Mary Jane Croft (February 15, 1916 – August 24, 1999) was an American actress best known for roles as Betty Ramsey on ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...
'', Miss Daisy Enright on the radio and television versions of ''
Our Miss Brooks
''Our Miss Brooks'' is an American sitcom starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high-school English teacher. It began as a Old Time Radio, radio show broadcast on CBS from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television (1952–56), it became ...
'', Mary Jane Lewis on ''
The Lucy Show
''The Lucy Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to ''I Love Lucy''. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distinct ...
'' and ''
Here's Lucy
''Here's Lucy'' is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. The series co-starred her long-time comedy partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. It was Ball's third ...
'', and Clara Randolph on ''
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was b ...
''.
Early career
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
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
. From that, she went to radio station
WLW
WLW (700 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial news/talk radio station city of license, licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios ...
. 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."
Radio
Croft's initial appearance on radio was in ''Sherlock Holmes''.
[ She worked extensively as an actress in radio, appearing on such programs as '' Life with Luigi'', '' Blondie'', '' The Adventures of Sam Spade'', '']Suspense
Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...
'', '' The Beulah Show'', '' The Bill Goodwin Show'', '' Broadway Is My Beat'', '' On Stage'', '' Crime Classics'', '' Four-Star Playhouse'', '' The Harold Peary Show'', '' Joan Davis Time'', '' The Mel Blanc Show'', '' One Man's Family'', ''Our Miss Brooks
''Our Miss Brooks'' is an American sitcom starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high-school English teacher. It began as a Old Time Radio, radio show broadcast on CBS from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television (1952–56), it became ...
'', and ''Sears Radio Theater
''Sears Radio Theater'' was a radio drama anthology series which ran weeknights on CBS Radio in 1979, sponsored by the Sears chain. Often paired with ''The CBS Radio Mystery Theater'' during its first season, the program offered a different g ...
''. She also appeared in frequent guest-star roles on Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...
's '' My Favorite Husband'', the beginning of their later professional and personal relationship.
Croft and Hal March
Hal March (born Harold Mendelson; April 22, 1920 – January 19, 1970) was an American comedian, actor, and television quiz show emcee.
Early career
March entered show business as a straight man in the vaudeville act the Hollywood Rioteers, b ...
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.
Television
In addition to her work with Lucille Ball, she was a frequent guest star on other television programs, including Howard Duff
Howard Green Duff (November 24, 1913July 8, 1990) was an American actor. He started in radio during World War II before appearing in many Hollywood features and television programs from 1947 to 1990. He also directed for television. His career ...
's adventure/drama series ''Dante
Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
'' in the 1960 episode "The Misfortune Cookie".
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
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 ...
series '' The People’s Choice'' (1955–58).
Late in the weekly run of the original ''I Love Lucy'' series, the major characters moved to Connecticut. There, Lucy Ricardo befriended a new neighbor, Betty Ramsey (portrayed by Croft), who was very socially conscious and tended to get Lucy involved in adventures different from those that involved Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance
Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – August 17, 1979) was an American actress best known for playing landlady Ethel Mertz on the sitcom ''I Love Lucy'' (1951–1957), for which she won the 1953 Primetime Emmy Award for Outs ...
). Croft had previously guest-starred as Lucy's wealthy schoolmate Cynthia Harcourt in "Lucy is Envious", then as Evelyn Bigsby, the airline passenger seated next to Lucy in "Return Home from Europe", the episode in which Lucy disguises a hunk of cheese as a baby.
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
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
during the period that she was co-starring with Ball.
The Lewis character was maintained when ''The Lucy Show'' was transformed into Ball's third sitcom, ''Here's Lucy
''Here's Lucy'' is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. The series co-starred her long-time comedy partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. It was Ball's third ...
''. The character remained until Ball decided to end ''Here's Lucy'' in 1974.
Croft made an unsold pilot, ''The Two of Us'', that centered on a children's books illustrator. The pilot was produced by Desilu
Desilu Productions, Inc. () was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as ''I Love Lucy'', '' The Lucy Show'', '' Mannix'', '' The ...
.
Later years and death
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
''Sears Radio Theater'' was a radio drama anthology series which ran weeknights on CBS Radio in 1979, sponsored by the Sears chain. Often paired with ''The CBS Radio Mystery Theater'' during its first season, the program offered a different g ...
'' in 1979.
She died of natural causes in Century City, California
Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Los Angeles, Centu ...
.
Personal life
Croft married actor Jack Zoller, but they divorced after a short time. She married Elliott Lewis in 1959 and remained wed until his death in 1990. Croft had a son, Eric, by her first marriage, who was killed in action in 1967 during the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
.
Filmography
References
External links
*
Mary Jane Croft Honored
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Mary Jane
1916 births
1999 deaths
20th-century American actresses
American stage actresses
American film actresses
American television actresses
American radio actresses
Actresses from Indiana
People from Muncie, Indiana