Kathleen Freeman

Infobox actor


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caption = Kathleen Freeman
birthname =
birthdate = February 17, 1919
birthplace = Chicago, Illinois
deathdate = August 23, 2001 (age 82)
deathplace = New York, New York
yearsactive =
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website =

Kathleen Freeman (February 17, 1919 - August 23, 2001) was an American film, television, and stage actress. In a career that spanned more than fifty years, she portrayed tart maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors, almost invariably to comic effect.

Biography

Early life

Freeman was born in Chicago, Illinois. She began her career as a child, dancing in her parents' vaudeville act. After a stint studying music at UCLA, she went into acting full time, working on the stage, and finally entering films in 1948.

Career

Freeman's most notable early role was an uncredited part in the 1952 musical "Singin' in the Rain", as Jean Hagen's articulate diction coach Phoebe Dinsmore. In 1954, Freeman played receptionist Miss Seely for lawyer Adam Calhorn Shaw (Edmund Purdom) in "Athena". Beginning with the 1955 film "Artists and Models", Freeman became a favorite foil of Jerry Lewis, playing opposite him in ten movies. These included most of Lewis's better known comedies, including "The Disorderly Orderly" as Nurse Higgins, "The Errand Boy" as the studio boss's wife, and especially "The Nutty Professor" as Millie Lemon. Over thirty years later, she had a small cameo in "The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps", a sequel to the remake of the Lewis film.

Still other film roles included appearances in the horror film "The Fly" (1958), the Western spoofs "Support Your Local Sheriff!" (1969) and "Support Your Local Gunfighter" (1971), and appearances in a spate of comedies in the 1980s and 1990s. Freeman played Sister Mary Stigmata in John Landis' "The Blues Brothers" and "Blues Brothers 2000", had cameos in Joe Dante's "Innerspace" and ' (as tipsy cooking host Microwave Marge in "2"), and a Ma Barker type gangster mother in '.

Freeman was also a familiar presence on television, from the 1950s until her death, with regular or recurring roles on many sitcoms, including "Topper" (as Katie the maid), "Hogan's Heroes" (as Frau Gertrude Linkmeyer, General Burkhalter's sister, who longed to wed Colonel Klink), "The Beverly Hillbillies" (in a story arc as Flo Shafer, wife of conman Phil Silvers) Mrs. Kate Harwell, Sandy Duncan's landlady and friend in Funny Face; and as Aggie (the maid of the new rich neighbor), "I Dream of Jeannie" (as a grouchy supervisor in a false preview of Maj. Nelson's future), the short-lived prehistoric sitcom "It's About Time" (as Mrs. Boss), and as the voice of Peg Bundy's mom, an unseen character on "Married... with Children". She played guest roles on countless other shows, from "The Lucy Show" to "Home Improvement". Freeman was considered for the part of Alice the housekeeper on "The Brady Bunch". The role ultimately went to Ann B. Davis.

In later years, Freeman also worked extensively as a voice actress, playing Ma Crackshell on "DuckTales", a Theban woman in Disney's "Hercules", and fortune teller Madame Xima in the video game "Curse of Monkey Island".

Freeman remained active in her last two years, with a regular voice role on "As Told By Ginger", a voice bit in "Shrek", a guest appearance on "Becker" and, most notably, scoring a Tony Award nomination and a Theatre World Award for her role of accompanist Jeannette Burmeister in the Broadway musical version of "The Full Monty".

In her final episode of As Told By Ginger, season 2's "No Hope For Courtney.", her character, Mrs. Gordon, retires from her teaching job and two of her students try to get her back. The script was originally written to have Mrs. Gordon come back to work, but Freeman died before the episode was finished. The script was then re-written to make her character die as well. The episode was dedicated in her memory.

Personal life

Freeman was a lesbian; the British reports of her death included her surviving long-time companion, Helen Ramsey, [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,542869,00.html#article_continue Obituary: Kathleen Freeman | Obituaries | Guardian Unlimited ] ] but the U.S. obituaries did not.

Weakened by illness, Freeman was forced to leave the "Full Monty" cast. Five days later, she died of lung cancer at age 82. Her ashes are inurned in a niche at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Filmography

Features:
*"The Naked City" (1948)
*"Casbah" (1948)
*"Behind Locked Doors" (1948)
*"The Saxon Charm" (1948)
*"Mr. Belvedere Goes to College" (1949)
*"The Story of Molly X" (1949)
*"No Man of Her Own" (1950)
*"House by the River" (1950)
*"The Reformer and the Redhead" (1950)
*"Once a Thief" (1950)
*"Lonely Heart Bandits" (1950)
*"A Life of Her Own" (1950)
*"The Second Face" (1950)
*"The Company She Keeps" (1951)
*"Cry Danger" (1951)
*"Cause for Alarm!" (1951) (scenes deleted)
*"Appointment with Danger" (1951)
*"Strictly Dishonorable" (1951)
*"A Place in the Sun" (1951)
*"Behave Yourself!" (1951)
*"Come Fill the Cup" (1951)
*"Let's Make It Legal" (1951)
*"The Wild Blue Yonder" (1951)
*"The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952)
*"Love Is Better Than Ever" (1952)
*"Singin' in the Rain" (1952)
*"Talk About a Stranger" (1952)
*"Kid Monk Baroni" (1952)
*"Skirts Ahoy!" (1952)
*"Wait 'Til the Sun Shines, Nellie" (1952)
*"Monkey Business" (1952)
*"O. Henry's Full House" (1952)
*"The Prisoner of Zenda" (1952)
*"The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952)
*"The Magnetic Monster" (1953)
*"She's Back on Broadway" (1953)
*"Confidentially Connie" (1953)
*"A Perilous Journey" (1953)
*"The Glass Wall" (1953)
*"Dream Wife" (1953)
*"The Affairs of Dobie Gillis" (1953)
*"Half a Hero" (1953)
*"The Glass Web" (1953)
*"Battle of Rogue River" (1954)
*"Athena" (1954)
*"3 Ring Circus" (1954)
*"The Far Country" (1955)
*"Artists and Models" (1955)
*"The Midnight Story" (1957)
*"Pawnee" (1957)
*"Kiss Them for Me" (1957)
*"The Missouri Traveler" (1958)
*"Too Much, Too Soon" (1958)
*"The Fly" (1958)
*"Houseboat" (1958)
*"The Buccaneer" (1958)
*"North to Alaska" (1960)
*"The Ladies Man" (1961)
*"The Errand Boy" (1961)
*"Wild Harvest" (1962)
*"Madison Avenue" (1962)
*"The Nutty Professor" (1963)
*"Who's Minding the Store?" (1963)
*"Mail Order Bride" (1964)
*"The Patsy" (1964)
*"The Disorderly Orderly" (1964)
*"The Rounders" (1965)
*"That Funny Feeling" (1965)
*"Marriage on the Rocks" (1965)
*"Three on a Couch" (1966)
*"Point Blank" (1967)
*"Support Your Local Sheriff!" (1969)
*"Death of a Gunfighter" (1969)
*"Hook, Line & Sinker" (1969)
*"The Good Guys and the Bad Guys" (1969)
*"The Ballad of Cable Hogue" (1970)
*"Myra Breckinridge" (1970)
*"Which Way to the Front?" (1970)
*"Support Your Local Gunfighter!" (1971)
*"Head On" (1971)
*"Stand Up and Be Counted" (1972)
*"Where Does It Hurt?" (1972)
*"Unholy Rollers" (1972)
*"So Evil, My Sister" (1974)
*"The Strongest Man in the World" (1975)
*"The Norseman" (1978)
*"The Blues Brothers" (1980)
*"Heartbeeps" (1981)
*"" (1986) (voice in English version)
*"The Best of Times" (1986)
*"The Malibu Bikini Shop" (1986)
*"Dragnet" (1987)
*"Innerspace" (1987)
*"Inside Out" (1987)
*"In the Mood" (1987)
*"Teen Wolf Too" (1987)
*"The Wrong Guys" (1988)
*"Hollywood Chaos" (1989)
*"Chances Are" (1989)
*"" (1990)
*"The Willies" (1991)
*"Joey Takes a Cab" (1991)
*"Dutch" (1991)
*"" (1992) (voice)
*"" (1992) (voice)
*"Reckless Kelly" (1993)
*"Hocus Pocus" (1993)
*"" (1994)
*"Two Guys Talkin' About Girls" (1995)
*"Carpool" (1996)
*"Hercules" (1997) (voice)
*"Blues Brothers 2000" (1998)
*"Richie Rich's Christmas Wish" (1998) (direct-to-video)
*"I'll Be Home for Christmas" (1998)
*"Seven Girlfriends" (1999)
*"Ready to Rumble" (2000)
*"" (2000)
*"Joe Dirt" (2001)
*"Shrek" (2001) (voice)Short Subjects:
*"Annie Was a Wonder" (1948)

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0293466|name=Kathleen Freeman
* [http://www.lucyfan.com/kathleenfreeman.html Kathleen Freeman Remembered]
* [http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/interactive/video/index.html#f TonyAwards.com Interview with Kathleen Freeman]
*Find A Grave|id=5971570