Brandis Kemp (February 1, 1944 – July 4, 2020) was an American actress best known for her appearances in ''
Fridays'' and ''
AfterMASH
''AfterMASH'' is an American sitcom television series produced as the first spin-off (second overall) and a continuation of ''M*A*S*H'' that aired on CBS from September 26, 1983 to May 31, 1985. It was developed as the sequel series as it takes ...
'' from the years 1980 to 1985. She then appeared in a wide variety of films and TV shows as a character actress for the remainder of her career.
Early life
She grew up in
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...
, and attended three colleges: San Jose State College, Stanford University (where she earned a master's degree in drama and literature) and the American Conservatory Theatre. She battled dyslexia throughout her school years. After college she spent a year in Hawaii, then to Oregon where she met future Fridays' cast member and future husband
Mark Blankfield
Mark Blankfield (born May 8, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known as a regular cast member of the television variety series '' Fridays''. Other work includes roles in '' Jekyll and Hyde...Together Again'', ''The Incredible ...
at the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and contemporary pla ...
. She then moved to New York for five years. Her first job in New York was teaching speech to policemen and firemen at the
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts c ...
. In 1979 she moved to Los Angeles just before ''Fridays'' broke.
Theatre
She performed onstage in such productions as ''Meetin' On The Porch'' (The Canon Theatre), ''A Man's A Man'' (
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.
History
La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...
), ''
Look Homeward, Angel
''Look Homeward, Angel: A Story of the Buried Life'' is a 1929 novel by Thomas Wolfe. It is Wolfe's first novel, and is considered a highly autobiographical American coming-of-age story. The character of Eugene Gant is generally believed to be a ...
'' (
Pasadena Playhouse
The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engage ...
), ''
Women Behind Bars
''Women Behind Bars'' is a camp black comedy play by Tom Eyen, parodying the prison exploitation films produced by Universal, Warner Bros. and Republic Pictures during the 1950s.
Plot
Set in the Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Villa ...
'' (
Roxy Theatre), ''
Bullshot Crummond'' (Westwood Playhouse,
Coronet Theatre and National Tour), and ''El Grande de Coca-Cola'' (
Studio One). She worked with the Stanford Repertory Theatre (2 seasons) and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (1 season).
Fridays
Producers of the TV show caught her performances as part of the Low Moan Spectacular comedy troupe in the plays "Bullshot Crummond" and "El Grande de Coca Cola" and selected her as a member of their new ensemble cast.
In 1980, she developed strong comedic recurring characters such as the "Creative Palm Reader" as well as adding her talents to comedy sketches on many levels. She became the "go to" female cast member because of her flexibility and strong delivery (much like Laraine Newman on ''Saturday Night Live''). She co-starred with Mark Blankfield (to whom she was married until 1987),
Jack Burns
John Francis Burns (November 15, 1933 – January 27, 2020) was an American comedian, actor, voice actor, writer, and producer. During the 1960s, he was part of two comedy partnerships, first with George Carlin and later with Avery Schreiber. ...
,
Maryedith Burrell
Maryedith Ann Burrell (née Smith; born May 20, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, film and television producer, writer and documentarian best known for starring roles on the television series '' Fridays'', ''Throb'', Ron Howard's '' Parenth ...
,
Melanie Chartoff
Melanie Barbara Chartoff (born December 15, 1948) is an American actress and comedian. She first became famous for her comedy work on the ABC series '' Fridays'' (1980–82), and in the 1990s Fox sitcom ''Parker Lewis Can't Lose''. She voiced bot ...
,
Larry David
Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...
,
Rich Hall,
Bruce Mahler
Bruce Mahler (born September 12, 1950) is an American actor, producer, and writer. He is known for his role as Sgt. Fackler in the comedy films ''Police Academy'', and as Rabbi Glickman on the sitcom '' Seinfeld''.
Biography
Mahler was born on ...
, and
Michael Richards
Michael Anthony Richards (born July 24, 1949) is an American actor, writer, television producer, and comedian best known for playing Cosmo Kramer on the television sitcom '' Seinfeld''. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, first enterin ...
. The show lasted two seasons, ending in 1982.
AfterMASH
Producers of the TV show caught her six-month performance in the stage comedy "Women Behind Bars" and liked the character she was playing. She was playing an assistant to the prison matron. It was similar to the Alma Cox character they were creating for the TV show. She started the TV show as an occasionally recurring character but after only four episodes she quickly graduated to a regular cast member because of the popularity of Alma Cox. After the first 13 episodes she appeared in every episode. She appeared with
David Ackroyd
David Ackroyd (born May 30, 1940) is an American actor, who first came to prominence in soap operas such as ''The Secret Storm'' and '' Another World''.
Early life
On May 30, 1940, Ackroyd was born in East Orange, New Jersey; he moved to Way ...
,
Rosalind Chao
Rosalind Chao (; born September 23, 1957) is an American actress. Chao's best-known roles have been Soon-Lee Klinger in the mid-1980s CBS show ''AfterMASH'', Rose Hsu Jordan in the 1993 movie ''The Joy Luck Club (film), The Joy Luck Club'', the ...
,
William Christopher
William Christopher (October 20, 1932 December 31, 2016) was an American actor and comedian, best known for playing Private Lester Hummel on '' Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.'' from 1965 to 1968 and Father John Mulcahy on the television series '' M*A*S ...
,
Patrick Cranshaw
Joseph Patrick Cranshaw (June 17, 1919 – December 28, 2005) was an American character actor known for his distinctive look and deadpan humor. He is best known for one of his last roles, that of Joseph "Blue" Pulaski, a fraternity brother, i ...
,
Jamie Farr
Jamie Farr (born Jameel Joseph Farah; July 1, 1934) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for playing the cross-dressing Corporal turned Sergeant Maxwell Q. Klinger in the CBS television sitcom ''M*A*S*H''.
He was inducted to ...
,
Peter Michael Goetz
Peter Michael Goetz (born December 10, 1941) is an American actor.
Early life and education
Goetz was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Esther L. and Irving A. Goetz, a construction engineer.[Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsberg; April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor and director whose television and film career spanned six decades. Morgan's major roles included Pete Porter in both ''December Bride'' (1954–1959 ...]
,
Anne Pitoniak, and
Jay O. Sanders
Jay Olcutt Sanders (born April 16, 1953) is an American film, theatre and television actor and playwright. He frequently appears in plays off-Broadway at The Public Theatre.
Early life and education
Sanders was born on April 16, 1953 in Austin, ...
. The show completed its run in 1985.
Death
Kemp died at her home in the
Los Feliz
LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to:
Science and technology
* Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation
* Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers
* Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...
section of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
on July 4, 2020, following a struggle with
brain cancer
A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...
and complications from
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles
Ten of the first twenty confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States occurred in California, the first of which was confirmed on January 26, 2020. All of the early confirmed cases were persons who had recently travelled to China, as testing wa ...
. She was 76 years old.
Brandis Kemp Dies: Actress For ABC's 'Fridays' And 'AfterMASH' Was 76
Deadline Hollywood, July 9, 2020
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Brandis
American film actresses
American television actresses
Actresses from California
American women comedians
Actresses from Palo Alto, California
1944 births
2020 deaths
American sketch comedians
Comedians from California
Deaths from brain cancer in the United States
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California
Deaths from cancer in California
People from Los Feliz, Los Angeles