Shirley Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Early life
Mitchell was born in Toledo, OhioToledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
and attended the University of Toledo
University of Toledo
The University of Toledo is a public university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. The Carnegie Foundation classified the university as "Doctoral/Research Extensive."-National recognition:...
and the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
Career
After moving to Chicago, she appeared in the network broadcast of The First Nighter and played small parts in various soap operas including The Story of Mary Marlin and The Road of Life.After moving to Los Angeles, she played opposite Joan Davis
Joan Davis
Joan Davis was an American comedic actress whose career spanned vaudeville, film, radio and television. Remembered best for the 1950s television comedy, I Married Joan, Davis had a successful earlier career as a B-movie actress and a leading star of 1940s radio comedy.Born as Madonna Josephine...
in The Sealtest Village Store. She also starred as Louella in The Life of Riley
The Life of Riley
The Life of Riley, with William Bendix in the title role, is a popular American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a long-run 1950s television series , and a 1958 Dell comic book...
and joined the cast of Fibber McGee and Molly
Fibber McGee and Molly
Fibber McGee and Molly was an American radio comedy series which maintained its popularity over decades. It premiered on NBC in 1935 and continued until its demise in 1959, long after radio had ceased to be the dominant form of entertainment in American popular culture.-Husband and wife in real...
as Alice Darling in 1943. Her most prominent radio role was that of the charismatic Southern belle Leila Ransom on The Great Gildersleeve
The Great Gildersleeve
The Great Gildersleeve , initially written by Leonard Lewis Levinson, was one of broadcast history's earliest spin-off programs. Built around Throckmorton Philharmonic Gildersleeve, a character who had been a staple on the classic radio situation comedy Fibber McGee and Molly, first Introduced to...
radio show beginning in September 1942.
In 1953, Shirley joined the cast of I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
playing the part of Lucy Ricardo's friend Marion Strong. As of 2011, she is one of two recurring cast members still living (the other is Doris Singleton
Doris Singleton
Doris Singleton is an American actress perhaps best remembered as Lucy Ricardo's frenemy, Carolyn Appleby, on I Love Lucy.-Career:...
, who played Caroline Appleby). A third cast member, Peggy Rea
Peggy Rea
Peggy Jane Rea was an American character actress known for her many roles in television, often playing matronly characters...
, who played a regular clubwoman/card player died on February 5, 2011 at age 89.
In 1962, she played Mrs. Colton on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-TV comedy series Pete and Gladys, and between 1965–1967, she appeared as neighbor Marge Thornton on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-TVs Please Don't Eat the Daisies.
In 1963, she appeared on the television program The Beverly Hillbillies as Opal Clampett (the wife of Jake Clampett, an out-of-work actor).
In 1966, she appeared in Green Acres
Green Acres
Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...
as a nurse and as Oliver's old friend Wanda.
In 1968, she appeared in the Season 1 finale of The Doris Day Show
The Doris Day Show
The Doris Day Show is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 1968 until September 1973. In addition to showcasing Doris Day, the show is remembered for its many abrupt format changes over the course of its five-year run...
as Mrs. Loomis, a woman who accuses Billy of stealing $5.00 from her purse after she dropped it. Between 1967 and 1968, she portrayed Kate Bradley's cousin Mae on Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning; the others are The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The setting for the series...
.
In 1972, she was the voice of Laurie Holiday on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series, The Roman Holidays.
Personal life
In 1992, she married songwriter Jay LivingstonJay Livingston
Jay Livingston was an American composer and singer best known as half of a songwriting duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote the music and Evans the lyrics....
and the two remained married until his death in 2001. She was previously married to Julian Frieden with whom she had two children.
Other
In 2007, she appeared at the 5th Annual TV Land AwardsTV Land Awards
The TV Land Awards is an American television awards ceremony that generally commemorates shows now off the air, rather than in current production as with awards such as the Emmys. It is presented in a manner that spoofs other entertainment award ceremonies...
where Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
was posthumously awarded the 'Legacy of Laughter' award.