Alice Ghostley's career dates to the earliest days of American broadcast television, making her television debut on an episode of Lights Out in 1951. She made guest appearances on television shows throughout the Fifties and the early Sixties. She was one of the ugly stepsisters in the 1957 television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, and she was a regular on Jackie Gleason's American Scene Magazine from 1962 to 1964. It was in 1967 that she appeared in her first regular role on sitcom, the short-lived Captain Nice.
Captain Nice starred William Daniels (later of St. Elsewhere and Boy Meets World), who played mild mannered police chemist Carter Nash, who discovers a formula that grants him superpowers. Alice Ghostley played Carter's domineering mother, who pressures him into using his new discovery to fight crime. Poor Carter wasn't the only one henpecked by Mrs. Nash, as she henpecked his father (played by Byron Foulger), who usually took refuge behind a newspaper. Alice Ghostley was totally convincing in the role, which was made all the more remarkable by the fact that she was hardly old enough to be William Daniels's mother (she was only four years older than William Daniels).
Alice Ghostley's next major role was that of the witch Esmerelda on Bewitched. Esmerelada was a sharp contrast to Mrs. Nash on Captain Nice. She was hired by the witch Sam (Elizabeth Montgomery) and her mortal husband Darrin as a maid and a babysitter for their children Tabitha and Adam. Esmerelda was extremely timid, and apt to fade from view when she was nervous. She was very inept when it came to witchcraft, and her sneezes could come with unexpected results.
Debuting as Esmerelda on Bewitched in 1969, her time in the role over lapped with he time as Cousin Alice on Mayberry R.F.D, on which she debuted in 1970. For those unfamiliar with the show, Mayberry R.F.D. was essentially The Andy Griffith Show without Andy Griffith. Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) and his son Opie (Ron Howard) were replaced by farmer Sam Jones (Ken Berry) and his son Mike (Buddy Foster). The rest of the cast of The Andy Griffith Show remained with Mayberry R.F.D., including Frances Bavier as Aunt Bea, who went from being Andy's housekeeper to being Sam's housekeeper. It was following the second season that Frances Bavier retired. She was replaced by Alice Ghostley as Sam's Cousin Alice. Alice had served many years in the United States Army, and reached the rank of Sergeant. When she was discharged from the Army, she visited Sam in Mayberry and wound up staying on as his housekeeper. In many ways Alice was handier to have around that Aunt Bea ever was. Not only could she cook and clean, but she could even repair a car.
Bewitched and Mayberry R.F.D. weren't the only classic sitcoms on which Alice Ghostley appeared. She also had a recurring role as Bernice Clifton on Designing Women. Bernice was the best friend of the Sugarbaker sisters' mother, and more than a little eccentric. While she lived in a retirement community, she spent much of her time at the Sugarbaker's interior design firm. Among her eccentricities were sending the Sugarbakers health tips, claiming to have had wild encounters with various men, and entering the various individuals of Sugabaker & Associates in contests. Alice Ghostley was nominated for the 1992 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Bernice.
It is rare for many actors to have regular or semi-regular roles on multiple shows, but Alice Ghostley actually had even more recurring roles on shows than Captain Nice, Bewitched, Mayberry R.F.D., and Designing Women. She also had recurring roles on Temperatures Rising, Small Wonder, Evening Shade, and the soap opera Passions. She also appeared in such feature films as To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), The Graduate (1967), With Six You Get Eggroll (1968), and others. She was extremely prolific as an actress, probably because she was just so very good. As can be seen in the roles mentioned above, she could play a wide variety of characters. She could be a timid soul like Esmerelda, or domineering wife and mother like Mrs. Nash. She could be an efficient housekeeper and handyman like Cousin Alice or an eccentric like Bernice. If Alice Ghostley played such a large variety of roles, it was probably because she was just very good.
No comments:
Post a Comment