Kathleen Freeman
Freeman in 1972
Born	(1923-02-17)February 17, 1923[1][2] Chicago,Illinois, U.S.
Died	August 23, 2001(2001-08-23) (aged 78) New York City, U.S.
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Occupations	Actress voice artist
Years active	1925–2001
Height	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)

Kathleen Freeman (February 17, 1923 – August 23, 2001) was an American actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed acerbic maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, andbattle-axe neighbors and relatives, almost invariably to comic effect.^[3] In film, she is perhaps best remembered for appearing in 12Jerry Lewis comedies in the 1950s and 1960s andThe Blues Brothers (1980).

Freeman was born on February 17, 1923 inChicago,^[4] to Jessica Dixon, a soprano known as "The Overseas Girl" at the end ofWorld War I, and Frank Freeman, known as "The Minstrel Man". Dixon entertained American troops in England, France, and post-war Germany, while Freeman headed Freeman's Forty Musical Minstrels in 1918. The couple married in 1922.^[5]

Freeman began her career at age 2,^[6] dancing in her parents'vaudeville act,Dixon and Freeman.^[6] She reported that eventually she "got caught" at around age 10, and then began attending school.^[7]

Freeman attended theUniversity of California at Los Angeles, majored in music to be a classical pianist, "got in a play and got a laugh".^[7]

After college, Freeman joined theCircle Players^[8][9] on Santa Monica Boulevard.^[8][6]

"I became part of a theater group that came from ULCA, the Circle Players, which got to be at one point fairly internationally famous. And then we split off from that and started our own, Player's Ring and Gallery Theater."^[7] - Kathleen Freeman

Later in life she appeared in national tours ofDeathtrap,Annie (as Miss Hannigan) andWoman of the Year withLauren Bacall. She made herBroadway debut on October 26, 2000, inThe Full Monty. For her role as Jeannette Burmeister, the company's pianist, she was nominated for a2001 Tony Award and won aTheatre World Award, which is usually awarded to younger performers. She died five days after giving her final performance in the show.^[10]

In 1948,Peggy Webber saw Freeman on stage at the Circle Theatre, and hired her for Webber's live local series "Treasures of Literature", her first television job. From 1988 to 2001, Freeman appeared in more than 50 productions of theCalifornia Artists Radio Theatre,^[11] which records live performances of classic books and plays forKPCC (FM),^[12]KPFK^[13][14]NPR Playhouse, andNational Public Radio, for Peggy Webber, the executive director.

In addition to teaching acting classes in the Los Angeles area, Freeman was a familiar presence on television. In 1958–59, she appeared three times onBuckskin, a children's program set in a hotel in a fictitious Montana town. She appeared from the 1950s until her death in regular or recurring roles on many sitcoms, including six episodes ofThe Bob Cummings Show (as Bertha Krause),Topper (as Katie the maid), andThe Donna Reed Show (as Mrs. Celia Wilgus, the Stones' busybody next door neighbor). In 1964, she appeared in five episodes ofThe Lucy Show. Later, she was cast onHogan's Heroes as Frau Gertrude Linkmeyer. In 1973, she had a co-starring role withDom DeLuise in the sitcomLotsa Luck (based on the British sitcomOn the Buses).

She appeared in several episodes ofWagon Train,Funny Face (as Kate Harwell),I Dream of Jeannie (as a grouchy supervisor in a fantasy preview of Major Nelson's future, and later as a hillbilly), the short-lived prehistoric sitcomIt's About Time (as Mrs. Boss), and as a nurse inLove, American Style.

Freeman played Sgt. Carter's mother in a 1969 episode ofGomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., as well as appearing as a different character in a 1968 episode of the same series. She also made multiple appearances onThe Beverly Hillbillies as various characters.

She appeared as the voice of Peg Bundy's mom, an unseen character in several episodes ofMarried... with Children. She also appeared in episodes ofMama's Family,Growing Pains,Simon & Simon,ALF,L.A. Law,The Golden Girls,Doogie Howser, M.D.,Roseanne,Coach,ER,Home Improvement, and many other shows in the 1980s and 1990s.

Besides her role inThe Full Monty, she remained active in her final years with a regular voice role inAs Told by Ginger, a voice bit in the animated feature filmShrek, and a guest appearance on the sitcomBecker. In her final episode ofAs Told by Ginger, "No Hope for Courtney", Freeman's character Mrs. Gordon retires from her teaching job. The script originally was written to have Gordon return to Lucky Elementary School, but Freeman died during production, so the episode was rewritten to have Gordon die as well and was dedicated in Freeman's memory.

For a short time in the early 1950s, Freeman was aMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player, appearing mostly in small and uncredited bit parts. Her most notable early role was an uncredited part in the 1952 MGM musicalSingin' in the Rain asJean Hagen'sdiction coach Phoebe Dinsmore.^[15]

Beginning with the 1954 film3 Ring Circus, Freeman became a favorite foil of Jerry Lewis, playing opposite him in 11 films.^[16] These included most of Lewis's better-known comedies, includingThe Disorderly Orderly as Nurse Higgins,The Errand Boy as the studio boss's wife, andThe Nutty Professor as Millie Lemon. Over 30 years later, she made a brief appearance inNutty Professor II: The Klumps.

Her other film roles included appearances inThe Missouri Traveler (1958),The Fly (1958), theWestern spoofsSupport Your Local Sheriff! (1969) andSupport Your Local Gunfighter (1971), and appearances in a spate of comedies in the 1980s and 1990s. Freeman played Sister Mary Stigmata (referred to as the Penguin) inJohn Landis'The Blues Brothers (1980) andBlues Brothers 2000 (1998). She also played a foul-mouthed apartment building manager inDragnet (1987), a teacher inHocus Pocus (1993), and a gangster mother inNaked Gun33+1⁄3: The Final Insult (1994). She also had cameos inJoe Dante'sInnerspace (1987) andGremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) (as tipsy cooking host Microwave Marge). Her final film role was inShrek (2001), where she played an old woman.

In the 1973 filmThe Sting, Freeman appeared in a family photo for Kid Twist’s character (played byHarold Gould) in theWestern Union office scene.

Weakened by illness, Freeman was forced to leave theFull Monty cast. Five days later, she died oflung cancer^[1] at age 78 atLenox Hill Hospital.^[17] She was cremated and her ashes interred in a niche atHollywood Forever Cemetery.^[18]

She never married and she had no children. The report of her death in the British newspaperThe Guardian mentioned her "long-time companion Helen Ramsey";^[15]Playbill's report referred to Ramsey as Freeman's "longtime and best friend",^[19] and similarlyVariety called her Freeman's "best friend".^[20] Helen Ramsey and Freeman wereUniversity of California at Los Angeles students at the same time.^[21]

• Kathleen Freeman at theAmerican Film Institute Catalog
• Kathleen Freeman at theTCM Movie Database
• Kathleen Freeman atIMDb
• Kathleen Freeman at theInternet Broadway Database

• 1923 births
• 2001 deaths
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• Actresses from Chicago
• American film actresses
• American musical theatre actresses
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• American voice actresses
• Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
• Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state)
• Theatre World Award winners
• UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture alumni
• American vaudeville performers
• 20th-century American singers
• 20th-century American women singers
• Illinois Democrats
• California Democrats
• New York (state) Democrats
• Religious Science
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players

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