Mabel Ida Albertson (July 24, 1901 – September 28, 1982) was an American actress of television, stage, radio and film who portrayed Phyllis Stephens in the TV sitcom Bewitched. She also appeared in TV's The Time Tunnel (S1:E30, "Town of Terror").
Early years
Mabel Ida Albertson was born on July 24, 1901, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, to Flora (Craft) and Leopold Albertson, Russian-born Jewish immigrants. Her younger brother was actor Jack Albertson, who portrayed Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Their mother, a stock actress, supported the family by working in a shoe factory.
She traced her show business career back to age 13, when she was paid $5 per performance to play piano behind palm trees for a reader. She later moved to California and became involved with the Pasadena Playhouse.
She "moved directly into professional stage work in stock, vaudeville, and night clubs, appearing with Jimmy Durante." She also played the dean of a women's college in an episode of The Tab Hunter Show, Susannah's mother in Accidental Family, Alice's mother in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Donald Hollinger's mother on That Girl, Irene Brady in The Tom Ewell Show, Howard Sprague's mother on The Andy Griffith Show, Miss Ramsey on Hazel, Mrs. White on The Lucy Show episode "Lucy and the Missing Stamp", Eileen Ruby, Harry Ruby's wife, in Make Room For Daddy episode "Danny Goes On USO Tour", Dick Van Dyke's mother on The New Dick Van Dyke Show, and Ethel Kendricks on the Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Anyone Who Hates Kids and Dogs", Gertrude Mills on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. Rawhide Season 2 Episode 24 as Kalla, Gypsy Queen. In the 1957 episode of Gunsmoke, "Cows and Cribs", she played Ma Smalley, a kindly boarding house owner. In the 1963 episode of Gunsmoke, "Kate Heller", she played the title character, as well as "Gody Baines" in a 1961 episode (Long, Long Trail). In 1966 she played Madam Adella in the Bonanza episode "A Dollar's Worth of Trouble". In Season 1 (1952/53) of Adventures of Superman, she played Kate White, Perry White's sister in the episode "Drums of Death" originally aired January 16, 1953.
A memorable early film role for Albertson was as a proper banker's wife who is repulsed by the bucolic title characters in Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955). She was also seen in She's Back on Broadway, So This Is Love, About Mrs. Leslie, Forever, Darling, The Long, Hot Summer, Don't Give Up the Ship, She was also a writer for radio programs. Albertson's Broadway credits include The Egg (1962) and Xmas in Las Vegas (1965).
Death
According to her former daughter-in-law, Cloris Leachman, Mabel Albertson died on September 28, 1982, of Alzheimer's disease at St. John's Hospital, after suffering seven years of poor health in Santa Monica, California at age 81. Her ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean. Her brother, Jack Albertson had been working and became a well-known actor in Hollywood until he died a few months prior to her death after succumbing to colon cancer.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable"
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! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
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|1928|| Gang War || Reporter in the Prologue ||
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|1939|| Mutiny on the Blackhawk || The Widow ||
|-
|1952|| About Face || Mrs. Carter || Uncredited
|-
|1952|| My Pal Gus || Mrs. Frisbee || Uncredited
|-
|1953|| Adventures of Superman || Kate White || Season 1 - Episode 18 - Drums of Death
|-
|1953|| She's Back on Broadway || Velma Trumbull ||
|-
|1953|| So This Is Love || Mary Garden ||
|-
|1954|| About Mrs. Leslie || Mrs. Sims ||
|-
|1954|| Black Widow || Sylvia || Uncredited
|-
|1955|| Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki || Teresa Andrews ||
|-
|1955|| The Cobweb || Regina Mitchell-Smyth ||
|-
|1956|| Ransom! || Mrs. Partridge ||
|-
|1956|| Forever, Darling || Society Reporter ||
|-
|1957|| Four Girls in Town || Mrs. Conway ||
|-
|1957|| Man Afraid || Maggie ||
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|1958|| The Female Animal || Irma Jones ||
|-
|1958|| The Long, Hot Summer || Elizabeth Stewart ||
|-
|1958|| Home Before Dark || Inez Winthrop ||
|-
|1959|| The Hangman || Amy Hopkins ||
|-
|1959|| Don't Give Up the Ship || Mrs. Trabert ||
|-
|1959|| The Gazebo || Miss Chandler ||
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|1959|| Have Gun Will Travel || Madame Chalon ||
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|1960|| All the Fine Young Cannibals || Mrs. McDowall ||
|-
|1961|| All in a Night's Work || Mrs. Kingsley Sr. ||
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|1962|| Period of Adjustment || Mrs. Alice McGill ||
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|1966|| A Fine Madness || Chairwoman ||
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|1967|| Daniel Boone || Mrs. Abigail Adam’s || Episode: “Take the Southbound Stage”
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|1967|| Barefoot in the Park || Harriet ||
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|1970|| On a Clear Day You Can See Forever || Mrs. Hatch ||
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|1972|| What's Up, Doc? || Mrs. Van Hoskins ||
|}
References
External links
- Mabel Albertson scrapbook, 1933-1939, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts