The Career of Alice Ghostley

Black Man, Black Man!!!

She had a very short, but funny, scene in The Graduate.

Benjamin is nervous about meeting for a hook up at a hotel, and winds up outside a wedding reception.

During the whole Delta Burke feud - the folks at Designing Women had Alice Ghostley on almost every episode as they needed a fourth Designing Woman to take the place of Delta who TPTB gave less and less to do every week.

I know her from TKAM.

She was frequently paired as Paul Lynn's 'spouse'on Tattletales.

I know at least 30% of the board is now googling either Paul Lynde or Tattletales in trying to figure out its relevancy to sodomites like me/us, but I'm an OG Latchkey kid whose school day was 645-1230 for half of second and all of third grade, leaving me home, surrounded by retirees, in the depressing, smoky desert that was Arizona with television my only source of joy and understanding. Match Game/Tattletales/Dinah! Daily Then Cartoons, syndicated reruns (number of slacker boys my age that can tell you which Gilligan's Island/Brady Bunch/Bewitched/Flintstones) episode it is within the first 30 seconds of seeing episode is possibly the greatest waste of memory that has befallen a generation.

Yup, that PLUS Nielsen Ratings & Billboard Hot 100 stats on recall. Shoulda been saved for Quantum Physics.

Such a catch I am, right?

The video at r4 is annoying with the background music. They should release a version without it.

She looked fierce wearing a Christmas tree skirt.

She was NEVER paired with Paul Lynde on Tattletales. You must be thinking of Fannie Flagg and Dick Sargent pretending to be a straight couple on the game show.

However, Alice and Paul were often told they looked and spoke alike, like brother and sister.

According to Kaye Ballard, Paul imitated Alice's comedic expression and timing, which truly reflected her real personality.

[Quote]I knew Alice and Paul as dear friends. Paul was wonderful but a very troubled, conflicted soul. He admired Alice. Alice had been performing for over a decade when she did New Faces of 1952. Her delivery was much as she spoke. Paul picked up on her rhythms and comedic movements and started to use it in his stage personality. It was Paul who acquired Alice’s personality, not the other way”. Kaye was very adamant about this.

She also won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Winfow,” Lorraine Handberry’s “other “ play. She famously accepted Zmaggie Smith’s Oscar for “Jean Brodie” ( they were old friends from “New Faces” days). She was truly sui generis.

Sorry, Window and Smith.

Can anybody verify this rumor that Alice resented Paul for ripping off her comedic style?

[Quote]"Ruth Williamson said that Alice felt Lynde had totally ripped her and was very vocal about it to any who'd listen."

[Quote]It was at a Chatterbox interview and Ruth Williamson was talking about Ghostly and Seth made the comment about how Lynde and she were so similar. Ruth did a double take and said well don't ever say that to her! and went on about how Ghostly had said she had not realized how he'd been watching her delivery and how a lot of his success had been due to that "style" she felt he had appropriated. and that Ghostly resented it and let people know that she considered him...guilty of a felony. That's all.

Could almost SWEAR but......

Will properly source before next rant. My goal of being the GenXQueerPaulHarvey goes unfulfilled another day......

R12 FTW

She stands out to me as one of the few white people to appear on "Good Times." I don't recall many others.

Black man! Black man!

I have two letters from her I treasure as if they were family heirlooms.

I wrote her a fan letter while she was on DW. I originally wrote to congratulate her on her Emmy nomination but gushed like the queen that I was.

She said it was the nicest letter she’d ever received.

R17

MARY!

MARY!

MARY!

[Quote] Paul was wonderful but a very troubled, conflicted soul

Takes one to know one, Kay (e).

Awful actress. I hated her voice.

Alice and Paul were very good friends. I doubt there was any jealousy. The felony quip seems more like dry humor. Alice was also good friends with Maggie Smith, who requested Alice to accept the Oscar on her behalf.

Alice got Designing Women because Linda Bloodworth Thomason is a huge fan of To Kill a Mockingbird, the book and movie.

People say that shit all the time. "Good friends." It's good for business. It's not necessarily true.

It IS true. Alice and Paul used to host parties together at Paul's house in California. People like Joan Rivers, Carl Reiner would attend. Paul in his caftan's with his boytoy of the moment.

R22 I would say if Maggie Smith requested Alice to accept her Oscar for her, then they really were good friends. There was nothing in that relationship to benefit Maggie.

With Paul, there wasn't much business to it, either. They were around the same level of fame and power. The best it could have done is one of them might have been able to get the other a guest appearance on a show they were working on.

She did an episode or two of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman where she was hosting Tupperware parties.

[Quote] With Paul, there wasn't much business to it, either. They were around the same level of fame and power. The best it could have done is one of them might have been able to get the other a guest appearance on a show they were working on.

Good for business can mean pleasing "the fans." Fans like to "ship" their favorites, and not only romatically. Why do you think interviewers often ask if co-stars are friends? The inevitable "we're like family" follows.

Remember, I accepted Anne Bancroft's Oscar, although I barely knew her.

R26 Other than Bewitched did their careers intersect that much?

They both were in New Faces of 1952 which ran for a year on Broadway and was released on film.

The Boston Beguine

There’s a female classmate of Paul's from Northwestern in this A&E Biography episode who knew him in the 1940s, and recounts his speech pattern from back then. Oddly, she resembles him in looks and speech as well. Starts at 6:10.

[Quote] Other than Bewitched did their careers intersect that much?

Did their careers have to intersect much to be asked about each other?

I know her from Get Smart!

[quote]syndicated reruns (number of slacker boys my age that can tell you which Gilligan's Island/Brady Bunch/Bewitched/Flintstones) episode it is within the first 30 seconds of seeing episode is possibly the greatest waste of memory that has befallen a generation.

Ohmygawd. That's me. I can totally do this too. Of course I can't remember much of anything else!

My mom was Alice Ghostley’s neighbor in Greenwich village in the early 60s. 10 Gay Street is the building. Mom was going to grad school up at Columbia and after classes she’d hang out and have drinks with Alice and her husband - gorgeous Italian actor Felice Orlandi, They also went to Fire Island a bunch which is where my mom met my dad. The stories she has of that era are pretty amazing. In general, Alice was a way more serious actor than you would assume given her TV work. She was known to be crazy-witty, deeply committed to theater work and somewhat eccentric.

She and Felice were deeply in love and married for 50 years - until his death.

Never forget me, bitches!

A second-rate replacement for the deceased Marion Lorne on Bewitched. I don't know who was more annoying, Ghostley or Sandra Gould. Except for Louise Tate, Bewitched never had luck with recasting.

Marion Lorne was genius in the link above. Throughout. And the glance at the camera in the brief scene at the end...priceless!

All she did was replace better people.

Her Esmeralda was a poor man's Aunt Clara

Her Cousin was a poor man's Aunt Bee

Her Ida Mae Brindle was a poor man's Bonnie Brindle (Small Wonder)

And so on and so on

I always found her endearing.

unique, comic and a genuine actress who did what she did best over and over and in a variety of ways. How many of those kind of performers are around today?

R39: A pretty good summation. She was not bad, but not great either.

R40: Predictable without range isn't that much of a virtue although it kept her employed.

[quote]unique, comic and a genuine actress who did what she did best over and over and in a variety of ways.

Not in a variety of ways.

[quote] Not in a variety of ways

But it worked for you didn't it Paul Lynde at r43?

And yet she had a Tony for a non comedy role, right?

Temperatures Rising, third version, seven episodes, Summer '74, Paul & Alice together.

I think she and Charlotte Rae played similar roles. Ghostley was seen more often on tv in the 60s and 70s, but when the "Facts of Life" was on Charlotte Rae pushed Ghostley out of many of those roles by being the more in demand of that type.

She apparently accepted that, despite her training, she'd be typecast into silly, harebrained, nervous nellie roles, because she seemed so perfect for them. They also kept her working steadily. I bet she was very financially stable as a result.

Both Charlotte Rae and Alice Ghostley had excellent legit voices, similar to Patricia Routledge, too, though Routledge usually played leads.

R47 But, I would say Alice Ghostley achieved her greatest fame in the late 1980s/early 90s with Bernice on DW.

I guess, but Charlotte Rae was the lead on her show. They always did seem to be somewhat interchangeable though, and could probably have done as good a job playing each others' roles.

Interesting trivia - Alice Ghostley and Charlotte Rae worked together in a production called "The Beauty Part," also starring Bert Lahr.

It's a very, very funny play by S. J. Perelman, which starred Bert Lahr and also had Larry Hagman in the cast.

It's a twisted and lonely personality that can work itself up to cunt about a likeable character actress like Alice Ghostley.

You queens are slipping — over 50 posts and no one has made the Golden Girls connection. Alice played Stanley's gruff mother who secretly liked Dorothy.

And no mention of Mrs. Murdoch, the Rydell High auto shop teacher who helps the T-Birds build Greased Lightnin'.

R54. My thoughts exactly—probably the same poster who always reads Chita Rivera, by all accounts one of the nicest people in the business, to filtth. With that one, I always wonder—did Chita run interference to protect some chorus boy from the bitter aging queen and that’s why always nasty about Our Chits?

At least they know they won't get corona... they invented social distancing... or it was done for them.

One of my favorite roles of hers. A step sister from Cinderella.

There was a period when my nickname was Aunt Clara, named after the character. Jealous, bitches?

Wasn’t she the dead aunt on top of the car in the Vacation movie?

I love Bernice clifton

I hate Bernice Clifton.

[quote]There was a period when my nickname was Aunt Clara, named after the character. Jealous, bitches?

Not jealous, exactly, but I've got a massive Why, exactly? going on.

So.....

Don't forget Charlotte Rae was hot n heavy with Paul Lynde and battled Alice Ghostley for his affections.

[Quote]Don't forget Charlotte Rae was hot n heavy with Paul Lynde and battled Alice Ghostley for his affections.

Charlotte ended up marrying another gay man. Alice also found a gay man to marry. Poor Paul died a lonely and sad bachelor.

Reading through this thread, you get a clear sense of a much more versatile artist she was. Her comic persona on television was her meal ticket, clearly her theatrical background was impressive and displayed an impressive range. What kind of cunt could be sour about her?

Alice was one of the most talented character actresses ever. She also had a lot of pain and struggle throughout her life. All she did was replace better people. Predictable without range isn't that much of a virtue although it kept her employed. Despite that, she had a good heart, which is hard to encounter in Hollywood. At a time when gay people were oppressed beyond belief, they identified with her struggles and she theirs.

Alice isn't one of our better singers.

R66 According to R35, whose mother was friends with them, Alice and her husband Felice Orlandi were deeply in love.

Like Vincent Price and the actress Coral Browne.

Paul, Alice and Charlotte were all best in small doses.

[quote]Paul, Alice and Charlotte were all best in small doses.

Paul & Charlotte went to acting school with Cloris Leachman

She was also quite funny in a couple of One Day at a Time episodes as Barbara’s counselor. She sang Three Little Maids from School. Wish I could find a clip.

....

R69 Alice at least had a head voice that sopranos use in addition to belting in lower registers.

About 1980 I went to see Annie on Broadway, staring SJP and Alice Ghostley as Miss Hannigan. A friend knew Reid Shelton who was playing Daddy Warbucks. We hung out in Red's dressing room with Alice after the show and she was beyond funny, very smart and a really lovely person.

She could read the phone book and sound funny.

....

....

She played Kitty Entrail, Octavia Weatherwax, and Grace Fingerhead in The Beauty Part. (That play has the best character names.....)

I wish I hadn’t watched R80’s post. She looked so old there. RIP.

r63=Ghost of Dixie Virginia Carter Carter Hearn Holbrook

I remember reading that when she was dying only Meshach Taylor visited her.

----

Back in the 80's she came into a store that I was working at in Studio City. I heard this voice a couple of rows away from me and I thought...this could only be one person. She was dressed to the 9's in what looked like a Chanel suit, perfectly quaffed hair, chic handbag and shoes...very well put together lady.

[quote]perfectly quaffed hair

LOL

Perfectly haired quiff.

Perfectly queefed too I bet.

The Fascist in Pantyhose was a cry for help.

r86, she lived in Studio City when she died.

Alice Ghostley talks Annie, Sarah Jessica Parker and more

Ghostly as the title character in The Octoroon?

Felice Orlandi was hot AF in his day! Alice Ghostley landed herself some prime Italian sausage, and they remained deeply in love/happily married until his death.

Mr. Orlandi became a jobbing television actor in 1970's on series like Mannix and other PI or LE shows; he along with a group of other Italian American actors frequently played gangsters/mafia types, or at least adjacent to something sketchy. FO is frequently mistaken for Pat J. Renella who had similar looks.

I guess you had to get him at the right angle...

Don't think so; that nose is all Felice Orlandi's.

Though it does look as if he took one or more punches to the face, and or someone whacked him with a frying pan or something.

Still again in his youth FO was hot, nose and all. *LOL*

To me FO and Pat Renella don't look that much alike head on. However if you Google FO, Mr. Renella comes up right along side.

Mr. Patn Renella is a puzzle to me; very attractive Italian American man but never married, not a single picture or whatever of him with a woman, never had children, nothing. For an Italian American guy born in 1920's and lived through a very conservative time it just strikes me as odd he wasn't at least mentioned in connection with this or that random female.

Have no proof obviously, but have my suspicions.

It's like when I watch Barnaby Jones late nights and see young Mark Shera, I be thinking.......

I read most of this thread but just then kind of skimmed through the last 30 or 40 posts, so I may have missed if anybody mentioned this. Bit Ghostley was also the most talented of all Dorothy Loudon;s replacements as Miss Hannigan in the original production of Annie. Someone above mentioned that she seemed to make a career of other replacing other people. Annie was an excellent example of this.

It's unfortunate that what might have been the best example of this is the best bootleg of the original Annie production. Unfortunately, Ghostley was out that night on vacation and the boot caught her temporary replacement, Betty Hutton. Hutton is professional and OK but I doubt was one of the best Miss Hannigans.

Anyway, here are Rita Rudner (who began her career as a Broadway dancer), Gary Beach and Betty Hutton in the original production of Annie. Beach was actually better as Rooster than Robert Fitch, who received a Tony for the part.

Go, Gary go!

Robert Fitch as Rooster and Alice Ghostley as Miss Hannigan in the original production of Annie:

R98 FIitch did NOT receive a Tony for Annie--or for anything.

I stand corrected, r100. But his name was Fitch, not Flitch, and he was very talented although Beach was better in that role.

It's true Robert Fitch didn't receive a Tony Award as Rooster in Annie. But he did receive a nomination, which is hugely coveted, and he in fact was credited with dance captain of the original production if I remember correctly. He was widely admired. His replacement Gary Beach was indeed also fabulous.

Marion Lorne - haven't thought of her in a long time. She was great!

No one speaks of Alice Ghostley anymore, and that saddens me.

I speak about her everyday. Her role as Bernice Clifton on Designing Women changed my life. I fucking love Bernice! I relate to the character and watch DW at 2 am daily.

Good for you, r105. Ghostley was a treasure, Thanks to the poster above about her replacement turn in the original Annie.

Good for you, r105. Ghostley was a treasure, Thanks to the poster above about her replacement turn in the original Annie.

Because she....just disappeared.

Aunt Clara was also a gay icon since her hobby was collecting doorknobs and... polishing them!

We didn't call her Alice Ghastly for nothing

[quote]Mr. Patn Renella is a puzzle to me; very attractive Italian American man but never married, not a single picture or whatever of him with a woman, never had children,

Maybe he had that Italian affliction noted on DL whereby they are so large "down there" that no gf can accommodate them and therefore they give up on love or finding that "right gal."

[R59]: I was first aware of Alice Ghostly when I saw the original TV production of “Cinderella,” on Sunday evening, March 31, 1957. I was 8.

The whole show was just so entertaining, easily surpassing all the hype leading up to it. Julie Andrews, still performing on Broadway in “My Fair Lady,” was enchanting. And who knew the two stepsisters would be so funny! In its own way, it was just as good as Disney’s version, which had been re-issued that same year.

Ghostly was marvelous.

Contact Mo Rocca and I'm sure he'll include her on his Mobituaries podcast.

R102 However good Robert Fitch may have been ((and you seem obsessed with a somewhat minor Broadway performer), he never received a Tony nomination for any of his fifteen shows, in most of which he was an ensemble member or specialty performer (I saw him in Lorelei, where he was one of two Frenchmen who did "Mamie is Mimi" with Channing)-unless you have secret information about a secret nomination neither IBDB nor the rest of the Internet seems to know about. He was, undoubtedly, a fine and reliable performer and his vocal work on the OBC of "Annie" as Rooster is fun (and I think I remember seeing him dance it on the Tonys), but he didn't receive a Tony nomination for it or anything. He was a gypsyy, who occasionally broke out into a more featured role--a very worthwhile dareer.

A Lovely Night...

Paul and Alice. Whatever happened to Ronny Graham?

Hilarious

[quote]One of my favorite roles of hers. A step sister from Cinderella.

The other stepsister being Kaye Ballard, who called Alice Ghostley a dear friend in the quote at R9.

R114, you seem to be the one obsessed with excellent but minor Broadway performer Robert Fitch. You certainly seem to know much more about him than anyone else posting.

The full, uncensored version of "Boston Beguine".

R119: being a Robert Fitch queen is no worse than being an Arlene Golonka queen and we have one of those.

There are Robert Fitch queens? Really? Saw him on Broadway back in the 1980s, he was minor but very good.