Sara Seegar (born Sarah Wall Seegar; July 1, 1914 – August 12, 1990) was an American actress. A performer on stage, film, radio, and television, she may best be remembered for her role as Mrs. Wilson in the 1962–63 season of '' Dennis the Menace''.

Early life

Seegar was born to Frank and Carrie (née Wall) Seegar in

Greentown, Indiana Greentown is a town in Liberty Township, Howard County, Indiana, United States. Located approximately 9 miles east of Kokomo on State Road 22 / US 35; it is home to the Howard County Fair Grounds. The town was platted in 1848, and incorporated a ...

, the youngest of five daughters. She was schooled in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

but ultimately graduated from

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Histo ...

, where she participated in dramatic and musical productions. She received a degree in drama from Los Angeles Junior College, where she participated in stage productions. Her older sisters were Dr. Helen Seegar Stone (1895–1976), an educator; Dorothy Seegar (1897–1999), actress and singer; Mildred (1905–1913), and

Miriam Seegar Miriam Seegar Whelan (September 1, 1907 – January 2, 2011) was an American actress in silent film and early sound films. Early life As the Seegar sisters started acting and singing, Frank Seegar left teaching to open a hardware store in effo ...

(1907–2011), also an actress. Following school, Seegar performed on stage in London, starting her career with ''

Three Men on a Horse ''Three Men on a Horse'' is a three-act farce co-authored by John Cecil Holm and George Abbott. The comedy focuses on a man who discovers he has a talent for choosing the winning horse in a race as long as he never places a bet himself. Originally ...

''. She continued performing in London until the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, at which point she returned to the United States.

Career

Starting in 1940, Seegar performed in Broadway plays, in film, on radio and on television. She played Elsie on '' Room for One More'', was a regular on ''

The Red Buttons Show ''The Red Buttons Show'' premiered on the CBS television network On October 14, 1952, and ran for two years on that network, then moved to NBC for the final 1954–55 season. Red's catch phrase from the show, "Strange things are happening!" entere ...

'' and appeared as a character actor on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s, with roles on ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it aff ...

'', ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

'', and ''

The Donna Reed Show ''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children, Mary an ...

''. She played ten different small roles on ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...

'' over the course of that same series. In the 1962–63 season of ''Dennis the Menace'', Seegar played Eloise Wilson, the wife of John Wilson. She effectively replaced

Sylvia Field Sylvia Field (born Harriet Louisa Johnson; February 14, 1901 – July 31, 1998) was an American actress whose career encompassed performances on stage, screen, and TV. She was best known for playing the understanding Mrs. Martha Wilson (Mr. Wilso ...

, who portrayed Martha Wilson—the original "Mrs. Wilson"—from 1959 to 1962. Field left the series after the death of Joseph Kearns (George Wilson), due to George and Martha Wilson being written out of the series.

Gale Gordon Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr., February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil—and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfiste ...

began playing John Wilson, George's brother, after Kearns' death. She also had a part in the movie version of "The Music Man" with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones.

Personal life

Sara Seegar met

Ezra Stone Ezra Stone (born Ezra Chaim Feinstone; December 2, 1917 – March 3, 1994) was an American actor and director who had a long career on the stage, in films, radio, and television, mostly as a director. His most notable role as an actor was that ...

while the two were performing in ''Horse Fever'' on Broadway in 1940. They were married on October 5, 1942. They had two children: a son, Josef Seegar Stone (1944–2010) and a daughter, Francine Lida Stone.

Death

Sara Seegar Stone died on August 12, 1990, of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

at St. Mary's Hospital in

Langhorne, Pennsylvania Langhorne Borough is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 1,622 at the time of the 2010 census. The mailing address "Langhorne" is used for Langhorne Borough, but it is also used broadly to describe the majority of surrou ...

; her ashes were interred at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, along with those of her husband, in a ceremony in 2013.

Performances

Broadway

*''Horse Fever'' (1940) - Milly Flynn *''Vickie'' (1942) - Mrs. Corliss/Assistant

Stage Manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

*''

At War with the Army ''At War with the Army'' is a 1950 American musical comedy film directed by Hal Walker, released by Paramount, starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis and introducing Polly Bergen. Filmed from July through August 1949, the film premiered in ...

'' (1949) - Mrs. Caldwell

Off-Broadway

*''

Ernest in Love ''Ernest in Love'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Anne Croswell and music by Lee Pockriss. It is based on ''The Importance of Being Earnest'', Oscar Wilde's classic 1895 comedy of manners. Background The two-act musical is an expanded ver ...

'' (1960) - Lady Bracknell

Radio

*''

The Aldrich Family ''The Aldrich Family'', a popular radio teenage situation comedy (July 2, 1939 – April 19, 1953), was also presented in films, television and comic books. In the radio series' opening exchange, awkward teen Henry's mother called, "Hen-''reeeee ...

Film

*''

The Last Curtain ''The Last Curtain'' is a 1937 British crime film directed by David MacDonald and starring Campbell Gullan, Kenne Duncan and Greta Gynt. The film blends drama and comedy and its plot follows an insurance investigator who examines a series of ro ...

'' (1937) - Molly *''

Smash and Grab A smash and grab is a particular form of burglary or looting that involves smashing a barrier, usually a display window in a shop or a showcase, grabbing valuables, and then making a quick getaway, without concern for setting off alarms or creati ...

'' (1937) - Miss Quincey *'' Dead Men Tell No Tales'' (1938) - Marjorie *''

Mr. Reeder in Room 13 ''Mr. Reeder in Room 13'' is a 1938 British crime film directed by Norman Lee and starring Peter Murray-Hill, Sally Gray and Gibb McLaughlin. It is based on the first J. G. Reeder book, ''Room 13 (Wallace novel), Room 13'' by Edgar Wallace. The f ...

'' (1938) - Lila Legge *'' The Shrike'' (1955) - Mrs. Cory (uncredited) *''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and ...

'' (1962) - Mrs. Maud Dunlop

Television

*''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The ...

'' (1960–1962) - Mrs. Katherine Palmer / Gossip on Telephone / Mrs. Buntley *'' Dennis the Menace'' (1962–1963) - Eloise Wilson *''

'' (1964–1972) - Cora Mae Franklin / Mrs. Prescott / Mrs. Meiklejohn / Mrs. Nickerson / Mrs. Wehmeyer / Edna Durfee / Emily Hascomb / Agnes Baker / Mrs. Springer / Mrs. Grange *''

The Cara Williams Show ''The Cara Williams Show'' is an American situation comedy starring Cara Williams which centers on a married couple who try to conceal their marriage from their employer. Original episodes aired from September 23, 1964, until April 21, 1965 on CBS. ...

'' (1965), episode "Anywhere I Hang My Hat Is Home" – Miss Loren *''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family with six children. The show aired for five seasons and, after ...

'' (1972) - Miss Bailey *''

The Jeffersons ''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of List of The Jeffersons episodes, 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longe ...

'' (1978) - Mrs. Pomeroy

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seegar, Sara 1914 births 1990 deaths American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Indiana People from Greentown, Indiana American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses Los Angeles City College alumni