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Mabel Albertson

 
Actor: Mabel Albertson
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  • Born: 1901 in Lynn, Massachusetts
  • Died: Sep 28, 1982
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '50s-'70s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Romance
  • Career Highlights: The Gazebo, Home Before Dark, Gang War
  • First Major Screen Credit: Gang War (1928)

Biography

No one played supercilious, judgmental mothers-in-law with as much enthusiasm as Mabel Albertson. The sister of comic actor Jack Albertson, Albertson made a few tentative stabs at a film career in the 1920s and 1930s, but chose instead to concentrate on stage work. Returning to Hollywood in 1953, she became a semi-regular on several television series, and also contributed sharply honed character performances in films like Home Before Dark (1958) (as Jean Simmons' disastrously well-meaning stepmother) and The Gazebo (1959) (as a garrulous real estate agent). She hit her stride in the 1960s playing the self-pitying mother and mother-in-law of such TV actors as Tom Ewell, Dick Van Dyke, and Bewitched's Dick York and Dick Sargent. Though the roles may have been stereotyped, she always managed to make them hilariously -- and sometimes disturbingly -- real. Mabel Albertson died of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 81. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Mabel Albertson
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Mabel Albertson
Born July 24, 1901(1901-07-24)
Lynn, Massachusetts USA
Died September 28, 1982 (aged 81)
Santa Monica, California USA

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

Albertson was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the daughter of Russian-born Jewish immigrants Flora Craft and Leopold Albertson.[1][2] Her brother was actor Jack Albertson. Albertson's mother, a stock actress, supported the family by working in a shoe factory.[1]

She was best known as Phyllis Stephens, Darrin's interfering mother on the television sitcom Bewitched, who inevitably ended her stays at the Stephens' home by saying, "Frank [her husband], take me home. I've got a sick headache."

She also played Donald Hollinger's mother on That Girl, Howard Sprague's mother on The Andy Griffith Show, Dick Preston's mother on The New Dick Van Dyke Show, and Mrs. Van Hoskins, a wealthy woman whose jewels are stolen, in the screwball comedy, What's Up, Doc? (1972).

Her son George Englund was once married to Cloris Leachman. Her grandson George Englund, Jr. was once married to Sharon Stone.

She died of Alzheimer's disease on September 28, 1982 at the age of 81, in Santa Monica, California. Mabel Albertson's remains were cremated and scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

References

  1. ^ a b Jack Albertson's Kinship to Cloris Leachman and Sharon Stone
  2. ^ Jack Spreads A Little Sunshine; Jack Spreads Sunshine - Free Preview - The New York Times

External links

v • d • e
Bewitched
Main cast
Recurring cast
Related Productions


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Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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