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Kathleen Freeman

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A picture of a younger Kathleen Freeman
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Kathleen Freeman (February 17, 1919 (Chicago, Illinois) – August 23, 2001 (New York)) was an American character actress in film, television and stage in a career that spanned over fifty years. Most of her career was spent playing an array of tart maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses and battle-axe neighbors, almost always to comic effect. One of her most recognized role was playing the sister of General Albert Burkhalter, Gertrude Linkmeyer, who was constantly trying to marry Colonel Wilhelm Klink in the sitcom Hogan's Heroes.

Contents

Biography Edit

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Freeman began her career as a child performer, dancing in her parents' vaudeville act. After growing up on the road, she went to college at UCLA, studying in music, and planning to become a concert pianist, before starting to act full time, first starting on stage for several local theatre groups, before going to Hollywood, appearing first in the film Annie Was a Wonder in 1948. Her first notable film role was as Jean Hagen's articulate diction coach, Phoebe Dinsmore, in the 1952 muscial, Singin' in the Rain.

Starting with the 1955 film, Artists and Models, she became a favorite foil for comedian Jerry Lewis, playing opposite him in 10 featured films. These include most of Jerry's more famously known comedies, including, The Disorderly Orderly as Nurse Higgins, The Errand Boy as the studio boss' wife, and especially The Nutty Professor as Millie Lemon. Over 30 years later, Freeman who have a small cameo in Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, the sequel of the Eddie Murphy remake of the original film.

Other film roles included appearances in the horror film The Fly (1958), and the Western spoofs Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) and Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971). She also appeared in a number of comedies in the 1980s and 1990s. These included her role as Sister Mary Stigmata in John Landis' The Blue Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000, cameos in Joe Dante's Innerspace and Gremlins 2 (where she played the tipsy cooking host Microwave Marge) and a Ma Barker type gangster mom in The Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult.

Freeman was also a familiar presence on television, from the 1950s until her death, with regular or recurring roles in such sitcoms as Topper (as Katie the maid), as Frau Gertrude Linkmeyer in the afformentioned Hogan's Heroes, The Beverly Hillibillies (in a story arc as Flo Shafer, wife of conman Phil Silvers), in the short-lived prehistoric sitcom It's About Time (as Mrs. Boss), and as the voice of Peg Bundy's unseen mom in Married... with Children. She auditioned for the part of Alice the Housekeeper on The Brady Bunch, a played which eventually went to Ann B. Davis. She also played guest roles on other shows from I Love Lucy to Home Improvement.

In later years, she also worked as a voice actress, playing Ma Crackshell on DuckTales, a Theban woman in Disney's Hercules, and fortune teller Madame Xima in the video game The Curse of Monkey Island.

During her last two years she remained active, with a regular voice role on As Told by Ginger, a voice bit in Shrek, a guest appearance in Becker, and most notably, receiving a Tony Award nomination for her stage role as accompanist Jeannette Burmeister in the Broadway muscial version of the The Full Monty. Five days after her last Full Monty appearance, she died from lung cancer at the age of 82 on August 23, 2001.

Her ashes were later inurned at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Filmography Edit

Notable TV Guest Appearances Edit

  • Batman Beyond playing "Ma Mayham" (voice) in episode: "The Eggbaby" (episode # 2.19) 1 April 2000
  • Becker playing "Edith/Evelyn" in episode: "The Hypocratic Oath" (episode # 2.13) 10 January 2000
  • Grown Ups playing "Mona" in episode: "Online Romance" (episode # 1.11) 6 December 1999
  • Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show playing "The Community Center Cook" in episode: "Honey, I'm the Wrong Arm of the Law" (episode # 3.16) 13 October 1999
  • Providence playing "Actress" in episode: "The Third Thing" (episode # 2.1) 24 September 1999
  • Arli$$ playing "Helga Krupp" in episode: "The Changing of the Guard" (episode # 4.7) 18 July 1999
  • Caroline in the City playing "Grandma Duffy" in episode: "Caroline and the Return of the Sudsy Guy" (episode # 4.19) 29 March 1999
  • Caroline in the City playing "Grandma Duffy" in episode: "Caroline and the Ancestral Home" (episode # 4.16) 15 March 1999
  • Clueless playing "Pearl" in episode: "Cashless" (episode # 2.22) 19 May 1988
  • The Love Boat: The Next Wave playing "Maw-Maw Cranston" in episode: "How Long Has This Been Going On?" (episode # 1.4) 4 May 1988
  • Home Improvement playing "Gwen" in episode: "The Son Also Mooches" (episode # 7.21) 28 April 1998
  • Night Man playing "Actress" in episode: "Bad to the Bone" (episode # 1.18) 23 February 1998
  • Coach playing "Magda" in episode: "The Stench of Death" (episode # 9.17) 26 March 1997
  • Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man playing "Nurse" (voice) in episode: "Bev Takes a Holiday" (episode # 4.12) 22 March 1997
  • ER playing "Rhonda's Patient" in episode: "No Brain, No Gain" (episode # 3.7) 14 November 1996
  • Roseanne playing "Edna" in episode: "Satan, Darling" (episode # 9.7) 29 October 1996
  • Roseanne playing "Seaweed Attendant" in episode: "Pampered to a Pulp" (episode # 9.6) 22 October 1996
  • Common Law playing "Danish Lady" in episode: "In the Matter of: Luis in Love" (episode # 1.4) 19 October 1996
  • The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest playing "Mrs. Evans" (voice) in episode: "Return of the Anasazi" (episode # 1.11) 9 September 1996
  • Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man playing "Nurse" (voice) in episode: "They Craved Duckman's Brain!" (episode # 3.15) 4 May 1996
  • Melrose Place playing "Madge" in episode: "The Circle of Strife" (episode # 4.22) 19 February 1996
  • Dave's World playing "Waitress" in episode: "Loves Me Like a Rock" (episode # 3.17) 14 February 1996
  • Married... with Children playing "Peg's Mom" (voice) in episode: "I Can't Believe It's Butter" (episode # 10.14) 17 December 1995
  • Married... with Children playing "Peg's Mom" (voice) in episode: "Bearly Men" (episode # 10.12) 3 December 1995
  • Married... with Children playing "Peg's Mom" (voice) in episode: "Blonde and Blonder" (episode # 10.8) 5 November 1995
  • Renegade playing "Felipe's Mother" in episode: "Most Wanted" (episode # 4.4) 2 October 1995
  • Married... with Children playing "Peg's Mom" (voice) in episode: "Requiem for a Dead Briard" (episode # 10.3) 1 October 1995
  • Married... with Children playing "Peg's Mom" (voice) in episode: "Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner?" (episode # 10.1) 17 September 1995
  • Party of Five playing "Mona" in episode: "Kiss Me Kate" (episode # 1.8) 2 November 1994
  • Herman's Head playing "Mrs. Debusher" in episode: "Bedtime for Hermo" (episode # 3.18) 10 March 1994
  • Nurses playing "Sister Mary Alma" in episode: "Smokin' in the Boys Room" (episode # 2.23) 1 January 1993
  • Martin playing "Saleslady" in episode: "The Gift Rappers" (episode # 1.2) 3 September 1992
  • Major Dad playing "Edna" in episode: "Close Encounters" (episode # 3.17) 3 February 1992
  • MacGyver playing "Rose Magruta" in episode: Off the Wall" (episode # 7.12) 30 December 1991
  • Matlock playing "Lucy Lewis" in episode: "The Witness Killings" (episode # 6.1) 18 October 1991
  • Beverly Hills, 90210 playing "Pawn Shop Clerk" in episode # "Anaconda" (episode # 2.4) 1 August 1991
  • Tales from the Crypt playing "Mrs. Parker" in episode: "Loved to Death" (episode # 3.2) 15 June 1991
  • The Golden Girls playing "Mother Superior" in episode: "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sophia?" (episode # 6.8) 10 November 1990
  • Growing Pains playing "Sophie" in episode: "Roomates" (episode # 6.3) 3 October 1990
  • Growing Pains playing "Sophie" in episode: "Midnight Cowboy" (episode # 6.2) 26 September 1990
  • Valerie playing "Mother Poole" in episode: "Used Car" (episode # 5.19) 26 February 1990
  • Valerie playing "Mother Poole" in episode: "The Go-Between" (episode # 5.18) 19 February 1990
  • Head of the Class playing "Nurse" in episode: "The Joker Is Wild" (episode # 4.13) 3 January 1990
  • Mr. Belvedere playing "Actress" in episode: "Fear of Flying" (episode # 6.5) 4 November 1989
  • Growing Pains playing "Estelle" in episode: "Teach Me" (episode # 5.5) 18 October 1989
  • TV 101 playing "Landlady" in episode: "First Love: Part 3" (episode # 1.12) 11 March 1989
  • L.A. Law playing "Joan Ackerman" in episode: "Izzy Ackerman or Is He Not" (episode # 3.11) 16 February 1989
  • ALF playing "Betty Susla" in episode: "Alone Again, Naturally" (episode # 3.11) 5 December 1988
  • Murphy Brown playing "Mrs. Caldwell" in episode: "Respect" (episode # 1.1) 14 November 1988
  • Simon & Simon playing "Stella Brunansky" in episode: "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" (episode # 8.4) 29 October 1988
  • Growing Pains playing "Marge" in episode: "Birth of a Seaver" (episode # 4.2) 26 October 1988
  • The Facts of Life playing "Noreen Grisbee" in episode: "The Beginning of the Beginning" (episode # 9.24) 7 May 1988
  • The Facts of Life playing "Noreen Grisbee" in episode: "The Beginning of the End" (episode # 9.23) 30 April 1988
  • Growing Pains playing "Madge" in episode: "Dance Fever: Part 2" (episode # 3.20) 2 March 1988
  • Valerie playing "Mother Poole" in episode: "Mother Poole's Visit" (episode # 3.14) 18 January 1988
  • Hunter playing "Ann Ridley" in episode: "Requiem for Sergeant McCall" (episode # 3.14) 7 February 1987
  • Mama's Family playing "Big Joan McCall" in episode: "Mama With the Golden Arm" (episode # 3.22) 12 December 1986
  • My Sister Sam playing "Mrs. Pink" in episode: "Patti's Party" (episode # 1.2) 20 October 1986
  • CHiPs playing "Outraged Lady" in episode: "To Your Health" (episode # 4.3) 5 October 1980
  • Police Woman playing "Landlady" in episode: "Sons" (episode # 4.16) 15 February 1978
  • Kojak playing "Ma Wonderly" in episode: "Case Without a File" (episode # 5.11) 17 December 1977
  • Disneyland playing "Policewoman" in episode: "The Strongest Man in the World" (episode # 23.15) 27 February 1977
  • Kolchak: The Night Stalker playing "Bella Sarkof" in episode: "The Youth Killer" (episode # 1.19) 14 March 1975
  • The Mod Squad playing "Actress" in episode: "Cry Uncle" (episode # 5.22) 22 February 1973
  • Cannon playing "Mama Abner" in episode: "The Rip Off" (episode # 2.8) 1 November 1972
  • Love, American Style playing "Commissar" in episode: "Love and the Lady Athlete" (episode # 3.15a) 7 January 1972
  • Hogan's Heroes playing "Gertrude Linkmeyer" in episode: "Kommandant Gertrude" (episode # 6.21) 28 February 1971
  • Love, American Style playing "Actress" in episode: "Love and the Pregnancy" (episode # 2.21d) 19 February 1971
  • The Beverly Hillbillies playing "Flo Shafer" in episode: "Jed Buys the Capital" (episode # 9.3) 29 September 1970
  • The Beverly Hillbillies playing "Flo Shafer" in episode: "The Clampetts in Washington" (episode # 9.2) 22 September 1970
  • The Beverly Hillbillies playing "Flo Shafer" in episode: "Honesty Is the Best Policy" (episode # 8.26) 18 March 1970
  • The Beverly Hillbillies playing "Flo Shafer" in episode: "Honest John Returns" (episode # 8.25) 11 March 1970
  • Love, American Style playing "Actress" in episode: "Love and the Singles Apartment" (episode # 1.24b) 27 March 1970
  • Bonanza playing "Ma Brinker" in episode: "Long Way to Ogden" (episode # 11.21) 22 February 1970
  • Lancer playing "Actress" in episode: "Legacy" (episode # 2.10) 9 December 1969
  • Hogan's Heroes playing "Gertrude Linkmeyer" in episode: "Unfair Exchange" (episode # 5.5) 24 October 1969
  • Love, American Style playing "Actress" in episode: "Love and the Doorknob" (episode # 1.3a) 13 October 1969
  • Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. playing "Mrs. Carter" in episode: "I'm Always Chasing Gomers" (episode # 5.23) 7 March 1969
  • Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. playing "Alice Whipple" in episode: "Hit and Write" (episode # 5.13) 27 December 1968
  • The High Chapparral playing "Maude" in episode: "A Way of Justice" (episode # 2.12) 13 December 1968
  • Daniel Boone playing "Berthe" in episode: "The Fleeing Nuns" (episode # 5.4) 24 October 1968
  • I Dream of Jeannie playing "Maw" in episode: "U.F.Oh Jeannie" (episode # 4.1) 16 September 1968
  • Batman playing "Rosetta Stone" in episode: "I'll Be a Mummy's Uncle" (episode # 3.23) 22 February 1968
  • Ironside playing "Helga" in episode: "Message from Beyond" (episode # 1.1) 14 September 1967
  • Bonanza playing "Miss Hibbs" in episode: "Maestro Hoss" (episode # 8.33) 7 May 1967
  • Dragnet 1967 playing "Mrs. Sunshine Pound" in episode: "The Gun" (episode # 1.15) 27 April 1967
  • The Man from U.N.C.L.E. playing "Actress" in episode: "The When in Rome Affair" (episode # 3.26) 17 March 1967
  • Please Don't Eat The Daisies playing "Mrs. Bailey" in episode: "Pest in the House" (episode # 2.22) 25 February 1967
  • I Dream of Jeannie playing "Sally" in episode: "My Master the Civilian" (episode # 2.21) 6 February 1967
  • Laredo playing "Mio" in episode: "Scourge of San Rusa" (episode # 2.16) 20 January 1967
  • Hey, Landlord playing "Mrs. Tripe" in episode: "A Legends Die" (episode # 1.18) 15 January 1967
  • Hey, Landlord playing "Miss Ott" in episode: "The Big Fumble" (episode # 1.13) 11 December 1966
  • Hogan's Heroes playing "Mrs. Gertrude Linkmeyer" in episode: "Cupid Comes to Stalag 13" (episode # 1.30) 15 April 1966
  • The Smothers Brothers Show playing "Angie" in episode: "Her Number Is 36-22-35" 11 March 1966
  • The Beverly Hillbillies playing "Agnes" in episode: "A Real Nice Neighbor" (episode # 4.9) 10 November 1965
  • The Alfred Hitchcock Hour playing "Angela Morrow" in episode: "The World's Oldest Motive" (episode # 3.25) 12 April 1965
  • Slattery's People playing "Mrs. Logan" in episode: "Question: Bill Bailey, Why Did You Come Home" (episode # 1.24) 2 April 1965
  • The Dick Van Dyke Show playing "Maid" in episode: "Never Bathe on Saturday" (episode # 4.27) 31 March 1965
  • Harris Against the World playing "Actress" in episode: "Harris Against the Housekeeper" (episode # 1.11) 14 December 1964
  • Ben Casey playing "Actress" in episode: "Dress My Doll Pretty" (episode # 3.28) 18 March 1964
  • The Dick Van Dyke Show playing "Mrs. Campbell" in "Honeymoons are for the Lucky" (episode # 3.23) 4 March 1964
  • The Lucy Show playing "Kathleen" in episode: "Lucy Takes a Job at the Bank" (episode # 2.21) 24 February 1964
  • The Lucy Show playing "Kathleen" in episode: "Lucy and Viv Opens a Restaurant" (episode # 2.20) 17 February 1964
  • Wagon Train playing "Clara Pumfret" in episode: "The Geneva Balfour Story" (episode # 7.18) 20 January 1964
  • The Alfred Hitchcock Hour playing "Mrs. McCleod" in episode: "You'll Be the Death of Me" (episode # 2.4) 18 October 1963
  • The Beverly Hillbillies playing "Mabel Johnson" in episode: "The Clampetts in Court" (episode # 1.32) 1 May 1963
  • The Real McCoys playing "Mrs. Harrington" in episode: "Aunt Win Arrives" (episode # 6.21) 17 February 1963
  • Wagon Train playing "Dolly" in episode: "The Donna Fuller Story" (episode # 6.14) 19 December 1962
  • Mister Ed playing "Katie" in episode: "Clint Eastwood Meets Mister Ed" (episode # 2.25) 22 April 1962
  • Laramie playing "Edna Holtzhoff" in episode: Justice in a Hurry" (episode # 3.24) 20 March 1962
  • General Electric Theater playing "Actrss" in episode: "The Free Wheelers" (episode # 10.22) 18 February 1962
  • Rawhide playing "Mrs. Beamish" in episode: "The Greedy Town" (episode # 4.19) 16 February 1962
  • The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor playing "Betty" in episode: "Pandora's Box" (episode # 3.16) 2 February 1962
  • Margie playing "Mrs. Botts" in episode: "Flaming Youth" (episode # 1.16) 1 February 1962
  • Bus Stop playing "Dimity Sue" in episode: "The Man from Bootstrap" (episode # 1.9) 26 November 1961
  • Lawman playing "Actress" in episode: "The Substitute" (episode # 4.6) 22 October 1961
  • Wagon Train playing "Lolly" in episode: "The Kitty Albright Story" (episode # 5.2) 4 October 1961
  • The Case of the Dangerous Robin playing "Actress" in episode: "The Nightmare" (episode # 1.5) 15 November 1960
  • 77 Sunset Strip playing "WAF Secretary" in episode: "Genesis of Treason" (episode # 2.30) 29 April 1960
  • Hawaiian Eye playing "Opal Jensen" in episode: "The There Were Three" (episode # 1.17) 27 January 1960
  • 77 Sunset Strip playing "Mrs. Ryan" in episode: "The Widow and the Web" (episode # 2.9) 27 November 1959
  • General Electric Theater playing "Actress" in episode: "Night Club" (episode # 8.4) 11 October 1959
  • Lux Playhouse playing "Emma" in episode: "The Miss and the Missiles" (episode # 1.18) 12 June 1959
  • Buckskin playing "Myrtha" in episode: "The Venus Adjourner"" (episode # 1.31) 30 March 1959
  • 77 Sunset Strip playing "Hannah Wells" in episode: "The Hong Kong Caper" (episode # 1.24) 20 March 1959
  • The Donna Reed Show playing "Mrs. Wilgus" in episode: "Love Thy Neighbor" (episode # 1.22) 18 February 1959
  • The Donna Reed Show playing "Mrs. Wilgus" in episode: "Jeff's Double Life" (episode # 1.16) 7 January 1959
  • Wagon Train playing "Sairy Hogg" in episode: "The The Kitty Angel Story" (episode # 2.14) 7 January 1959
  • Lassie playing "Mrs. Graff" in episode: "The Raffle" (episode # 5.15) 14 December 1958
  • The Bob Cummings Show playing "Actress" in episode: "Collins the Crooner" (episode # 5.11) 9 December 1958
  • Buckskin playing "Martha" in episode: "Tell Me, Leonardo" (episode # 1.13) 25 September 1958
  • Buckskin playing "Myrtle" in episode: "The Gold Watch" (episode # 1.9) 28 August 1958
  • The O. Henry Playhouse playing "Actress" in episode: "Between Rounds" ???? 1957
  • On Trial playing "Mrs. Dandridge" in episode: "The Gentle Voice of Murder" (episode # 1.27) 24 May 1957
  • The Bob Cummings Show playing "Actress" in episode: "Schultzy Says No" (episode # 3.8) 22 November 1956
  • Letter to Loretta playing "Jessie" in episode: "Inga IV" (episode # 4.13) 18 November 1956
  • Letter to Loretta playing "Cousin Phemie" in episode: "His Inheritance" (episode # 3.27) 18 March 1956
  • Letter to Loretta playing "Jessie" in episode: "Inga III" (episode # 3.19) 8 January 1956
  • Letter to Loretta playing "Jessie" in episode: "Inge II" (episode # 2.29) 20 March 1955
  • Topper playing "Katie" (uncredited) in episode: "Topper Goes West" (episode # 1.30) 30 April 1954
  • Topper playing "Katie" in episode: "Henrietta Sells the House (episode # 1.27) 9 April 1954
  • Letter to Loretta playing "Jessie" in episode: "Inge" (episode # 1.16) 3 January 1954
  • I Married Joan playing "Customer in Dress Shop" in episode: "Birthday" (episode # 1.9) 10 December 1952
  • Schlitz Playhouse of Stars playing "Actress" in episode: "The Pussyfootin' Rocks" (episode # 2.8) 21 November 1952
  • Our Miss Brooks playing "Miss Atterberry" in episode: "The Embezzled Press" (episode # 1.3) 17 October 1952
  • Dragnet playing "Actress" in episode: "The Big Death" (episode # 1.3) 17 January 1952
  • Fireside Theater playing "Actress" in episode: "Andy's Old Man" (episode # 3.5) 26 September 1950

Miscellaneous Crew Edit

Soundtrack Edit

Self Edit

External links Edit

Retrieved from "http://hh.wikia.com/wiki/Kathleen_Freeman?oldid=15648"
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