Kaye Ballard (November 20, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, and singer.
Early life
Ballard was born Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four children born to Italian immigrant parents, Lena (née Nacarato) and Vincenzo (later Vincent James) Balotta. Her parents immigrated to the United States from
Calabria
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, a region of southern Italy.
Career
Ballard established herself as a musical comedian in the 1940s, joining the
Spike Jones touring
revue of entertainers. Capable of playing broad physical comedy as well as stand-up dialogue routines, she became familiar in television and stage productions.
Ballard made her television debut on ''
Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt
''Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt'' is a TV series on NBC Television hosted by Henry Morgan. The show aired from January 26 to June 1, 1951, originally from 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. ET and then to 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET.
Program formats
''H ...
'', a short-lived program hosted by
Henry Morgan which first aired January 26, 1951.
In 1954, she was the first person to record the song "
Fly Me to the Moon".
In 1957, she and
Alice Ghostley played the two wicked stepsisters in the live telecast of
Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''
Cinderella'', starring
Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
in the title role. During the 1961–1963 television seasons, Ballard was a regular on ''
The Perry Como Show'', as part of the Kraft Music Hall Players, along with
Don Adams,
Paul Lynde and
Sandy Stewart. In 1962, she released the LP ''Peanuts'', on which she played
Lucy van Pelt from the comic strip namesake of the album (with Arthur Siegel playing
Charlie Brown), and dramatizing a series of vignettes drawn from the strip's archive.
In 1964, she had a guest role on ''
The Patty Duke Show'', playing a teacher for would-be models. From 1967 to 1969, she co-starred as Kaye Buell, a woman whose son marries her next door neighbor's daughter, in the sitcom ''
The Mothers-in-Law'', with
Eve Arden playing her neighbour. From 1970 to 1972, she appeared as a regular on ''
The Doris Day Show'', playing restaurant owner Angie Pallucci.
She made appearances on the game show ''
Match Game''. In 1977, she was a guest star on ''
The Muppet Show''. She also appeared on the television series ''
Alice
Alice may refer to:
* Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname
Literature
* Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll
* ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
'', in which she played a
kleptomania
Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main cha ...
c and phony
medium as well as ''
Daddy Dearest'', where she guest-starred opposite
Richard Lewis and
Don Rickles.
Ballard starred on Broadway as Helen in ''
The Golden Apple'' (1954) introducing the song "Lazy Afternoon".
She portrayed Ruth in
Joseph Papp's ''
The Pirates of Penzance'', Rosalie in ''
Carnival!
''Carnival'' is a musical, originally produced by David Merrick on Broadway in 1961, with the book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The musical is based on the 1953 film ''Lili'', which again was based on the short story ...
'' and the title role in ''
Molly'', an unsuccessful musical adaptation of the popular radio serial ''
The Goldbergs''. She created the role of the Countess and closed out-of-town in
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905January 22, 1964), was an American composer, lyricist, and librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Wo ...
's ''
Reuben, Reuben'', and played Ruth Sherwood in ''
Wonderful Town'' at
New York City Center in 1963.
In Long Beach, California, she played Mama Morton in ''
Chicago'' and fought with a vacuum cleaner as Pauline in ''
No, No, Nanette''. In 1998, she played Hattie Walker in the
Paper Mill Playhouse's acclaimed revival of
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...
's ''
Follies''.
In 2005, she appeared in a road-company production of ''
Nunsense'', written by
Dan Goggin. The following year, she completed her autobiography ''How I Lost 10 Pounds in 53 Years''.
In 1995, she was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the
Palm Springs Walk of Stars.
She appeared in ''
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' as Madam A-Go-Go, a mysterious fortune teller who appears in the episode "Fortune Teller". She also performed with
The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies at the
Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, California.
In December 2010, she,
Donna McKechnie and
Liliane Montevecchi starred in a production of ''From Broadway with Love'', staged at the
Lensic Theater in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ballard was in the 2012 cabaret show ''Doin' It for Love'', which premiered in Austin, Texas at the
Paramount Theatre Paramount Theater or Paramount Theatre may refer to:
Canada
* Scotiabank Theatre or Paramount Theatre, a chain of theatres owned by Cineplex Entertainment
** Scotiabank Theatre Toronto or Paramount Theatre Toronto
China
* Paramount (Shanghai) o ...
. Starring Ballard and Montevecchi, the cast included Broadway dancer
Lee Roy Reams
Lee Roy Reams (born August 23, 1942) is an American musical theatre actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, and director.
Early life and career
Born in Covington, Kentucky, Reams earned a Master of Arts degree and was awarded an honorary doctora ...
. (The Austin performance benefited the Texas Humane Legislation Network.) The show then went on to play in Los Angeles on March 8 and 10, 2012. Ballard announced her official retirement in 2015 at the age of 89.
Death
Ballard died at her home in Rancho Mirage, California, on January 21, 2019, at the age of 93. The cause was kidney cancer, according to a friend.
Filmography
Film
Television
Stage work
*''Three to Make Ready'' (1946)
*''Touch and Go'' (London, 1950)
*''
Top Banana'' (1952) (replacement for
Rose Marie)
*''
The Golden Apple'' (1954)
*''
Reuben, Reuben'' (1955) (closed on the road)
*''
Wonderful Town'' (1958; 1963)
*''
Carnival!
''Carnival'' is a musical, originally produced by David Merrick on Broadway in 1961, with the book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The musical is based on the 1953 film ''Lili'', which again was based on the short story ...
'' (1961)
*''
Gypsy'' (Dallas, 1962)
*''The Beast in Me'' (1963)
*''Royal Flush'' (1964) (closed on the road)
*''The Decline and Fall of the Entire World as Seen Through the Eyes of Cole Porter'' (1965, Off-Broadway)
*''
Minnie's Boys'' (1972)
*''
Molly'' (1973)
*''
Gypsy'' (1973)
*''Sheba'' (1974) (closed on the road)
*''Apartment 8 Strikes Back'' (1980)
*''
The Pirates of Penzance'' (1981) (replacement for
Estelle Parsons
Estelle Margaret Parsons (born November 20, 1927) is an American actress, singer and stage director.
After studying law, Parsons became a singer before deciding to pursue a career in acting. She worked for the television program ''Today'' and ...
)
*''
Pippin'' (1982)
*''Hey, Ma ... Kaye Ballard'' (1984)
*''
High Spirits'' (1984)
*''She stoops to conquer'' (1984, Off-Broadway)
*''The Ladies Who Wrote the Lyrics'' (1985)
*''Kaye Ballard: Working 42nd St. at Last!'' (1988, Off-Broadway)
*''
Nymph Errant'' (1989)
*''
Funny Girl'' (1991; 1997; 2002)
*''Hey, Ma - Working Hollywood Blvd. at Last!'' (1991)
*''
Chicago'' (1992, Long Beach)
*''
No, No, Nanette'' (1994, Long Beach; 1997, Paper Mill Playhouse)
*''Over the River and Through the Woods'' (1998, Off-Broadway)
*''
Follies'' (1998, Paper Mill Playhouse)
*''
The Full Monty'' (2001)
*''
Funny Girl'' (2002, New York in concert)
*''Quartet'' (2002, 2006)
*''
Nunsense'' (2003)
Discography
References
External links
*
*
* (archived)
*
*
*
Tinseltown Talks: Kaye Ballardat ''
The News Herald''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballard, Kaye
1925 births
2019 deaths
Actresses from Cleveland
American film actresses
American musical theatre actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
Deaths from kidney cancer
Deaths from cancer in California
Singers from Ohio
American people of Italian descent
People of Calabrian descent
21st-century American women