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Mary Grace Canfield

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Mary Grace Canfield
Canfield in Green Acres (1967)
Born(1924-09-03)September 3, 1924
DiedFebruary 15, 2014(2014-02-15) (aged 89)
OccupationActress
Years active1950–1993
Known forGreen Acres, The Andy Griffith Show
Spouse(s)Charles Carey (divorced; 2 children)
John Bischof (1984–2014; her death)

Mary Grace Canfield (September 3, 1924[1] – February 15, 2014) was an American theatre, film and television actress.

Early life and career

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Mary Grace Canfield was born in Rochester, New York,[2] the second child of Hildegard (née Jacobson) and Hubert Canfield. She grew up in Pittsford, New York. She had a sister, Constance, who was two years older.[3]

Acting mostly in small theatre companies and regional theatre between 1952 and 1964, she appeared in several Broadway plays, but most ran for no more than a month. Her Broadway credits include The Waltz of the Toreadors and The Frogs of Spring.[4][5]

Canfield's first credited performance on television was in March 1954 when she portrayed Frances in the episode "Native Dancer" on Goodyear Playhouse. After making additional television appearances, she played housekeeper Amanda Allison on the sitcom The Hathaways during the 1961-1962 season. As Thelma Lou's "ugly" cousin in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, she had an arranged blind date with Gomer Pyle, played by Jim Nabors. Her name on this episode was her actual name, Mary Grace. The episode was originally scheduled to air on November 25, 1963, but it was preempted by the coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy three days earlier.

Green Acres

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Canfield was best known for her recurring role on the hit comedy series Green Acres as Ralph Monroe, the all-thumbs carpenter who greeted her fellow Hootervillians with her signature "Howdy Doody!" She appeared in more than 40 episodes of the show during its six-season run from 1965 to 1971.[2] She reprised the role in the 1990 TV movie Return to Green Acres.[4] Recalling the Ralph character in a 2006 interview, she said "To be remembered for Ralph kind of upsets me—only in the sense that it was so easy and undemanding." She added "It's being known for something easy to do instead of something you worked hard to achieve."[6]

Other roles

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She guest-starred on The Eleventh Hour. In 1966, Canfield played Abner Kravitz's sister Harriet on four episodes of Bewitched. Actress Alice Pearce, who played Abner's wife, Gladys Kravitz, had died from ovarian cancer, and her successor as Mrs. Kravitz (Sandra Gould) had yet to be hired. During the early 1970s, Canfield and actress Lucille Wall shared the role of Lucille March on General Hospital. Canfield appeared in feature films such as Pollyanna (as "Angelica"),[7] The St. Valentine's Day Massacre[8] and Something Wicked This Way Comes.[9]

Later life and death

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Canfield made her last public appearance in 2005 when she attended Eddie Albert's funeral with Green Acres co-stars Sid Melton and Frank Cady. Canfield died at age 89 from lung cancer on February 15, 2014, in Santa Barbara, California.[10]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1959 That Kind of Woman WAC on Train Uncredited
1960 Pollyanna Angelica
1962 The Interns Pharmacy Nurse Uncredited
1963 Come Blow Your Horn Mildred, Looking for JFK at Party Uncredited
1967 Don't Make Waves Seamstress
1967 The St. Valentine's Day Massacre Mrs. Doody Uncredited
1975 Half a House Thelma
1983 Something Wicked This Way Comes Miss Foley
1988 South of Reno Motel Manager
1993 Young Goodman Brown Goody Cloyse (final film role)

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1954 Goodyear Television Playhouse Frances Season 3 Episode 14: "Native Dancer"
1955 The Best of Broadway Liesl Season 1 Episode 7: "The Guardsman"
1955 Robert Montgomery Presents Season 7 Episode 2: "Mr. and Mrs. Monroe"
1956 Robert Montgomery Presents Season 8 Episode 2: "Onions in the Stew"
1956 Robert Montgomery Presents Abigail Lewis Season 8 Episode 7: "Goodbye, Grey Flannel"
1957 Robert Montgomery Presents Season 8 Episode 38: "One Smart Apple"
1959 The Play of the Week Sidonia Season 1 Episode 6: "The Waltz of the Toreadors"
1961 Thriller Celia Perry Season 1 Episode 31: "A Good Imagination"
1961 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Supermarket Customer (uncredited) Season 7 Episode 2: "Bang! You're Dead"
1961 The Hathaways Amanda Allison Season 1 Episode 2: "Elinor Buys a Hat"
1961 The Hathaways Amanda Allison Season 1 Episode 4: "Elinor's Guilt"
1961 The Hathaways Amanda Allison Season 1 Episode 8: "TV or Not TV"
1962 The Hathaways Amanda Allison Season 1 Episode 18: "The Paint Job"
1962 The Hathaways Amanda Allison Season 1 Episode 22: "A Man for Amanda"
1962 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Mrs. Cathy Carr (the Bookstore Customer) Season 7 Episode 27: "Act of Faith"
1962 Thriller Ally Rose Season 2 Episode 20: "The Hollow Watcher"
1962 Hazel Miss Simmons Season 1 Episode 31: "Rock-A-Bye Baby"
1962 Poor Mr. Campbell Grindl TV movie
1963 The Joey Bishop Show Mrs. Bennett Season 2 Episode 25: "The Baby Formula"
1963 The Eleventh Hour Mrs. Dobkin Season 1 Episode 32: "The Middle Child Gets All the Aches"
1963 The Andy Griffith Show Mary Grace Gossage Season 4 Episode 10: "A Date for Gomer"
1964 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Juliet Season 1 Episode 16: "Wake Up, Darling"
1965 The Farmer's Daughter Miss Hinkley Season 3 Episode 13: "Jewel Beyond Compare"
1965–1971 Green Acres Ralph Monroe Recurring role (41 episodes)
1966 The Farmer's Daughter Alice Goodall Season 3 Episode 25: "Twelve Angry Women"
1966 Bewitched Harriet Kravitz Season 2 Episode 30: "Follow That Witch: Part 1"
1966 Bewitched Harriet Kravitz Season 2 Episode 31: "Follow That Witch: Part 2"
1966 Bewitched Harriet Kravitz Season 2 Episode 32: "A Bum Raps"
1966 Bewitched Harriet Kravitz Season 2 Episode 34: "Man's Best Friend"
1967 Vacation Playhouse Mildred Season 5 Episode 4: "Heaven Help Us"
1970 Adam-12 Susie Fisher Season 3 Episode 10: "Log 135: Arson"
1973 Love, American Style Bridgette Season 5 Episode 4: "Love and the Games People Play"
1973 General Hospital Lucille March TV series, replacement for Lucille Wall
1976 Family Mrs. Hanley Season 2 Episode 1: "Coming Apart"
1976 Family Mrs. Hanley Season 2 Episode 3: "Home Movie"
1978 Tabitha Dr. Morrison Season 1 Episode 11: "Paul Goes to New York"
1984 Burning Rage Nettie McFadden TV movie
1985 Alice Ruthie Season 9 Episode 13: "The Night They Raided Debbie's"
1990 Return to Green Acres Ralph Monroe TV movie
1993 The Jackie Thomas Show Jane Season 1 Episode 18: "Aloha, Io-wahu"

References

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  1. ^ Was born in 1924 not 1926 as per Intelius and the 1930 US census Year of birth per ancestry.com; accessed February 20, 2014.
  2. ^ a b The People of Hooterville
  3. ^ Hubert H Canfield, "United States Census, 1930"
  4. ^ a b Funny Ladies - Michael Karol - Google Books
  5. ^ Mary Grace Canfield Theatre Credits
  6. ^ "Mary Grace Canfield dies at 89; character actress was on 'Green Acres'", Los Angeles Times
  7. ^ Nissen, Axel (2013). The Films of Agnes Moorehead. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810891371. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  8. ^ Naha, Ed; Corman, Roger (1982). The Films of Roger Corman: Brilliance on a Budget. Arco Pub. ISBN 978-0668053082. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  9. ^ Muir, John Kenneth (2013). Horror Films of the 1980s. McFarland. p. 258. ISBN 978-0786455010. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  10. ^ "Actress Mary Grace Canfield Dies", abcnews.go.com; accessed February 18, 2014.
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