Eleanor Audley
Eleanor Audley (née Zellman; November 19, 1905 – November 25, 1991) was an American actress with a distinctive voice and a diverse body of work. She played Oliver Douglas's mom, Eunice Douglas, on the CBS sitcom Green Acres (1965–1969), and provided two Disney animated classics with the voices of the two iconic villains: Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's evil stepmother in Cinderella (1950), and Maleficent, the wicked fairy in Sleeping Beauty (1959). She had roles in live-action films, but was most active in radio programs such as My Favorite Husband as Liz Cooper's mother-in-law, Mrs. Cooper, and Father Knows Best as the Anderson family's neighbor, Mrs. Smith. Audley's television appearances include those in I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mister Ed, Hazel, The Beverly Hillbillies, Pistols 'n' Petticoats, and My Three Sons.
Eleanor Audley
November 25, 1991 (aged 86)
Elinor Audley
Actress
1926–1970
Voice of Lady Tremaine in Disney's Cinderella (1950)
Voice of Maleficent in Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Green Acres (1965–1969)
Early and personal life[edit]
Eleanor Zellman was born in Newark, New Jersey on November 19, 1905. Her family had moved to West 86th Street in Manhattan, New York City, by 1917.[1]
Zellman began using the stage-name "Eleanor Audley" sometime before 1940.[2]
A Democrat, she supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election.[3]
Career[edit]
Stage and radio[edit]
Audley made her Broadway debut at age 21 in the 1926 production of Howdy, King.[4] Her other stage appearances included On Call (1928–1929);[5] Pigeons and People;[5] Thunder on the Left (both 1933); Kill That Story; Ladies' Money (both 1934); Susan and God (1937–1938; 1943); and In Bed We Cry (1944).
Audley worked extensively in the 1940s and 1950s in radio, notably playing Liz Cooper's aristocratic mother-in-law, Mrs. Cooper, who typically looks down on her, on My Favorite Husband (the role was initially played by Bea Benaderet), and the Anderson family's neighbor, Mrs. Smith, on Father Knows Best.[6] In addition, Audley performed on radio as a series regular on Romance, Escape, Suspense, Lux Radio Theatre, The Story of Dr. Kildare, The Railroad Hour, and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. She played the stepmother in one-shot adaptations of the Cinderella story on the anothology series Hallmark Playhouse, and the weekly western series The Six Shooter, that starred James Stewart.
Film and animation[edit]
Audley's onscreen appearance was an uncredited role as a parole board member in the 1949 noir film The Story of Molly X starring June Havoc. Other film appearances followed, including: Pretty Baby (1950); Gambling House (1951); Cell 2455, Death Row (1955); The Unguarded Moment; Full of Life (both 1956); Spoilers of the Forest (1957); Home Before Dark (1958); an uncredited cameo as the mother and slain victim of suspect Jack Graham in The FBI Story (1959); The Second Time Around (1961); and Hook, Line and Sinker (1969). Audley was also uncredited dubbing actors playing small parts in films such as I Was a Male War Bride (1949) and Broken Arrow (1950).
In the animated film industry, Audley provided her distinctive voice to Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's cruel stepmother, in the 1950 Disney film Cinderella; and Princess Aurora's wicked fairy nemesis, Maleficent, in Disney's 1959 version of Sleeping Beauty.[7] For those films, animators Frank Thomas and Marc Davis designed the characters' facial features and expressions to be closely similar to Audley's.[8] In addition to providing their voices, she served as the performance model for both characters for live-action referencing to help the animators. Audley had initially turned down the role of Maleficent because she was battling tuberculosis at the time.[9]
Audley provided the voice for Madame Leota—the spirit of a psychic medium—in the Haunted Mansion attractions in Disneyland and Walt Disney World.[8]
Death[edit]
Audley died from respiratory failure in 1991, six days after her 86th birthday.[5] She is interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.[12]