This series provided Shirley Booth with a suitable character with which she could apply her undeniable acting talent towards making HAZEL a truly believable version of the nosey, know-it-all but loveable maid. Based on the once nationally syndicated comic strip character by Ted Key, Booth won an Emmy for her portrayal which she added to her Oscar and Tony awards. In an interesting revelation discovered after Booth's death, for obvious reasons, she took a full decade off her birthdate, making her over 65 by the series cancellation in 1965! The supporting actors weren't exactly inspired: Don DeFore and Whitney Blake were rather wooden as George and Dorothy Baxter, and Bobby Buntrock was rather annoying as Harold, while the color looks cheap and faded. Performers such as Norma Varden, Cathy Lewis (as George's snotty shrike sister Deidre) and Maudie Prickett (as Rosie, Hazel's maid friend) came off marginally better. Mr. Griffin, anyone?
Review of Hazel
