Alice Ghostley

Alice Margaret Ghostley was an American actress and singer whose career spanned over five decades, beginning in the early 1950s and lasting until her death in 2007. Born on August 14, 1923 at a train station in Eve, Missouri, she was the daughter of telegraph operator Harry Francis Ghostley and Edna Muriel Rooney, and she grew up in Henryetta, Oklahoma before enrolling at the University of Oklahoma. Dropping out of college to chase the stage, Ghostley made her Broadway debut in Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952 and subsequently appeared in the 1954 film version, showcasing her comedic timing with the novelty number “The Boston Beguine.” Her early television work included a memorable turn as one of the ugly stepsisters in the 1957 live musical Cinderella starring Julie Andrews, and she quickly became a favorite guest star on a raft of sitcoms such as Car 54, Where Are You?, The Tom Ewell Show, and Get Smart. Ghostley’s most iconic TV roles were the bumbling witch Esmeralda on Bewitched (1969‑1972), the warm‑hearted Cousin Alice on Mayberry R.F.D. (1970‑1971), and the eccentric Bernice Clifton on Designing Women (1986‑1993), each performance cementing her reputation as a lovable comic character actress.

Beyond television, Ghostley appeared in notable films including To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) as the gossip‑mongering Miss Stephanie Crawford, the shop teacher Mrs. Murdock in the 1978 screen adaptation of Grease, and a supporting turn in the comedy Not for Publication (1985). Her stage work earned her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress for The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window and a Tony nomination for The Beauty Part in 1963, while an Emmy nomination followed in 1992 for her work on Designing Women. Married to fellow actor Felice Orlandi from 1953 until his death in 2003, Ghostley remained active in the industry until a series of health setbacks led to her passing from colon cancer and strokes on September 21, 2007, in Studio City, California.