Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Remembering... Sandra Gould

Far be it from the Pop Culture Institute to impugn the good work Alice Pearce did in aid of that archetype of suburban nosiness Gladys Kravitz during the first two seasons of the legendary sitcom Bewitched; while Pearce was the ideal black and white version of the character*, though, the show's transition to colour at the outset of Season Three demanded an actress who was also in colour, and Sandra Gould - whose vivid hair the colour of tomato soup made her the mortal counterpart to Endora - more than filled the bill.

PhotobucketHer performances were as vivid as her hair colour, to such a degree that to this day just by shrieking 'Abner! ABNER!!' even a middling impressionist can reduce me to a giggling mass.

After Bewitched went off the air in 1972 Gould never lacked for work; by the time she died - on this day in 1999 - she'd also appeared in The Brady Bunch, Punky Brewster, Friends and Veronica's Closet as well as reprising her role in the short-lived 1977 Bewitched spin-off Tabitha. On the big-screen, her accomplishments include an appearance in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken with no less a comedy legend than Don Knotts.

*Pearce died of ovarian cancer in 1966, during the filming of Season Two.
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2 comments:

  1. tankmontrealSaturday, July 26, 2008 at 9:44:00 AM PDT

    Everybody's aware of the two Darrens, but two Mrs. Kravitzs as well?!?! (Kravitzi?)
    Holy Moley. Mr. PCI, you are a cornucopia of fascinating factoids.

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  2. michael sean morrisSaturday, July 26, 2008 at 1:30:00 PM PDT

    Because Alice Pearce only appeared in the black and white episodes, and given the novelty of colour TV when it was introduced in the mid to late Sixties, the B&W episodes didn't get rerun or syndicated.

    The poor dear lady (whose career was illustrious - she played Betty Garrett's roommate in "On The Town", for instance) seems to have been consigned to the pop culture's File 13; I'll be featuring more about Alice Pearce forthwith.

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