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Mabel Ida Albertson (July 24, 1901 – September 28, 1982) was an American actress.

Early years

Mabel Ida Albertson was born on Wednesday, July 24, 1901, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, to her expecting parents, Flora Craft and Leopold Albertson, who were Russian-born Jewish immigrants. Her younger brother was actor Jack Albertson. Albertson's mother, a stock actress, supported the family by working in a shoe factory.

Albertson graduated from the New England School of Speech and Expression.

Albertson 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."

Television

Albertson was known for her role as Phyllis Stephens, Darrin's neurotic, interfering mother on the television sitcom Bewitched, who invariably ended her stays at the Stephens' home by saying to her husband, "Frank, take me home. I have a sick headache." She appeared in at least one episode of the courtroom drama series, Perry Mason: as Carrie Wilson in the season 6, 1962 episode entitled "The Case of the Hateful Hero".

Albertson played the mother of Barbara Whiting Smith and Margaret Whiting in Those Whiting Girls. She also played 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, and Dick Van Dyke's mother on The New Dick Van Dyke Show.

Radio

Albertson was heard on Dress Rehearsal, Joe Rines' Dress Rehearsal, and the Phil Baker Show. She was also a writer for radio programs.

Film

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, About Mrs. Leslie, Forever Darling, The Long, Hot Summer, Don't Give Up the Ship, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and as Mrs. Van Hoskins, a wealthy woman whose jewels are stolen, in the screwball comedy film, What's Up, Doc? (1972).

Stage

Albertson's Broadway credits include The Egg (1962) and Xmas in Las Vegas (1965).

Personal life

Albertson's son George Englund was once married to actress Cloris Leachman.

Death

According to Cloris Leachman, Mabel Albertson died on Tuesday, September 28, 1982, Albertson died of Alzheimer's disease at the 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, who had died 10 months before, also had his ashes scattered there.

References

1. ^ "Jack Albertson's Kinship to Cloris Leachman". genealogymagazine.com. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
2. Berkvist, Robert (1973-01-07). "Jack Spreads A Little Sunshine - Jack Spreads Sunshine". select.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
3. ^ "Mabel Albertson scrapbook: 1933-1939". The New York Public Library Archives & Manuscripts. New York Public Library. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
4. Leadabrand, Russ (December 17, 1967). "Mabel Albertson Enjoys Roles In Variety of Stage Plays". California, Pasadena. Independent Star-News. p. 43. Retrieved February 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. [REDACTED]
5. ^ Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7. P. 6.
6. "The Case of the Hateful Hero" details, imdb.com; accessed January 14, 2016.
7. Bird, Bill (July 1, 1957). "A Wedding a Day on TV". California, Pasadena. Pasadena Independent. p. 26. Retrieved February 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. [REDACTED]
8. Sies, Luther F. (2014). Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-5149-4. Pp. 203, 350, 520.
9. ^ "Veteran Actress Is Actually A Softy". Texas, Lubbock. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. February 22, 1970. p. 84. Retrieved February 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. [REDACTED]
10. Clip from Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki on YouTube
11. "Mabel Albertson". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
12. ^ Mabel Albertson at IMDb
13. "Mabel Albertson is dead at 81". California, Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz Sentinel. September 30, 1982. p. 10. Retrieved February 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. [REDACTED]

External links

• Mabel Albertson at IMDb
• Template:Amg name
• Mabel Albertson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Mabel Albertson at Find a Grave
• Mabel Albertson scrapbook, 1933-1939, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

This article about a United States film and television actor born in the 1900s is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

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• 1901 births
• 1982 deaths
• American film actresses
• American television actresses
• Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
• Disease-related deaths in California
• Jewish American actresses
• Actresses from Massachusetts
• American people of Russian-Jewish descent
• 20th-century American actresses
• American screen actor, 1900s birth stubs