Ann Bradford Davis (May 3, 1926 – June 1, 2014) was an American actress. She achieved prominence for her role in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

situation comedy ''

The Bob Cummings Show ''The Bob Cummings Show'' (also known in reruns as ''Love That Bob'') is an American sitcom starring Bob Cummings, which was broadcast from January 2, 1955, to September 15, 1959. The program began with a half-season run on NBC, then ran for ...

'' (1955–1959), for which she twice won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

, but she was best known for playing the part of

Alice Nelson File:The Brady Bunch.jpg, 300px, Characters of ''The Brady Bunch'' (Mouse over to identify) rect 0 0 105 79 #Marcia Brady, Marcia Brady rect 108 0 211 79 #Carol Brady, Carol Brady rect 216 0 320 79 #Greg Brady, Greg Brady rect 0 ...

, the housekeeper in ABC's ''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired five seasons from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family of six children, with three boys and three gir ...

'' (1969–1974).

Early life

Davis was born in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

, to Marguerite (née Stott) and Cassius Miles Davis. She had an identical twin, Harriet, and an older sister and brother, Elizabeth (1917–1974) and Evans (1921–2005). When she was three, she and her family moved to Erie in northwestern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. She graduated from Strong Vincent High School and later from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. She originally enrolled as a

pre-medical Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students mostly in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med ...

major, but she changed her mind and went into drama after seeing her brother's performance of ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'' Davis graduated in 1948 with a degree in drama and speech.

Career

In the 1953–1954 season, Davis appeared as a musical judge on ABC's ''Jukebox Jury''. Davis's first television success was as Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz in ''The Bob Cummings Show'', 1955–1959. She auditioned for the role because her friend's boyfriend was a casting director and recommended her for the part. She won the

twice out of four nominations for this role. She appeared on January 23, 1958, as a guest star on '' The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford''. On February 9, 1960, Davis received a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

. In this period, Davis also focused on theater. As early as 1958 she appeared in a national touring company of the

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', and a U. ...

play '' The Matchmaker'', costarring her ''Bob Cummings Show'' castmate,

Lyle Talbot Lyle Talbot (born Lisle Henderson, also credited Lysle Talbot; February 8, 1902 – March 2, 1996) was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on a wide ...

, who played Bob's Air Force buddy, and on June 27, 1960 she replaced

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American comedian, actress, singer and writer. Burnett has played dramatic and comedic roles on stage and screen. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Carol Burnett, nu ...

in the starring role of Princess Winnifred in the Broadway production of the musical ''

Once Upon a Mattress ''Once Upon a Mattress'' is a musical theater, musical comedy with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. It opened off-Broadway in May 1959, and then moved to Broadway theat ...

''. Davis only played the role for a week before the show closed on July 2. In the 1965–1966 television season, Davis appeared as Miss Wilson, a

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

teacher at a private girls' academy in

John Forsythe John Lincoln Forsythe ( Freund; January 29, 1918 – April 1, 2010) was an American stage, film/television actor, producer, narrator, drama teacher and philanthropist whose career spanned six decades. He also appeared as a guest on several t ...

's single-season NBC sitcom, ''The John Forsythe Show''. For a period in the 1960s and 1970s, Davis was known for her appearances in

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

for the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, particularly for the mid-sized Ford Fairlane models. Davis was also featured in commercials for Minute Rice in Canada until the mid-1980s. During this period she also performed as a comedian; before Sherwood Schwartz could cast her in ''The Brady Bunch'',

Paramount Studios Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production and distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount Global. It is the sixth-oldest film studio i ...

had to buy her out of a multiweek booking in Seattle. From 1969 to 1974, Davis played housekeeper Alice Nelson in ''The Brady Bunch'' television series. She later returned to take part in various ''Brady Bunch'' television movies, including ''The Brady Girls Get Married'' (1981) and '' A Very Brady Christmas'' (1988). She also reprised her role as Alice Nelson in two short-lived Brady Bunch spin-off television series: '' The Brady Brides'' (1981), which ran for ten episodes, and '' The Bradys'' (1990), which lasted only six episodes. She also made a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

as a truck driver named "Schultzy", a reference to her days on ''The Bob Cummings Show'', in '' The Brady Bunch Movie'' in 1995. In 1994, Davis published a cookbook, ''Alice's Brady Bunch Cookbook'', with ''Brady Bunch'' inspired recipes. The book also includes recipes from cast members. In the early 1990s, Davis returned to theater. She performed in a production of '' Arsenic and Old Lace'', and both the Broadway production and a world tour of '' Crazy for You''. Ann B

Davis never completely retired from acting; in her later years she was the celebrity spokeswoman in several Shake 'n Bake commercials, and later appeared in several disposable mop commercials for Swiffer. She also appeared in a number of ''Brady Bunch'' reunion projects, most recently

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division's MTV Entertainment Group. It was originally launched as Nick at Nite’s TV Land as a spinoff of Nick at Nite programing block consisting e ...

's '' The Brady Bunch 35th Anniversary Reunion Special: Still Brady After All These Years''. On April 22, 2007, ''The Brady Bunch'' was awarded the TV Land Pop Culture Award on the 5th annual TV Land Awards. Davis and other cast members accepted the award, and she received a standing ovation.

Personal life

In 1976, Davis sold her home in Los Angeles to move to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, Colorado, where she joined an Episcopal

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

led by Bishop William C. Frey. The community later relocated to Ambridge in Beaver County in far western Pennsylvania after Frey became dean of the seminary

Trinity School for Ministry Trinity Anglican Seminary, formerly known as Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, is an Anglican seminary in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. It is generally associated with evangelical Anglicanism. History In the mid 1970s, several prominent evangeli ...

. Davis had long been a volunteer for the Episcopal Church, working at the General Convention, attending services at churches around the country.

Death

Davis died at the age of 88 on June 1, 2014, at a hospital in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas. Earlier in the day, she had sustained a

subdural hematoma A subdural hematoma (SDH) is a type of bleeding in which a collection of blood—usually but not always associated with a traumatic brain injury—gathers between the inner layer of the dura mater and the arachnoid mater of the meninges surrou ...

from a fall in her bathroom in her San Antonio residence, in which she lived with Bishop Frey and his wife, Barbara. Sources close to Davis say that she was in excellent health for her age and that her death was a complete shock. She was cremated and interred in the Saint Helena's Columbarium and Memorial Gardens in

Boerne, Texas Boerne ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kendall County, Texas, United States, in the Texas Hill Country. Boerne is known for its German-Texan history, named in honor of German author and satirist Ludwig Börne by the German Founders of the ...

.Gross, Joe.
12 fascinating Texans and where to find their graves
" ''Austin American-Statesman,'' September 26, 2018.

Works

Film

Television

Stage

Awards and nominations

Davis received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations, resulting in two awards, for her portrayal of Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz on ''The Bob Cummings Show''. On February 9, 1960, Davis also received a star on the

at 7048

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

. She also received TV Land Awards in 2004, 2006, and 2007 for her portrayal of Alice Nelson, the housekeeper on ''The Brady Bunch''.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Ann B. 1926 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American Episcopalians 21st-century American women Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Texas Actors from Erie, Pennsylvania Actors from Schenectady, New York Actresses from Denver Actresses from Los Angeles Actresses from New York (state) Actresses from San Antonio American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American twins Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners People from Beaver County, Pennsylvania Trinity School for Ministry alumni University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni