Louise A. Fitch (October 18, 1914 – September 11, 1996) was an

American actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

best known for her work in

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

Early years

Fitch was born into a

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

-speaking family in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, to Leo (Lev) Fitch (1884–1947) and Fannie (Frieda) Riekes Fitch (1896–1960), Jewish immigrants from Ukraine and Russia, respectively. She grew up in

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...

, where she received her elementary and secondary education. While she was a student at

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

, Fitch was a beauty queen, editor of the school's newspaper, and the school's best violinist. She initially majored in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

, planning to go into that profession, but opportunities for acting changed her mind. Participation in Creighton's dramatics society helped Fitch to develop her acting skills, and her debut on stage came unexpectedly when she had to go on for a leading lady who became sick. She gained additional experience by acting with a stock theater company throughout her college years.

Radio

Fitch first worked in radio as a copywriter for station

KOIL ''Koil'' or ''Koyil'' or ''Kovil'', (meaning: residence of GodThe modern Tamil word for Hindu temple is ''kōvil'' ( ta, கோவில்) meaning "the residence of God". In ancient Tamil Nadu, the king (, ''Kō'') was considered to be a � ...

, for five months. Her entry into acting on radio came by accident when she visited a friend who was an announcer at a station in Chicago. A director mistakenly had her audition for a part, leading her to be cast as Nancy in ''

That Brewster Boy ''That Brewster Boy'' is an American old-time radio Sitcom, situation comedy. It was broadcast on NBC from September 8, 1941, to March 2, 1942, and on CBS from March 4, 1942, to March 2, 1945. It was also carried on 13 stations in Canada. Overview ...

.'' Fitch's roles on radio programs included those shown in the table below. By late 1937, Fitch had rejected two offers to act in films, preferring to remain in radio.

Hollywood Blacklist

Fitch was an actress in the 1950s that took on roles such as ''

Blood of Dracula ''Blood of Dracula'' (U.K. title: ''Blood Is My Heritage'') is a 1957 American black-and-white horror film directed by Herbert L. Strock and starring Sandra Harrison, Louise Lewis and Gail Ganley. It was co-written by Aben Kandel and Herman Cohen ...

'' and ''

I Was a Teenage Werewolf ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' is a 1957 horror film starring Michael Landon as a troubled teenager, Yvonne Lime and Whit Bissell. It was co-written and produced by cult film producer Herman Cohen and was one of the most successful films released ...

''. During this time period,

McCarthyism McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origin ...

and the

Red Scare A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which ar ...

were circulating. With the fear of

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, Senator

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

claimed that he had a list of confirmed communists in the United States. This list affected politicians, blue collar workers, and actors/actresses such as Fitch herself. "The

Red Channels ''Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television'' was an anti-Communist document published in the United States at the start of the 1950s. Issued by the right-wing journal ''Counterattack'' on June 22, 1950, the pamphle ...

" in which was a pamphlet written that gave a list of people in show business who had potential communist ties. This pamphlet created the

Hollywood Blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying emplo ...

that Fitch was placed on Hundreds of others in show business were Blacklisted and were not able to get jobs, having to testify in front of the

HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

These people were given the option to give the name of another

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

or remain silent and be placed on the blacklist.

Television

Fitch played Nurse Bascomb on the CBS drama '' Medical Center''. Fitch played Mrs. Deutch on Hart to Hart "As the Hart Turns", and Mrs. Ballard on

Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...

episode "Ghost Writer".

Film

Under the name of Louise Lewis, she also appeared in Cassavetes' movie Opening Night.

Personal life

Fitch married attorney Jerome Rosenthal in 1938.

Death

On September 11, 1996, Fitch died in

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' ...

at age 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitch, Louise 1914 births 1996 deaths American radio actresses American television actresses 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American Jews Jewish American actresses American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent