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thatcrazycajunWith thanks to redaxe for the tip: It is my sad duty to report a television icon of our childhoods (at least, if you're younger than about 50) has died. Yesterday, the world lost Alice Ghostley, veteran character actress best known as Samantha Stephens' eccentric-but-lovable Aunt Esmerelda on Bewitched, and later as the Sugarbaker sisters' equally dotty friend Bernice Clifton on Designing Women. She died at 81 in her Studio City, CA home following a series of strokes and a long battle with colon cancer. The Associated Press reports the story here.
So beloved were she and her most famous role that not one, but two later shows featuring witch characters paid homage to her by offering her guest spots: NBC's over-the-top daytime soap opera Passions and ABC's long-running prime-time sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch, based (loosely) on the Archie Comics character. IMDB.com's page on Ms. G. also offers that she accepted her pal Maggie Smith's Academy Award for her in 1969, the latter being in London filming at the time she was honored for her perf in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Probably the closest the poor old girl ever got to winning an Oscar® herself, which is a damned shame.
One hopes that her old Bewitched castmate Agnes Moorehead (Endora) will look her up for tea when she gets to heaven. Thanks for all the laughs, ma'am.
redaxe for the tip: It is my sad duty to report a television icon of our childhoods (at least, if you're younger than about 50) has died. Yesterday, the world lost Alice Ghostley, veteran character actress best known as Samantha Stephens' eccentric-but-lovable Aunt Esmerelda on Bewitched, and later as the Sugarbaker sisters' equally dotty friend Bernice Clifton on Designing Women. She died at 81 in her Studio City, CA home following a series of strokes and a long battle with colon cancer. The Associated Press reports the story here.So beloved were she and her most famous role that not one, but two later shows featuring witch characters paid homage to her by offering her guest spots: NBC's over-the-top daytime soap opera Passions and ABC's long-running prime-time sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch, based (loosely) on the Archie Comics character. IMDB.com's page on Ms. G. also offers that she accepted her pal Maggie Smith's Academy Award for her in 1969, the latter being in London filming at the time she was honored for her perf in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Probably the closest the poor old girl ever got to winning an Oscar® herself, which is a damned shame.
One hopes that her old Bewitched castmate Agnes Moorehead (Endora) will look her up for tea when she gets to heaven. Thanks for all the laughs, ma'am.
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Date: 2007-09-23 12:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-24 02:58 am (UTC)