Minerva Pious | |
|---|---|
 Pious with radio actorCharlie Cantor in 1941 | |
| Born | March 5, 1903 |
| Died | March 16, 1979 Manhattan, New York City |
Minerva Pious (March 5, 1903 – March 16, 1979) was an Americanradio,television andfilm actress. She was best known as themalaprop-prone Pansy Nussbaum inFred Allen's famous "Allen's Alley" current-events skits. In his book,Treadmill to Oblivion, Allen called Pious "the most accomplished woman dialectitian ever to appear in radio."[1]
Minnie Pious, as she was originally known,[2] was born inOdessa,Russian Empire, and moved to the United States with her parents when she was 2 years old, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1918 through her naturalized citizen father.[3]
She attended high school in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where she was active in the Players Club dramatic organization. An article in the December 6, 1919 issue of theBridgeport Telegram reported "Miss Minerva Pious delighted the school with her dramatic reading" and added "Miss Pious has given very many successful story readings through the past year and will continue the community work."[4]
Pious's excellent typing and shorthand in high school led to a job as a stenographer for a judge in Bridgeport. She later wrote for a national syndicate. Next she was a writer for Loew's.[3] She spent the majority of her life and career in New York City and worked extensively as a radio comedian.[citation needed]
Pious obtained her first regular job as part of Allen's Mighty Allen Art Players in the 1930s when Allen hosted the hour-longTown Hall Tonight. Playing a number ofdialect roles in Allen's clever news spoofs and various other satires, Pious developed them into the Russian-Jewish housewife Mrs. Nussbaum by 1942, the year in which Allen's news spoofs finally developed into the "Allen's Alley" routines.
In a review published inBillboard October 18, 1947, Jerry Franken praised her performance, writing, "Mrs. Nussbaum's malapropisms and occasionally inspired twists, sharpened by Minerva Pious's sock performance, are still boff."[5]
Pious became a fixture in the routines until Allen's show ended in 1949. Invariably, she greeted Allen's knock on her door with her Yiddish "Nuuuuuu," then answered Allen's cheery "Mrs. Nussbaum!" with lines like:
Pious's portions of the "Alley" segments usually involved one or another joke at the expense of Mrs. Nussbaum's never-heard husband, Pierre. In one episode, Pierre had a bad cold, and one of the remedies involved vegetables of all types. According to Mrs. Nussbaum, the vegetables included "Carrots, stringle-a-beans and rutta-bagels." Her distinctive accented voice andJane Ace-like knack formalaprops made her a series trademark.
Pious was often invited to play Nussbaum on other radio programs, such asThe Jack Benny Program (inviting him to her new restaurant: "We feature soft lights and hard salami") andDuffy's Tavern. She was cast in the radio plays ofNorman Corwin (especially playing a Brooklynese crime solver inMurder in Studio One) and on theColumbia Workshop. In addition to comedy routines onKate Smith's series, she was heard on shows hosted byEd Wynn andBob Hope, along with roles onThe Goldbergs and thesoap operaLife Can Be Beautiful. She also was heard onThe Alan Young Show.[6] "Minnie could do a million things," rememberedFred Allen Show writer Bob Weiskopf to author Jordan R. Young inThe Laugh Crafters, a book gathering interviews with vintage radio comedy writers. "Nice lady. She had a physical affliction—she had a bad hip, a severe limp. She was very concerned about television; she never worked very much. But radio was fine."[7]
The hip condition didn't stop Pious from making occasional television appearances, on shows such asThe Colgate Comedy Hour andThe Chevrolet Television Theatre. She appeared briefly in the television soapThe Edge of Night in 1956, playing a landlady.[citation needed]
Her few film credits included playing Mrs. Nussbaum on camera in Allen'sIt's in the Bag! and a featured voice role inPinocchio in Outer Space. She had small roles in the filmsJoe MacBeth (1955)[8] andLove in the Afternoon (1957).[citation needed]
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Pious recorded withBud Freeman a skit based onNoël Coward'sPrivate Lives called "Private Jives" for theCommodore Records label in 1938. Also on the record wereJoe Bushkin (piano and trumpet) and announcerEverett Sloane. The record, according to Commodore, sold only 150 copies, all to friends of the artistes!
Pious died March 16, 1979, atLenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, aged 76.
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