldon was born on March 12, 1933 in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress, known for Get Smart (1965), Fitzwilly (1967) and Smile (1975). She was previously married to Lucien Verdoux-Feldon.

--Get Smart--

Actress | A Bug's Life

Diller put out an autobiography in 2005 in her late 80s, and entitled it "Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse", which pretty much says it all when recalling the misfit life and career of the fabulous, one-of-a-kind Phyllis Diller. It may inspire all those bored, discouraged and/or directionless ...

--The Phyllis Diller Show--

Actress | The Ten Commandments

Yvonne De Carlo was born Margaret Yvonne Middleton on September 1, 1922 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was three when her father abandoned the family. Her mother turned to waitressing in a restaurant to make ends meet--a rough beginning for an actress who would, one day, be one of ...

--The Munsters--

Actress | Bullet for a Badman

Beverley Owen was born Beverley Ogg in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Thursday, May 13th, 1937. In high school and college, she was always doing television, theatre, and radio programs. She then moved to New York to pursue an acting career after graduating from the University of Michigan. She was fired many a ...

--The Munsters--

Actress | Our Miss Brooks

Eve Arden was born Eunice Mary Quedens in Mill Valley, California (near San Francisco), and was interested in show business from an early age. At 16, she made her stage debut after quitting school to joined a stock company. After appearing in minor roles in two films under her real name, Eunice ...

--The Mothers-In-Law--

Actress | Baby Geniuses

Singing funny girl Kaye Ballard was born to perform...and perform she did, in a career spanning eight decades. With a strong comedy background and tunnel mouth to rival Martha Raye, the broad and bouncy trouper drew laughs on the musical stage, in night clubs, in recordings and on TV. As the ...

--The Mothers-In-Law--

Actress | Ski Party

Actress, author, producer, and Photoplay's "Most Popular Actress of 1961," the daughter of Ice Capades skating stars and choreographers Nathan and Edith Walley. She was skating with her parents at age three, but resisted her father's urging to continue, opting to study acting at the New York ...

--The Mothers-In-Law--

Actress | National Lampoon's Vacation

Imogene Coca is best remembered for playing opposite Sid Caesar in the live 90-minute Your Show of Shows (1950), which ran every Saturday night in regular season on NBC from February 1950 to June 1954. Their repertoire of comedy acts included the very memorable, hilarious, timeless and ...

--It's About Time-- --Grindl--

Actress | Valley of the Dolls

Patty Duke was born Anna Marie Duke on December 14, 1946 in Elmhurst, New York, to Frances Margaret (McMahon), a cashier, and John Patrick Duke, a cab driver and handyman. She is of Irish, and one eighth German, descent. Her acting career began when she was introduced to her brother Ray Duke's ...

--The Patty Duke Show--

Actress | Invisible Invaders

A true sunny delight, actress Jean Byron will be fondly remembered for her three-season-long role as vivacious "Natalie Lane", the grounding mom of "identical cousin" Patty Duke on The Patty Duke Show (1963), the one who was always around to help teenage Patty regroup when "a hot dog made her lose ...

--The Patty Duke Show--

Actress | The Alligator People

Born in Santa Cruz, California, Beverly Garland studied dramatics under Anita Arliss, the sister of renowned stage and screen star George Arliss. She acted in little theater in Glendale then in Phoenix after her family relocated to Arizona. Garland also worked in radio and appeared scantily clad in...

--My Three Sons--

Actress | Walking Tall

Dawn Lyn made her acting debut at age four in the low-budget, independent Cry Blood, Apache (1970). It wasn't until she was 12 that she discovered she had played a Native American boy in the movie. She was the original Prudence in the pilot for Nanny and the Professor (1970) TV series. By the time ...

--My Three Sons--

Actress | Once Upon a Time in America

Susan Ker Weld was born on August 27, 1943 (Friday), in New York City. When her father, Lathrop Motley Weld, died three years later at the age of 49, the cute little girl, whose name by then had somehow been transmogrified into "Tuesday", took over the role of the family breadwinner. She became a ...

--The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis--

Actress | Hang 'Em High

A native Chicagoan of Polish descent, veteran character actress Arlene Golonka seemed destined for acting from the start, having been named after silver screen actress Arline Judge, and her childhood was dominated by singing and acting classes. She headed to New York at the age of 19 and began a ...

--Mayberry R.F.D.--

Actress | The Adventures of Smilin' Jack

Poised and lovely Marjorie Lord started her long and varied career on the Broadway stage and in "B" films as a sweet-natured ingénue. Born Marjorie F. Wollenberg, of German and Czech heritage, on July 26, 1918 in San Francisco, California, her family transported themselves to New York City when she...

--Make Room For Daddy--

Actress | The Little Mermaid

She has played everything from chatterbox wives to wicked stepsisters on TV, and from Gertrude Stein to Shakespeare's Falstaff on stage. At age 80 plus, the plucky comedienne shows no signs of stopping any time soon. The riotous Pat Carroll was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1927, the daughter of...

--Make Room For Daddy--

Actress | Batman

Julia Chalene Newmeyer was born on August 16, 1933, in Los Angeles, California, the eldest of three children. Her father, Don, was a one-time professional football player (LA Buccaneers, 1926), her mother, Helene Jesmer, was a star of the Follies of 1920 and later became a fashion designer under ...

--My Living Doll--

Actress | Hang 'Em High

This enigmatic Stockholm-born beauty had everything going for her, including a rapidly rising film and TV career. Yet on April 30, 1970, at only 35, Inger Stevens would become another tragic Hollywood statistic -- added proof that fame and fortune do not always lead to happiness. Over time, a ...

--The Farmer's Daughter--

Actress | Laugh-In

Trained in music and dance, tiny-framed, pixie-like Judy Carne was born Joyce Botterill in Northampton, England on April 27, 1939, the daughter of a grocer. Trained in dance, she appeared in music revues as a teenager and changed her name at the advice of a dance teacher.

Slowly building up a career...

--Love On A Rooftop--

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Source: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls053494661/

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