Conchata Galen Ferrell (March 28, 1943October 12, 2020) was an American actress. Although she was a regular cast member of five TV

sitcoms 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 new ...

, she was best known for playing Berta the housekeeper for all 12 seasons of ''

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, t ...

''. For her performance as Berta, she received two nominations for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begin ...

(in 2005 and 2007). She had previously been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in '' L.A. Law'' (in 1992).

Early life

Conchata Galen Ferrell was born March 28, 1943, in Loudendale, West Virginia, to Mescal Loraine (née George) and Luther Martin Ferrell. She was raised in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 2020 census and an estimated population of 48,018 in 2021. The Charlesto ...

. Her family later moved to

Circleville, Ohio Circleville is a city in and the county seat of Pickaway County, Ohio, United States, set along the Scioto River, 25 miles (40 km) south of Columbus. The population was 13,927 at the 2020 census. The city is best-known today as the host ...

. She attended

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

for two years, dropped out, and, after working several jobs, enrolled and graduated from

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges ...

with a degree in history education. She made her first onstage performance at Marshall in 1969 in the second Barfenon Review, a

skit comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and i ...

and musical production.

Career

Ferrell began her career on the stage as a member of the Circle Repertory Company. She appeared in the original

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

cast of Lanford Wilson's '' The Hot l Baltimore'' and won the Drama Desk,

Obie The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the ...

and

Theatre World ''Theatre World'' is an annual American theatre pictorial and statistical print publication. It includes Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and regional theatre, national theatrical awards, and obituaries. Theatre World "In 1944, three ...

Best Actress Awards for her performance in the

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

play ''The Sea Horse''. Acting on stage, television and film for decades, she may have originally been best known for her starring role as the frontier wife in the 1979 feature film ''

Heartland Heartland or Heartlands may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Heartland Bank, a New Zealand-based financial institution * Heartland Inn, a chain of hotels based in Iowa, United States * Heartland Alliance, an anti-poverty organization ...

'' directed by Richard Pearce, and as the tough-talking owner of ''

Mystic Pizza ''Mystic Pizza'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Donald Petrie in his feature directorial debut, and starring Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts and Lili Taylor. It follows the coming-of-age of three young Portuguese-Amer ...

'', co-starring alongside Lili Taylor,

Annabeth Gish Anne Elizabeth "Annabeth" Gish (born March 13, 1971) is an American actress. She has played roles in films ''Shag'', ''Hiding Out'', ''Mystic Pizza'', ''SLC Punk!'', '' The Last Supper'' and '' Double Jeopardy''. On television, she played Specia ...

, and

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and th ...

, who portrayed pizza waitresses. She also played a tough, comical nurse on the short-lived 1980s TV sitcom '' E/R''. In 1992, she received her first

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her recurring role as Attorney Susan Bloom on the sixth season of '' L.A. Law'', but lost to Valerie Mahaffey for ''

Northern Exposure ''Northern Exposure'' is an American Northern comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents of a fictional small town in Alaska that ran on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It received 57 ...

''. She had previously appeared in an episode of the show in 1988 as Lorna Landsberg, an entirely different character. Ferrell's supporting roles in films include performances in '' Deadly Hero'', ''

Network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematic ...

'', ''

Edward Scissorhands ''Edward Scissorhands'' is a 1990 American fantasy romance film directed by Tim Burton. It was produced by Burton and Denise Di Novi, written by Caroline Thompson from a story by her and Burton, and starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Antho ...

'', '' Erin Brockovich'', '' Crime and Punishment in Suburbia'', ''

Mr. Deeds ''Mr. Deeds'' is a 2002 American comedy film directed by Steven Brill, written by Tim Herlihy, and starring Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder with Peter Gallagher, Jared Harris, Allen Covert, Erick Avari, and John Turturro in supporting roles. I ...

'' and '' K-PAX'' as well as a small part in ''

True Romance ''True Romance'' is a 1993 American romantic crime film directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino. It features an ensemble cast led by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, with Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt ...

''. Her other television credits include Maude, ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name, also written by Whedon, although the events of the film are not consid ...

'', '' Hot l Baltimore'', '' Teen Angel'', '' Matlock'', ''

B. J. and the Bear ''B.J. and the Bear'' is an American action comedy television series which aired on NBC from February 10, 1979, to May 9, 1981. Created by Glen A. Larson and Christopher Crowe, the series stars Greg Evigan. The series was produced when the CB ...

'', ''

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first Afric ...

'', '' Hearts Afire'', '' Townies'', '' Night Court'', ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...

'' and '' Push, Nevada''. She played Mrs. Werner in the episode of '' Quincy, M.E.'' titled "Into the Murdering Mind" (1982). She has also made memorable appearances portraying blunt, authoritative judges (the "Jagged Sledge" episode of '' Sledge Hammer!'' in 1987, and on "The One with Joey's Porsche" episode of ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

'' in 1999). She accepted a role in the off-Broadway play '' Love, Loss, and What I Wore'' for an April 27 through May 29, 2011, run with Minka Kelly,

AnnaLynne McCord AnnaLynne McCord (born July 16, 1987) is an American actress, activist, and model. Known for playing vixen-type roles, McCord first gained prominence in 2007 as the scheming Eden Lord on the FX television series '' Nip/Tuck'', and as the pam ...

, Anne Meara, and

B. Smith Barbara Elaine Smith (August 24, 1949 – February 22, 2020), professionally known as B. Smith, was an American restaurateur, model, author, businesswoman, and television host. Early life and education Smith was born on August 24, 1949, in th ...

. Ferrell was best known for portraying Berta the Housekeeper in the CBS sitcom ''

'', appearing in a total of 212 episodes from 2003 to 2015. She had received two nominations for a

in 2005 and 2007, but lost to

Doris Roberts Doris May Roberts ( Green; November 4, 1925 – April 17, 2016) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades of television and film. She received five Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild award during her acting career, which bega ...

for ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American sitcom television series created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch an ...

'' and Jaime Pressly for ''

My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and starred Ja ...

''. In 2012, she voiced the role of Bob's Mom in '' Frankenweenie'', which was directed by

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), '' Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993 ...

. She was slated to appear in the upcoming feature film ''Deported'' (2020), and had earlier acted in ''A Very Nutty Christmas'' (2018), a holiday-themed television movie.

Personal life and death

Ferrell married Arnie Anderson in about 1986. She had a daughter, Samantha (born in 1982), and two stepdaughters (born in 1976 and 1979). Ferrell died on October 12, 2020, from complications following

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possi ...

at the

Sherman Oaks Hospital Sherman Oaks Hospital (SOH) is a 153-bed acute care facility on Van Nuys Boulevard in the city of Los Angeles neighborhood of Sherman Oaks, California. It had 3,995 admissions during the most recent year such data was made available. SOH is own ...

in Sherman Oaks, California. She was 77 years old.

Filmography

Source(s):

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
Biography at CBS.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrell, Conchata 1943 births 2020 deaths American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Marshall University alumni Actors from Charleston, West Virginia Actresses from West Virginia 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Drama Desk Award winners West Virginia University alumni