Alice Pearce (October 16, 1917 - March 3, 1966)

Even today she is remembered as one of television's nosiest neighbors. Alice Pearce began on Broadway in the 1940's. She played the role of Lucy Smeeler in the production On the Town and also played the role in the film version in 1949. She would go onto appear in 12 more films up through 1966. In 1949, she briefly hosted a music/humor variety show called "Alice Pearce." Her other television credits include "Van Camp's Little Show", "One Minute Please", "Toast of the Town", "Startime", "Girl Talk", Goodyear Television Playhouse", "The Jean Carroll Show", "Broadway Television Theatre", "The Motorola Television Hour", "Jamie", "Studio One", "Kraft Television Theatre", "The Real McCoys", "Hallmark Hall of Fame", "The Twilight Zone", "Shirley Temple's Storybook", "The Ann Sothern Show", "General Electric Theater", "Dennis the Menace", "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis", "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" and "Vacation Playhouse." In May of 1964 she underwent surgery for ovarian cancer. In September of that year she began appearing on the ABC sitcom "Bewitched." On "Bewitched" she played Gladys Kravitz, the nosy neighbor of the Stephens family (Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York). Gladys would always poke her nose in the window just in time to see Samantha use her witchcraft. By the time she ran to get husband Abner (George Tobias) all the witchcraft was over and Gladys looked like a kook. Pearce managed to keep her illness a secret during her run on the show. She wore layer upon layer or clothing to hide her frail body. Finally in March of 1966 she passed away. Later that year she was posthumously recognized for her work when she won an Emmy as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Her husband Paul Davis accepted on her behalf. The role of Gladys Kravitz was played by character actress Sandra Gould for the remainder of the series. Alice Pearce was a wonderful actress that had a great deal more to offer television than she got the chance to.