Alice Backes

Alice Mayrine Backes was an American actress whose career spanned more than five decades, encompassing radio, television, and film. Born on May 17, 1923 in Salt Lake City, Utah, she was the eldest daughter of Charles Cameron Backes, a rock‑wool insulation salesman, and Lela Mayrine Maxwell Backes. After excelling as a violinist at the University of Utah, where she served as concert mistress, she answered the call of World War II by joining the WAVES, driving jeeps at shore stations in Chicago and San Francisco. Following the war she moved to Hollywood, where she began a prolific series of roles, first appearing uncredited as a Swedish immigrant in the 1948 film Up in Central Park and quickly establishing herself as a versatile voice talent on radio programs such as This Is Your FBI, NBC University Theater, and Dangerous Assignment between 1946 and 1950. Her radio work continued for several years even as her television résumé expanded dramatically during the 1950s; she secured credited parts on Gang Busters and the televised Dragnet in 1952 and later appeared on more than 20 series including Medic, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave It to Beaver, and Gunsmoke.

During the 1960s and 1970s Backes became a familiar “bit player” on a wide array of popular shows, delivering memorable performances as Olive the waitress on The Andy Griffith Show and Carrie on a 1965 episode of Wagon Train. She also took on more substantial supporting roles in series such as The Rifleman, Bewitched, Mayberry R.F.D., and Adam‑12. Her film credits include The Twonky (1953), I Want to Live! (1958), That Touch of Mink (1962), and The Cat From Outer Space (1978). In the 1980s she scaled back her appearances but still guest‑starred on Barnaby Jones, Knight Rider, and Mr. Belvedere, concluding her on‑screen career with a 1997 episode of Columbo. Beyond acting, Backes was an active philanthropist, serving on the boards of UNICEF, the Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press, and the Screen Actors Guild, and she remained a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints. She married sound‑effects specialist Milton Citron in 1961; the marriage lasted until his death in 1983 and produced no children. After retiring, she moved to Virginia Beach in 2006 and passed away peacefully in her sleep on March 15, 2007 at the age of 83.