Women Of 50's Sitcoms
by dmclaughlinabq | created - 10 Jul 2013 | updated - 31 May 2019 | Public
1. Eve Arden
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 join a stock company. After appearing in minor roles in two films under her real name, Eunice ...
--Our Miss Brooks-- --The Eve Arden Show--
2. Frances Bavier
Actress | The Andy Griffith Show
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 Eve Arden Show--
3. Ethel Waters
Actress | Cabin in the Sky
The child of a teenage rape victim, Ethel Waters grew up in the slums of Philadelphia and neighboring cities, seldom living anywhere for more than a few weeks at a time. "No one raised me, " she recollected, "I just ran wild." She excelled not only at looking after herself, but also at singing and ...
--Beulah--
4. Hattie McDaniel
Actress | Gone with the Wind
After working as early as the 1910s as a band vocalist, Hattie McDaniel debuted as a maid in The Golden West (1932). Her maid-mammy characters became steadily more assertive, showing up first in Judge Priest (1934) and becoming pronounced in Alice Adams (1935). In this one, directed by George ...
--Beulah--
5. Gracie Allen
Actress | A Damsel in Distress
Gracie Allen was born on July 26, 1895 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for A Damsel in Distress (1937), The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950) and The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939). She was married to George Burns. She died on August 27, 1964 in ...
--The George Burns And Gracie Allen Show--
6. Lucille Ball
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, the daughter of Desiree Evelyn "DeDe" (Hunt) and Henry Durrell "Had" Ball. Her father died before she was four, and her mother worked ...
--I Love Lucy--
7. Vivian Vance
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 ...
--I Love Lucy--
8. Doris Singleton
Actress | Angel
Doris Singleton was born on September 29, 1919 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Angel (1960), The Red Skelton Hour (1951) and I Love Lucy (1951). She was married to Charles Isaacs. She died on June 26, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
--I Love Lucy--
9. Marion Lorne
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 ...
--Mr. Peepers--
10. Norma Crane
Actress | Fiddler on the Roof
Norma Crane was born on November 10, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Ben Casey (1961) and Banyon (1971). She was married to Herbert Sargent. She died on September 28, 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
--Mr. Peepers--
11. Georgann Johnson
Actress | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
Film, TV and stage actress Georgann Johnson was a product of Decorah High School, Luther College and Northwestern University. Her father, George, was a local plumbing contractor and an amateur actor. Georgann's specialization has been in the portrayal of the all-American girl/housewife and/or the ...
--Mr Peepers--
12. Gale Storm
Actress | Between Midnight and Dawn
The youngest of five children, and born with the drab, unlikely name of Josephine Cottle on April 5, 1922, this pleasantly appealing, Texas-born, auburn-haired beauty was only seventeen months old when her father, William, passed away. The family moved from Bloomington (her home town) to McDade (...
--My Little Margie--
13. Joan Davis
Actress | Hold That Ghost
Widely popular comedienne appeared in some movies and on radio in the 40s and on early television. She starred in the popular television series, I Married Joan (1952), with Jim Backus as her husband and her real-life daughter, Beverly Wills as her sister.
Joan died of a sudden heart attack in 1961. ...
--I Married Joan--
14. Audrey Meadows
Actress | The Honeymooners
Audrey Meadows was born in New York City as Audrey Cotter, the youngest of four children. After she was born, her family returned to Wu'chang, China, where they worked as missionaries. Her family returned to the US and settled in New England when Audrey was age 6, and she and sister Jayne Meadows ...
--The Honeymooners--
15. Joyce Randolph
Actress | The Honeymooners
Lovely, sweet-natured Joyce Randolph will forever be etched in the minds of "Golden Age" television viewers as the Bowery-like fourth party of the classic husband/wife quartet on the enduring TV family comedy The Honeymooners (1955) starring Jackie Gleason as the irrepressible hothead bus driver ...
--The Honeymooners--
16. Harriet Nelson
Actress | The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
Harriet Nelson will always have a secure place alongside Barbara Billingsley and Jane Wyatt in the "TV's Golden Age Mom Hall of Fame." For fourteen years, she, husband Ozzie Nelson, and their two boys, David Nelson and Ricky Nelson, were the quintessential role models of the '50s ideal nuclear ...
--The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet--
17. Janet Waldo
Actress | The Jetsons
Janet Waldo provided the quintessential voice of the swooning, overly dramatic teenager for numerous generations -- from the 1940s swinging babysitters to the 1960s groovy chick. A bouncy, perennially-youthful brunette, Janet Marie Waldo was born on February 4, 1919, in Grandview, Washington, and ...
--The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet--
18. Dorothy Abbott
Actress | Dragnet
Perennial starlet Dorothy Abbott was a sexy, vivacious, wide-smiling model, showgirl and actress who could brighten up a room. Unfortunately, her cinematic offerings wound up being pretty minimal and her last years were marred by depression and, ultimately, a tragic end.
She was born Dorothy E. ...
--The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet--
19. Marjorie Lord
Actress | Make Room for Daddy
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--
20. Sherry Jackson
Actress | The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima
Gorgeous, brown-eyed, chestnut-maned Sherry Jackson began her promising career as a pig-tailed, pleasant-looking child actress. Born in Idaho on February 15, 1942, she was the only daughter of four children born to Maurita Kathleen Gilbert and Curtis Loys Jackson, Sr. Her father died when she was 6...
--Make Room For Daddy--
21. Angela Cartwright
Actress | The Sound of Music
Born in England, Angela is the younger sister of actress Veronica Cartwright. As a child she was cast as the cute little stepdaughter, Linda Williams, on The Danny Thomas Show (1953). She was on the show from 1957 to 1964. After that, she was cast as Brigitta in the popular Julie Andrews movie The ...
--Make Room For Daddy--
22. Jean Hagen
Actress | Singin' in the Rain
Jean Shirley Verhagen (later shortened to Hagen) was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 3, 1923. Her father was a Dutch immigrant. Hagen and her family moved to Elkhart, Indiana when she was twelve; she subsequently graduated from Elkhart High School. Afterwards, she graduated from Northwestern ...
--Make Room For Daddy--
23. Mary Wickes
Actress | White Christmas
From the grand old school of wisecracking, loud and lanky Mary Wickes had few peers while forging a career as a salty scene-stealer. Her abrupt, tell-it-like-it-is demeanor made her a consistent audience favorite on every medium for over six decades. She was particularly adroit in film parts that ...
--Make Room For Daddy--
24. Phyllis Avery
Actress | The Red Skelton Show
Blue-eyed, blonde, demure-looking 50s leading lady, the daughter of screenwriter Stephen Morehouse Avery and his wife Evelyn. Phyllis was said to have spent her childhood in France and in California. After graduating, she studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and first appeared on...
--Meet Mr. McNutly aka The Ray Milland Show--
25. Ann Sothern
Actress | Lady Be Good
Ann Sothern's film career started as an extra in 1927. Originally a redhead, she began to bleach her hair blonde for comedy roles. After working at MGM and on Broadway, Ann was signed by Columbia Pictures for Let's Fall in Love (1933). The next year she would work with Eddie Cantor in his hit Kid ...
--Private Secretary--
26. Spring Byington
Actress | You Can't Take It with You
The possessor of one of Hollywood's gentlest faces and warmest voices, and about as sweet as Tupelo honey both on-and-off camera, character actress Spring Byington was seldom called upon to play callous or unsympathetic (she did once play a half-crazed housekeeper in Dragonwyck (1946)). Although ...
--December Bride--
27. Verna Felton
Actress | Sleeping Beauty
Verna Felton had extensive experience on the stage and in radio before she broke into film and television. Her trademarks was her distinctive husky voice and her no-nonsense attitude. She was quite in demand for voiceover work, as evidenced by her roles in Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (...
--December Bride--
28. Jane Wyatt
Actress | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Born in Campgaw, New Jersey, Jane Waddington Wyatt came from a New York family of social distinction (her father was a Wall Street investment banker and her mother was a drama critic). Jane was raised from the age of three months in New York City and attended the fashionable Chapin School and later...
--Father Knows Best--
29. Elinor Donahue
Actress | Pretty Woman
Tap dancing at the age of 16 months, pert and pretty Elinor Donahue has been entertaining audiences for six decades. Born Mary Eleanor Donahue in Tacoma, Washington, on April 19, 1937, she appeared as a radio singer and vaudeville dancer while a mere toddler, then was picked up by Universal Studios...
--Father Knows Best--
30. Barbara Billingsley
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--
31. Phyllis Kirk
Actress | Crime Wave
Of Danish descent and born in Syracuse, New York, Phyllis Kirk worked as a waitress and a perfume counter clerk before she began a modeling career. Stage roles ensued before Hollywood beckoned. She was a contract player at MGM and then Warner Brothers, where in her most famous role she was stalked ...
--The Thin Man--
32. Donna Reed
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--
33. Shelley Fabares
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--
34. Betty White
Actress | The Proposal
Betty White was born in Oak Park, Illinois, to Christine Tess (Cachikis), a homemaker, and Horace Logan White, a lighting company executive for the Crouse-Hinds Electric Company. She was of Danish, Greek, English, and Welsh descent.
Although she was best known as the devious Sue Ann Nivens on the ...
--Life With Elizabeth-- --Date With The Angels--
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