697

Born: October 17, 1902

A little lady with a large career.  Before she became known to the world as "Granny" on "The Beverly Hillbillies" she had a long career in vaudeville, radio (mostly with Bob Hope) and films spanning between the 1930's thru the 1960's.  On television she appeared on such programs as "The NBC Comedy Hour", "Make Room for Daddy", "The Real McCoys", "Bringing Up Buddy", "My Three Sons", "G.E. True Theater", "Wagon Train", "The Andy Williams Show", "The Danny Kaye Show", "The Merv Griffin Show", "The Hollywood Squares", "Password All-Stars", "The Joey Bishop Show", "The Hollywood Palace", "The Dean Martin Comedy Hour", "The Bob Hope Show" and "Love, American Style."

"The Beverly Hillbillies" began in 1962 and ran until 1971 producing 274 episodes.  The actress was present in every episode of the series.  All though she is often referred to as "Granny Clampett", her actual name was Daisy Moses, she was Jed Clampett's (Buddy Ebsen) mother-in-law.  "Granny" also made one appearance on "Mister Ed" in 1965 and two appearances on "Petticoat Junction" in 1968.  Also during the 1968-1970 television seasons "Petticoat Junction" and "Green Acres" star Frank Cady brought his character of Sam Drucker to "The Beverly Hillbillies" in a series of stories that found Granny believing that Mr. Drucker was going to propose.  In the end Cady appeared in 10 episodes of the show.  The rivals were Cousin Pearl Bodine (Bea Benaderet) during season 1 and Mrs. Margaret Drysdale (Harriet E. MacGibbon) during seasons 1 thru season 7.  The show also starred Donna Douglas as Elly May Clampett, Max Baer, Jr. as Jehtro Bodine, Nancy Kulp as Miss Jane Hathaway and Raymond Bailey as Milburn Drysdale.   

In 1972 while appearing in the Broadway show Pippin the actress collapsed on stage.  The cause was a stroke and it was later learned she was suffering from a brain tumor.  She passed away on April 26, 1973 at the age of 70.  

In Memoriam Remembers:
Irene Ryan        

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the Cast of "Make Room for Daddy" / "The Danny Thomas Show" (583)

It was one of the longest running family sitcoms in television history.  Right there along side "I Love Lucy", "The Honeymooners", "Father Knows Best" and "My Little Margie" it was one of the most beloved programs of the day.  It began on ABC as "Make Room for Daddy" on September 29, 1953.  After 120 episodes the title changed to "The Danny Thomas Show" and in 1957 the program moved to CBS.  After a healthy eleven year run the show ended on April 27, 1964 after producing 351 episodes total.  In 1970 a majority of the cast returned for the show "Make Room for Granddaddy" which lasted from 1970 to 1971 producing 24 episodes.  The cast was headed up by Danny Thomas who played nightclub entertainer Danny Williams.  Jean Hagen played his wife Margaret, Rusty Hamer played his son Rusty and Sherry Jackson played his daughter Terry.  Jackson played Terry from 1953 to 1958 followed by Penny Parker who played the role from
Read more

Doris Packer (May 30, 1904 - March 31, 1979)

She began in New York on Broadway and then started appearing on radio. Some of her radio credits include "Henry Aldrich" and "Mr. & Mrs. North." When she became a widow in 1953 she relocated to California where she began appearing on film and on television. Her first film was Meet Me at the Fair. She also appeared in The Perils of Pauline in 1967. She is best remembered as Mrs. Cornelia Rayburn, Beaver's Principal on "Leave it to Beaver." She also had a recurring role on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." Her final film appearance was in Shampoo in 1975... Other Television Credits: "The Great Gildersleeve" "Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre" "The Bob Cummings Show" "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" "I Love Lucy" "Lux Video Theatre" "The Jack Benny Program" "The Thin Man" "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" "Maverick" &quo
Read more