Hazel Shermet

Hazel Shermet (August 1, 1920 – October 27, 2016) was an American actress, comedian and singer whose career spanned more than four decades across radio, television, film, Broadway and voice‑over work. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she earned a degree in acting from Carnegie Tech in 1941 before sharpening her craft at the Pasadena Playhouse and moving to New York City, where she began as an advertising copywriter at age nineteen. Her Broadway debut came in 1947 opposite Jack Albertson in The Cradle Will Rock, and a year later she secured the coveted role of Miss Duffy on the long‑running radio comedy Duffy’s Tavern, a performance that took her to Puerto Rico and introduced her to future husband, writer Larry Rhine. The couple married in 1950, raised two children, and remained together until Rhine’s death in 2000. Shermet’s early radio work placed her alongside legends such as Fred Allen, Milton Berle and Henny Youngman, and she quickly became a pioneer of early television with novelty shows on WOR‑TV that featured audience‑requested songs. During the 1950s and 1960s Shermet transitioned to on‑screen roles, appearing in the 1954 episode of Dragnet, the sitcom Blondie (1957) and as Pam on Pete and Gladys (1960‑61). She is perhaps best remembered for her memorable turn as Cousin Melancholia on The Addams Family (1964) and for recurring guest spots on classics such as The Beverly Hillbillies, My Favorite Martian, That Girl, I Dream of Jeannie and Punky Brewster. Her film résumé includes A Star Is Born (1954), Auntie Mame (1958), Gypsy (1962) and Love at First Bite (1979). From 1972 to 1977 she voiced Henrietta Hippo for the entire 196‑episode run of the children’s series New Zoo Revue, and later provided the voice of Mrs. Bailey on the animated series Jem. Shermet also lent her talent to more than one hundred national television commercials, earning a cover feature as “actress of the month” in The Commercial Actor Magazine. In a 2000 Archive of American Television interview she reflected on her ability to balance a versatile career with family life, declaring that “acting for me is like eating for most people.” She died peacefully in Los Angeles at age ninety‑six, leaving behind a legacy of professionalism, adaptability and joy.