Mary Jane Croft was born on February 15, 1916 in Muncie, Indiana, United States, is Actress, Soundtrack. Diminutive, blond character comedienne whose strident voice and nervy manner made her the perfect foil to Lucille Ball's madcap antics on TV, at first, occasionally, on I Love Lucy (1951) (as "Betty Ramsay" and "Evelyn Bigsby"), then on a regular basis on The Lucy Show (1962) and Here's Lucy (1968) (as "Mary Jane Lewis"). Mary Jane started her show business career on the stage with the civic theatre in her hometown, Muncie, Indiana. After briefly acting with the Guild Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio, she joined the local radio station WLW and embarked on a lengthy career as a radio actress. Her marriage to fellow actor Jack Zoller was followed by a move to Los Angeles in 1939.During the 1940's and 1950's, Mary Jane became one of a company of much in-demand voice actresses (along with performers Lurene Tuttle, Howard Duff and Bea Benaderet, whom she befriended), comedy inevitably being her forte. She acted on "The Mel Blanc Show" (1946), as the love interest "Leila Ransom" on "The Great Gildersleeve" (1950), "Blondie" (1950), "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1950), the family friend on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952), and the voice of basset hound "Cleo", owned by Jackie Cooper, on The People's Choice (1955) (1955-56). Her best-known pre-Lucille role was as "Daisy Enright", the nemesis of "Our Miss Brooks", which starred Eve Arden and Gale Gordon (both on radio and, subsequently, on TV). Mary Jane re-enacted the part for three seasons in the television series, produced by Desilu.In 1960, Mary Jane got married for the second time, using her newly married name for her character on The Lucy Show (1962), produced by new hubby Elliott Lewis. By 1965, Mary Jane had replaced Vivian Vance, who retired from the show, as Lucy's neighbor. For most TV audiences, Mary Jane will be fondly remembered as Lucy's cheerful ally and confidante in their various joint endeavors at setting up pompous banker Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon). Despite other changes in the cast, Mary Jane's role carried over into the next incarnation of the Desilu franchise, Here's Lucy (1968).After her death in August 1999, Lucie Arnaz eulogized her mother's friend Mary Jane, as being the antithesis of the dizzy blonde she portrayed on screen and as a fun-loving and joyous spirit.
Mary Jane Croft is a member of Actress
Does Mary Jane Croft Dead or Alive?
As per our current Database, Mary Jane Croft has been died on August 24, 1999(1999-08-24) (aged 83)\nCentury City, California.
🎂 Mary Jane Croft - Age, Bio, Faces and Birthday
When Mary Jane Croft die, Mary Jane Croft was 83 years old.
Popular As |
Mary Jane Croft |
Occupation |
Actress |
Age |
83 years old |
Zodiac Sign |
Pisces |
Born |
February 15, 1916 ( Muncie, Indiana, United States) |
Birthday |
February 15 |
Town/City |
Muncie, Indiana, United States |
Nationality |
United States |
🌙 Zodiac
Mary Jane Croft’s zodiac sign is Pisces. According to astrologers, Pisces are very friendly, so they often find themselves in a company of very different people. Pisces are selfless, they are always willing to help others, without hoping to get anything back. Pisces is a Water sign and as such this zodiac sign is characterized by empathy and expressed emotional capacity.
🌙 Chinese Zodiac Signs
Mary Jane Croft was born in the Year of the Dragon. A powerful sign, those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Dragon are energetic and warm-hearted, charismatic, lucky at love and egotistic. They’re natural born leaders, good at giving orders and doing what’s necessary to remain on top. Compatible with Monkey and Rat.
Some Mary Jane Croft images
Biography/Timeline
1935
Described as "a stage-struck 17-year-old just out of high school", she started her career on the stage of the Muncie Civic Theatre. She quickly joined the Guild Theatre company, a new theatrical stock company in Cincinnati, Ohio. From that, she went to radio station WLW. Croft said of her work at WLW, "from 1935 to 1939, I played parts with every kind of voice and accent: children, babies, old women, society belles, main street floozies – everything."
1950
Croft and Hal March co-starred in Too Many Cooks, a summer replacement program on CBS in 1950. The comedy centered on Douglas and Carrie Cook and their 10 children.
1959
Croft married actor Jack Zoller, but the marriage did not last long, and the couple divorced. She remarried, to Elliot Lewis in 1959. She and Lewis remained wed until Lewis' death in 1990. Croft had a son, Eric, by her first marriage, who was killed in action during the Vietnam War.
1960
In addition to her work with Lucille Ball, she was a frequent guest star on other television programs, including Howard Duff's adventure/drama series Dante in the 1960 episode "The Misfortune Cookie".
1964
When Vance left The Lucy Show after the 1964-1965 season, Croft became Lucy's new sidekick, Mary Jane Lewis. Croft had previously had a recurring role as Audrey Simmons during the show's early seasons set in Danfield, New York. Mary Jane Lewis was Croft's legal name at the time, as she was then married to actor-producer Elliott Lewis (who had originally produced The Lucy Show during its first two seasons) but continued to use her maiden name professionally. Her only son, by a prior marriage, was killed in the Vietnam War during the period that she was co-starring with Ball.
1974
The Lewis character was maintained when The Lucy Show was transformed into Ball's third sitcom, Here's Lucy. The character remained until Ball decided to end Here's Lucy in 1974.
1977
Croft continued to act in television for several years after the end of Here's Lucy, even reuniting with Ball in 1977 in the special, Lucy Calls the President. She also returned to radio for several episodes of Sears Radio Theater in 1979.
2019
She was a regular on at least two other series, as Clara Randolph the ebullient neighbor with the shrill voice married to Joe Randolph played by Hollywood veteran Lyle Talbot on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and on Our Miss Brooks on CBS, in which she reprised her radio role as Miss Daisy Enright, the title character's rival. She provided the voice for Cleo the basset hound in Jackie Cooper's NBC series The People’s Choice (1955–58).
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