Ann B. Davis | |
|---|---|
 Davis in 1973 | |
| Born | Ann Bradford Davis (1926-05-03)May 3, 1926 Schenectady, New York, U.S. |
| Died | June 1, 2014(2014-06-01) (aged 88) San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1953–1997 |
| Known for | The Bob Cummings Show The Brady Bunch A Very Brady Christmas |
| Awards | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Hollywood Walk of Fame |
Ann Bradford Davis (May 3, 1926 – June 1, 2014) was an American actress.[1][2] She achieved prominence for her role in theNBC situation comedyThe Bob Cummings Show (1955–1959), for which she twice won thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, but she was best known for playing the part ofAlice Nelson, the housekeeper inABC'sThe Brady Bunch (1969–1974).
Davis was born inSchenectady, New York, to Marguerite (née Stott) and Cassius Miles Davis.[1] She had an identical twin, Harriet, and an older sister and brother, Elizabeth (1917–1974) and Evans (1921–2005).[3][4] When she was three, she and her family moved toErie in northwesternPennsylvania.[2] She graduated fromStrong Vincent High School and later from theUniversity of Michigan inAnn Arbor.[5] She originally enrolled as apre-medical major, but she changed her mind and went into drama after seeing her brother's performance ofOklahoma![2] Davis graduated in 1948 with a degree in drama and speech.[2]
In the 1953–1954 season, Davis appeared as a musical judge on ABC'sJukebox Jury.[6]
Davis's first television success was as Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz inThe Bob Cummings Show, 1955–1959.[7] She auditioned for the role because her friend's boyfriend was a casting director and recommended her for the part.[2] She won thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series twice out of four nominations for this role.[7]
She appeared on January 23, 1958, as a guest star onThe Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. On February 9, 1960, Davis received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.[8] In this period, Davis also focused on theater. As early as 1958 she appeared in a national touring company of theThornton Wilder playThe Matchmaker, costarring herBob Cummings Show castmate,Lyle Talbot, who played Bob's Air Force buddy,[9] and on June 27, 1960[10][11] she replacedCarol Burnett in the starring role of Princess Winnifred in theBroadway production of the musicalOnce Upon a Mattress. Davis only played the role for a week before the show closed on July 2.[12][13]
In May 1964, she appeared in the stage production ofBus Stop at the Yonkers Playhouse.Jayne Mansfield played the lead character "Cherie", while Davis played the character of "Grace", owner of the diner.[14][15] The play had a three week engagement that ended on June 14.[16]
In the 1965–1966 television season, Davis appeared as Miss Wilson, aphysical education teacher at a private girls' academy inJohn Forsythe's single-season NBC sitcom,The John Forsythe Show.[17]
For a period in the 1960s and 1970s, Davis was known for her appearances intelevision commercials for theFord Motor Company, particularly for the mid-sizedFord Fairlane models. Davis was also featured in commercials forMinute Rice in Canada until the mid-1980s. During this period she also performed as a comedian; beforeSherwood Schwartz could cast her inThe Brady Bunch,Paramount Studios had to buy her out of a multiweek booking in Seattle.[18]
From 1969 to 1974, Davis played housekeeper Alice Nelson inThe Brady Bunch television series. She later returned to take part in variousBrady Bunch television movies, includingThe Brady Girls Get Married (1981) andA Very Brady Christmas (1988). She also reprised her role as Alice Nelson in two short-lived Brady Bunch spin-off television series:The Brady Brides (1981), which ran for ten episodes, andThe Bradys (1990), which lasted only six episodes. She also made acameo appearance as a truck driver named "Schultzy", a reference to her days onThe Bob Cummings Show, inThe Brady Bunch Movie in 1995. In 1994, Davis published a cookbook,Alice's Brady Bunch Cookbook, withBrady Bunch inspired recipes.[19] The book also includes recipes from cast members.[20]
In the early 1990s, Davis returned to theater. She performed in a production ofArsenic and Old Lace, and both the Broadway production and a world tour ofCrazy for You.[21]
Davis never completely retired from acting; in her later years she was the celebrity spokeswoman in severalShake 'n Bake commercials, and later appeared in several disposable mop commercials forSwiffer.[3][22] She also appeared in a number ofBrady Bunch reunion projects, most recentlyTV Land'sThe Brady Bunch 35th Anniversary Reunion Special: Still Brady After All These Years. On April 22, 2007,The Brady Bunch was awarded the TV Land Pop Culture Award on the 5th annual TV Land Awards. Davis and other cast members accepted the award, and she received a standing ovation.[23]
In 1976, Davis sold her home in Los Angeles to move toDenver, Colorado, where she joined anEpiscopalcommunity led by BishopWilliam C. Frey.[24] The community later relocated toAmbridge inBeaver County in far western Pennsylvania after Frey became dean of the seminaryTrinity School for Ministry.[2] Davis had long been a volunteer for the Episcopal Church, working at the General Convention,[25] attending services at churches around the country.[24]
Davis died at the age of 88 on June 1, 2014, at a hospital inSan Antonio, Texas. Earlier in the day, she had sustained asubdural hematoma from a fall in her bathroom in her San Antonio residence, in which she lived with Bishop Frey and his wife, Barbara.[26][27][28] Sources close to Davis say that she was in excellent health for her age and that her death was a complete shock.[29] She was cremated and interred in the Saint Helena's Columbarium and Memorial Gardens inBoerne, Texas.[30]
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| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | A Man Called Peter[31] | Ruby Coleman | Uncredited |
| 1956 | The Best Things in Life Are Free | Hattie Stewart | Uncredited |
| 1960 | Pepe[31] | Ann B. "Schultzy" Davis | |
| 1961 | All Hands on Deck[31] | Nobby | |
| 1961 | Lover Come Back | Millie | |
| 1994 | Naked Gun33+1⁄3: The Final Insult | Alice Nelson | Credited as playing herself |
| 1995 | The Brady Bunch Movie | Trucker (Shultzy) |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953–1953 | Jukebox Jury | Herself/Judge | Musical series |
| 1956 | Matinee Theater | Peg Miller | Episode: "Belong to Me" |
| 1956 | Lux Video Theatre | Miss Killicat | Episode: "The Wayward Saint" |
| 1955–1959 | The Bob Cummings Show | Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz | 153 episodes |
| 1960 | Wagon Train[32] | Mrs. Foster | Episode: "The Countess Baranof Story" |
| 1962 | The New Breed | Elizabeth MacBaine | Episode: "Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo?" |
| 1962 | Here's Hollywood | Herself | Celebrity interview program |
| 1963 | McKeever and the Colonel | Sgt. Gruber | Episode: "Too Many Sergeants" |
| 1963 | The Keefe Brasselle Show[33] | Herself | 3 appearances on summer replacement series forThe Garry Moore Show |
| 1964 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Matha | Episode: "Wake Up, Darling" |
| 1965–1966 | The John Forsythe Show | Miss Wilson | 29 episodes |
| 1966 | The Pruitts of Southampton | Mrs. Derwin | Episode: "Phyllis Takes a Letter" |
| 1968 | Insight | Pat | Episode: "The Late Great God" |
| 1970/1973 | Love, American Style[32] | 2 episodes | |
| 1971 | Big Fish, Little Fish | Hilda Rose | Movie |
| 1973 | The World of Sid & Marty Krofft at the Hollywood Bowl | Audience member | Uncredited |
| 1969–1974 | The Brady Bunch | Alice Nelson / Cousin Emma | 117 episodes |
| 1974 | Only with Married Men | Mola | Movie; uncredited |
| 1976–1977 | The Brady Bunch Hour | Alice Nelson | 9 episodes |
| 1980 | The Love Boat[32] | Agnes | Episode: "Invisible Maniac/September Song/Peekaboo" |
| 1981 | The Brady Girls Get Married | Alice Nelson | Movie |
| 1981 | The Brady Brides | 6 episodes | |
| 1983 | Rosie | Jill Po | Episode: "Waitresses in Line" |
| 1988 | A Very Brady Christmas | Alice Nelson | Movie |
| 1989 | Day by Day[32] | Episode: "A Very Brady Episode" | |
| 1990 | The Bradys | 4 episodes | |
| 1991 | Hi Honey, I'm Home![32] | Episode: "SRP" | |
| 1993 | Bradymania: A Very Brady Special | Herself | TV special |
| 1997 | Something So Right[34] | Maxine | Episode: "Something About Inter-Ex-Spousal Relations" |
| 2004 | The Brady Bunch 35th Anniversary Reunion Special | Herself | TV special |
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Once Upon a Mattress | Princess Winnifred | ||
| 1972–1973 | No, No, Nanette | |||
| 1992–1996 | Crazy for You | Mother | ||
| 1996 | Arsenic and Old Lace | Abby Brewster |
Davis received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations, resulting in two awards, for her portrayal of Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz onThe Bob Cummings Show.
| Television Season | Award | Category | Television Program | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955–1956 | Emmy Award | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | The Bob Cummings Show (Episode: "Schultzy's Dream World") | Nominated | Lost toNanette Fabray (Caesar's Hour) |
| 1956–1957 | Emmy Award | Best Supporting Performance by an Actress | The Bob Cummings Show | Nominated | Lost toPat Carroll (Caesar's Hour) |
| 1957–1958 | Emmy Award | Best Continuing Supporting Performance by an Actress in a Dramatic or Comedy Series | The Bob Cummings Show | Won | |
| 1958–1959 | Emmy Award | Best Supporting Actress (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series | The Bob Cummings Show | Won |
On February 9, 1960, Davis also received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 7048Hollywood Boulevard. She also receivedTV Land Awards in 2004, 2006, and 2007 for her portrayal of Alice Nelson, the housekeeper onThe Brady Bunch.
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