Aneta Louise Corsaut (November 3, 1933November 6, 1995) was an American actress and writer. She is best known for playing Helen Crump on ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom, situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in colo ...

'' (1963–1968), Judge Cynthia Justin on '' Matlock'' (1991–1992), and Jane in ''

The Blob ''The Blob'' is a 1958 American science fiction horror film directed by Irvin Yeaworth, and written by Kay Linaker and Theodore Simonson. It stars Steve McQueen (in his first feature film leading role) and Aneta Corsaut and co-stars Earl Rowe ...

'' (1958).

Early life and career

Born in

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch". As of the 2020 ...

, Corsaut was the daughter of Jesse Harrison and Opal J. (née Swarens) Corsaut. She majored in drama at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and studied acting with

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...

. During her junior year, Corsaut dropped out to pursue a career in acting, although during the run of ''The Andy Griffith Show'', Corsaut took courses at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

with plans to earn her degree. She began her acting career in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the mid-1950s. In 1958, Corsaut and

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and ...

made their film debuts in the independent cult

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

''. On television, in 1961–1962, she portrayed Irma Howell on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

Mrs. G. Goes to College ''Mrs. G. Goes to College'' (retitled ''The Gertrude Berg Show'' starting with episode 14) is a 26-episode American sitcom which aired on CBS from October 4, 1961, to April 5, 1962. The series starred Emmy Award-winning actress Gertrude Berg. Syn ...

.'' Corsaut first appeared on the long-running Griffith show in 1963 as schoolteacher Helen Crump, who later became the Mayberry sheriff's wife on the first episode of the spinoff ''

Mayberry R.F.D. ''Mayberry R.F.D.'' (abbreviation for Rural Free Delivery) is an American television series produced as a spin-off continuation of ''The Andy Griffith Show''. When star Andy Griffith decided to leave his series, most of the supporting characters ...

'' In 1965 she was also cast as Kathy McLennan, the young widow of a rancher, in the episode "Paid in Full" on the syndicated

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

''. Corsaut later had a continuing role as policeman Bumper Morgan's pawn-shop-owner friend on the 1975–1976 series '' The Blue Knight''. In the series ''

Adam-12 ''Adam-12'' is an American television police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they patrol the st ...

'', Corsaut portrayed Officer Pete Malloy's girlfriend Judy. She had a supporting role too as Head Nurse Bradley in the 1980s sitcom ''

House Calls A house call is medical consultation performed by a doctor or other healthcare professionals visiting the home of a patient or client, instead of the patient visiting the doctor's clinic or hospital. In some locations, families used to pay due ...

'', and she appeared in several episodes of '' Matlock'' with star

Andy Griffith Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his character ...

. In addition, Corsaut played the role of nurse Jesse Brewer in 1977 on the long-running ABC soap opera ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...

'' when long-time portrayer

Emily McLaughlin Emily McLaughlin (December 1, 1928 – April 26, 1991) was an American actress, known for her long-standing role as original character Nurse Jessie Brewer on the daytime soap opera ''General Hospital'' from 1963 until 1991. Early life McLaug ...

was too ill to work. She returned to the role of Helen Crump in the reunion shows '' Return to Mayberry'' in 1986 and ''The Andy Griffith Show Reunion'' in 1993. As a writer, she coauthored ''The Mystery Reader's Quiz Book''.

Personal life and death

Corsaut never married or had children. On November 6, 1995, Corsaut died of cancer in Los Angeles, California. A Catholic, she was interred at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in nearby North Hollywood.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Corsaut, Aneta 1933 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Kansas American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery Deaths from cancer in California Northwestern University School of Communication alumni People from Hutchinson, Kansas University of California, Los Angeles alumni Writers from Kansas 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers California Democrats Kansas Democrats American Roman Catholics People from Studio City, Los Angeles