Beth Howland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_Howland

Elizabeth Howland (May 28, 1941 – December 31, 2015) was an American actress. She worked on stage and television, and was best known for playing Vera Gorman in Alice, the sitcom inspired by the Martin Scorsese film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974).

Howland originated the role of Amy in the original Broadway cast of Stephen Sondheim's Company, in which she introduced the patter song "Getting Married Today".

Early life

Howland was born on May 28, 1941, in Boston. At the age of 16, she left home and followed a dancer friend to New York City. After a time of struggling, Howland made her Broadway debut in 1959 as Lady Beth in the Carol Burnett musical Once Upon a Mattress, which transferred from off-Broadway. She went on to have roles in the musicals Bye Bye Birdie, High Spirits, Drat! The Cat! and Darling of the Day.

Career

Howland can be seen dancing and singing in the chorus of the movie Li'l Abner (1959) as Clem's wife, alongside future television star Valerie Harper. After appearing in Company, she left New York to relocate to California, where she made guest appearances on television series such as Love, American Style, Cannon, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Little House on the Prairie, Eight Is Enough, and The Love Boat. For her work on Alice, Howland received four Golden Globe Award nominations. She later took on numerous telefilm roles, including You Can't Take It with You (as Essie) and A Caribbean Mystery.

She remained on Alice throughout its nine seasons. After the sitcom ended in 1985, Howland went into semi-retirement. She made occasional guest appearances (including Murder, She Wrote; Chicken Soup for the Soul; Sabrina the Teenage Witch; and The Tick) and starred in the ABC Afterschool Special, "Terrible Things My Mother Told Me".

Personal life

From 1961 to 1969, Howland was married to actor Michael J. Pollard, with whom she had a daughter.

In 2002 she wed Murphy Brown actor Charles Kimbrough and remained married to him until her death in 2015. Kimbrough and Howland had appeared together in Company.

Death

Howland, who had been a smoker since she was a teenager until she finally quit in the early 2000s, died of lung cancer on December 31, 2015, at age 74. Per her request, her death was not reported to the media until May 24, 2016, four days before her 75th birthday.

Filmography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_Howland#Filmography

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"Alice" actress Beth Howland is dead, her husband Charles Kimbrough revealed Tuesday. She was 74.

Howland died on Dec. 31 after a battle with lung cancer, Kimbrough told The New York Times. According to the newspaper, he waited to announce her death because of an unusual request by Howland not to say anything earlier; no funeral was held, either, as she wished.

"It was the Boston side of her personality coming out. She didn't want to make a fuss," Kimbrough, who starred on TV's "Murphy Brown," said.

Howland famously played accident-prone Mel's Diner waitress Vera Louise Gorman on the CBS sitcom that ran from 1976 to 1985. The role was played by Valerie Curtin in Martin Scorsese's 1974 movie, "Alice Doesn't Live Her Anymore," but Howland's comedic performance shined as she earned four Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.

The series also starred Linda Lavin as Alice Hyatt, Vic Tayback as Mel Sharples, Philip McKeon as Tommy Hyatt, and Polly Holliday as Flo Castleberry.

According to TV Line, Howland also performed on Broadway and appeared on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Murder She Wrote," "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" and "The Tick." Her last acting credit was voicing a character on Nickelodeon's "As Told by Ginger" in 2002.

Howland is survived by Kimbrough and a daughter from a previous marriage to actor Michael J. Pollard ("Scrooged," "Tango & Cash").