Alice Pearce
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
| Alice Pearce | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | Alicia Pearce October 16, 1917 New York City, New York, USA |
||||||
| Died | March 3, 1966 (aged 48) Hollywood, California, USA |
||||||
| Occupation | Actor | ||||||
| Spouse(s) | John Rox (1948-1957) Paul Davis (1964-1966) |
||||||
|
|||||||
Alicia “Alice” Pearce (October 16, 1917 - March 3, 1966) was an American Emmy Award winning television, film, and stage actress.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Television
|
[edit] Film
|
[edit] Awards
- Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy - Bewitched (1966)
- Nosiest Neighbor - Bewitched (2003)
[edit] External links
- Alice Pearce at the Internet Movie Database
- Alice Pearce at the Internet Broadway Database
- Alice Pearce at Find A Grave
|
||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
| 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 |
