Dorothy Van | |
|---|---|
 as Aunt Effie on Mama's Family | |
| Born | Dorothy Helene Vanberryl January 10, 1928 Moline, Illinois, US |
| Died | May 16, 2002 (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, US |
| Resting place | Cremated |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, TV writer |
| Years active | 1946–1992 |
| Spouse | Jim Evering (1950–2000) |
| Children | 3 |
Dorothy Van (January 10, 1928 - May 16, 2002) was an American stage and TV actress who is best remembered for her comedic role as Aunt Effie Harper on the 1980s situation comedy Mama's Family . [1]
She was born Dorothy Helene Vanberryl in Moline, Illinois, to Elmer J. Vanberryl, a German post office worker, and Emeline Franks Vanberryl. As a child she spent considerable time watching the movies of the day. Her favorite actresses during this time were Irene Dunne, Loretta Young, and Bette Davis; and she remembered having a girlhood crush on Joel McCrea. She also enjoyed reading, writing, and painting. She was a devout Methodist, active in the church Sunday School at Christ United Methodist Church. Her father had suggested that upon completing high school, Dorothy should enroll in secretarial school, find a husband, and settle down. However, upon her 1946 graduation she pursued a stage career. Because her father did not approve of this decision she acted under the name "Dorothy Van" to avoid family embarrassment.
When she arrived at Broadway, she began as a chorus girl in musicals. She often appeared in uncredited roles in such plays as The Skin of Our Teeth , All My Sons , The Maids , The Heiress , The Shifting Heart , and The Mousetrap . After years of stage work, she made her movie debut playing an army nurse in Loose Shoes . Later in the decade she landed a recurring role as Aunt Effie to Vicki Lawrence's character of Thelma Harper on Mama's Family ; she appeared in seven episodes between 1983 and 1989.
Van also wrote for television. In 1985, she wrote two episodes for the sitcom Silver Spoons ; she also wrote episodes for Mama's Family , Punky Brewster , and Major Dad .
In 1992, Van retired from acting and writing. She and her husband continued living in Los Angeles; she worked in the St. Mark United Methodist Church as director of the church choir and Bible study sessions. She supported animal rights, the Republican Party, and civil rights for the elderly. In spite of her relatively few TV appearances, she took pride in receiving fan letters, which she kept for many years. She was close friends with Vicki Lawrence and with Ken Berry, who was also a native from her hometown, and she even became good friends with her childhood idol Shirley Temple who attended the same Methodist church in Los Angeles.
By 2000, Van had developed Parkinson's disease and was homebound. Van died in her Los Angeles home on May 16, 2002, at age seventy-four.
Eddi-Rue McClanahan was an American actress, comedienne, author and fashion designer. She was best known for her roles on television sitcoms, including Vivian Harmon on Maude (1972–78), Aunt Fran Crowley on Mama's Family (1983–84), and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls (1985–92), and its spin-off series The Golden Palace (1992–93).
Valerie Kathryn Harper was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut as a replacement in the musical Li'l Abner. She is best remembered for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) and its spinoff Rhoda (1974–1978). For her work on Mary Tyler Moore, she thrice received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and later received the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Rhoda.
Esther Elizabeth Rolle was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Florida Evans, on the CBS television sitcom Maude, for two seasons (1972–1974), and its spin-off series Good Times, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1976. In 1979, Rolle won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Special for the television film Summer of My German Soldier.
The Carol Burnett Show is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner. In 1975, frequent guest star Tim Conway became a regular cast member after Waggoner left the series. In 1977, Dick Van Dyke replaced Korman but it was agreed that he was not a match and he left after 10 episodes.
Mama's Family is an American sitcom television series starring Vicki Lawrence as Mama. The series is a spin-off of a recurring series of comedy sketches called "The Family" featured on The Carol Burnett Show (1967–78) and Carol Burnett & Company (1979). The sketches led to the television film Eunice, and finally the television series.
Mary Margaret Wood was an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best remembered for her performance as the title character in the CBS television series Mama (1949–1957), for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series; her starring role as Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, in The Story of Ruth (1960); and her final screen appearance as Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music (1965), for which she received nominations for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Vicki Lawrence, sometimes credited as Vicki Lawrence Schultz, is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for her character Mama. Lawrence also originated many other characters on CBS's The Carol Burnett Show from 1967 to 1978, the variety show's entire series run.
Dorothy Lyman is an American television actress, director, and producer. She is most known for her work as Gwen Frame on Another World, on All My Children as the original Opal Sue Gardner, as Rebecca Whitmore on Generations, and on the sitcom Mama's Family as Naomi Harper.
Kenneth Ronald Berry was an American actor, comedian, dancer, and singer. Berry starred on the television series F Troop (1965–1967), Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971) and Mama's Family (1983–1990). He also appeared on Broadway in The Billy Barnes Revue, headlined as George M. Cohan in the musical George M! and provided comic relief for the medical drama Dr. Kildare with Richard Chamberlain in the 1960s.
Thelma Harper, better known as Mama, is a fictional character played by American actress Vicki Lawrence. Mama is a purse-lipped, thickset senior citizen in her mid-to-late 60s. She has lived in an unspecified part of the Southern United States called "Raytown" for her entire life, evident from the southern drawl of her speech. Mama is an exaggerated version of a prototypical middle twentieth century lower middle class grandmother in the United States South. The character was originally created for Carol Burnett; however, Burnett preferred to play Mama's daughter Eunice Harper Higgins, which resulted in Lawrence being cast as Mama.
Vicki Lewis is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Beth in the NBC sitcom NewsRadio. She is also well known for her roles as Deb and Flo in Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, April Smuntz in Mouse Hunt, and Dr. Elsie Chapman in Godzilla. Additionally, she starred as Headmistress Knightslinger in Upside-Down Magic on Disney Channel.
Jackie Joseph is an American actress and writer. She is best known for her role as Jackie Parker on The Doris Day Show (1971–1973) and Audrey in The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), as well as a supporting role in Gremlins (1984).
Mama is a weekly CBS Television comedy-drama series that ran from July 1, 1949 until March 17, 1957. The series was based on the 1943 novel Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes, which was also adapted for the John Van Druten play (1944) and the subsequent film I Remember Mama (1948). It told the ongoing story of a loving Norwegian family living in San Francisco in the 1910s as seen through the eyes of the elder daughter, Katrin Hansen. At the start of each episode, Katrin would be shown looking through the pages of the family album, with the opening narration:
This old album makes me remember so many things in the past. San Francisco and the house on Steiner Street where I was born. It brings back memories of my cousins, aunts and uncles; all the boys and girls I grew up with. And I remember my family as we were then. My big brother Nels, my little sister Dagmar, and of course, Papa. But most of all, when I look back to those days so long ago, most of all, I remember ... Mama.
For the Irish-born American nurse, see Mary G. Boland.
Eunice Higgins is the main character in "The Family" comedy sketches played by Carol Burnett and featured on The Carol Burnett Show (1974–78) and Carol Burnett & Company (1979). Eunice also was featured in her eponymous CBS TV movie, which aired in 1982. The film starred Carol Burnett as Eunice; Ken Berry as Eunice's well-to-do brother, Philip ; Harvey Korman as Eunice's husband, Ed Higgins; Betty White as Eunice's sister, Ellen Harper-Jackson; Vicki Lawrence as Eunice's "Mama", Thelma Harper; and Dick Clair as the voice of Eunice's father Carl Harper. The film takes the Harper family on a 23-year journey.
Edith Evanson was an American character actress of film, stage and television during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
"The Family" is a series of comedy sketches featured on The Carol Burnett Show, with one final installment airing on Carol Burnett & Company. The Carol Burnett Show introduced the skit starting in the 1973–1974 season. Overall, it aired new installments of the skit for the last five seasons of its total 11-season run; the skit aired from the 1973–1974 season to the 1977–1978 season on the show. The final installment of "The Family" aired on September 8, 1979, after Burnett's CBS show had concluded, on a four-week summer series entitled Carol Burnett & Company. This was the only installment of "The Family" that did not air on The Carol Burnett Show. Altogether, there were 31 appearances of "The Family" sketches.
I Remember Mama is a play by John Van Druten based on Kathryn Forbes' novel Mama's Bank Account, loosely based on her childhood. It is a study of family life centered on a Norwegian immigrant family in San Francisco early in the 20th century. The play premiered on Broadway on October 19, 1944 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City, where it ran for 713 performances; it was produced by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The cast included Mady Christians, Oscar Homolka, and Joan Tetzel. Marlon Brando played a minor role, making his Broadway debut as Nels.
Eunice is a 1982 American made-for-television comedy-drama film starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Ken Berry and Betty White which is based on characters of a recurring series of comedy sketches called "The Family" featured on The Carol Burnett Show (1974–78) and Carol Burnett & Company (1979). The film was broadcast as a "CBS Special Presentation" on March 15, 1982 and served as a precursor to the spin-off television sitcom Mama's Family. It was directed by Roger Beatty and Harvey Korman.
Diana Alice Bellamy was an American character actress of stage, film, and television, during the 1980s and mid-90s who was often cast in both comedic and dramatic roles to great acclaim. Bellamy is known for her starring role as Head Nurse Maggie Poole in the NBC comedy 13 East, as Principal Cecilia Hall in Popular, as Mrs. Pananides in Outbreak, and as Switchboard Operator in Air Force One.