Alice Pearce

Infobox actress
name = Alice Pearce


caption = Pearce as Gladys Kravitz in "Bewitched" with George Tobias as her husband Abner, (1964)
birthname = Alicia Pearce
birthdate = birth date|1917|10|16
location = New York City, New York, USA
deathdate = death date and age|1966|03|3|1917|10|16
deathplace = Hollywood, California, USA
occupation = Actor
spouse = John Rox (1948-1957)
Paul Davis (1964-1966)
emmyawards = Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series
1966 "Bewitched"

Alicia “Alice” Pearce (October 161917 - March 31966) was an American Emmy Award winning television, film, and stage actress.

Biography

Early life

Born in New York City, Pearce was educated in Europe and returned to the US as an adult. She began working in nightclubs as a comedian and was cast in the Broadway production of "On the Town". Gene Kelly was so impressed by her that she became the only cast member to be included in the film version in 1949. Her comedic performance was well received by critics and public alike, and she was given her own television variety show. More movie roles followed, and she made appearances on Broadway, where she met her husband director Paul Davis during a production of "Bells Are Ringing".

Career

In 1964 she joined the cast of the television series "Bewitched". As the nagging and nosy neighbor, Gladys Kravitz, Pearce's scenes were almost entirely reactions to acts of witchcraft she had witnessed at the house across the street. Her hysterical accusations against Samantha, played by Elizabeth Montgomery, and the disbelief of her husband Abner (George Tobias), provided a common thread through many of the series' early episodes. Pearce was posthumously awarded an Emmy Award for this role; before she passed on, she said that it was her favorite role.

Personal life

Pearce was married twice; in 1948, she married composer John Rox. In 1957, Rox died of a heart attack. In 1964, she married stage manager Paul Davis. Pearce had no children.

Pearce was also a good friend of actor and photographer Cris Alexander; When Alexander was working on the illustrations for Patrick Dennis's bestseller "Little Me" he asked Pearce to appear in the work as Winnie, the reform school friend of Belle Poitrine, the biography's subject. She also appeared as several characters in Dennis' and Alexander's later project, "First Lady: My Thirty Days at the White House".

Diagnosed with terminal cancer before "Bewitched" began, Pearce kept her illness a secret, but died from ovarian cancer during the second season of "Bewitched" at the age of 48. Gladys Kravitz was played from 1966 until the end of the series by actress Sandra Gould.

Alice Pearce was cremated and her ashes were scattered at sea.

Filmography

Television

* "Alice Pearce" aka "The Alice Pearce Show"
* "Goodyear Television Playhouse" (1951)
* "The Jean Carroll Show" (Uncredited)
* "Broadway Television Theatre" (1952-1953)
* "The Motorola Television Hour" (1953)
* "Jamie" (3 episodes, 1953-1954)
* "Studio One" (1955)
* "Alice in Wonderland" (1955)
* "Kraft Television Theatre" (1955)
* "The Real McCoys"
* "Hallmark Hall of Fame" (1955-1959)
* "The Twilight Zone" (1961)
* "Shirley Temple's Storybook" (1960-1961)
* "The Ann Sothern Show" (1961)
* "General Electric Theater" (1962)
* "Dennis the Menace" (1962)
* "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" (1963)
* "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (1963)
* "Bewitched" (1964-1966)
* "Vacation Playhouse" (1967)

Film

* "On the Town" (1949)
* "The Belle of New York" (1952)
* "How to Be Very, Very Popular" (1955)
* "The Opposite Sex" (1956)
* "Lad: A Dog" (1962)
* "My Six Loves" (1963)
* "Tammy and the Doctor" (1963)
* "The Thrill of It All" (1963)
* "Dear Heart" (1964)
* "The Disorderly Orderly" (1964)
* "Kiss Me, Stupid" (1964)
* "Dear Brigitte" (1965)
* "Bus Riley's Back in Town" (1965)
* "The Glass Bottom Boat" (1966)

Awards

;Emmy Awards
*Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy - "Bewitched" (1966)

;TV Land Awards
*Nosiest Neighbor - "Bewitched" (2003)

External links

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Persondata
NAME= Pearce, Alice
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Pearce, Alicia
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actress
DATE OF BIRTH= October 16, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH= New York, New York
DATE OF DEATH= March 3, 1966
PLACE OF DEATH= Hollywood, California