Theater News

Alice Ghostley Dies at 81

Ilka Chase, Kaye Ballard,  and Alice Ghostley in Cinderella
(© PBS)
Ilka Chase, Kaye Ballard,
and Alice Ghostley in Cinderella
(© PBS)

Actress Alice Ghostley, who won the 1965 Tony Award for her role in Lorraine Hansberry’s The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window died in California on September 21 of cancer. She was reportedly 81 years old.

Ghostley made her Broadway debut in New Faces of 1952, and went on to appear in such shows as Maybe Tuesday, Trouble in Tahiti, and The Beauty Part, for which she received her first Tony Award nomination. Her last Broadway appearance came in 1978, when she took over the role of Miss Hannigan in Annie.

The actress was best known for her television work, including playing the role of Joy, one of the stepsisters, in the 1957 TV production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella opposite Julie Andrews. She later co-starred as Esmerelda in Bewitched and as Bernice Clifton in Designing Women, for which she received an Emmy Award nomination. Her many film credits include To Kill A Mockingbird, The Graduate, and Grease.

She is survived by her sister Gladys.