Beth Howland obit

Actress Beth Howland, who played Vera on 'Alice,' dies at 74

She was not on the list.

Beth Howland, the actress best known for her role as a ditzy waitress on the 1970s and '80s CBS sitcom "Alice," has died. She was 74.

Her husband, actor Charles Kimbrough, told The Associated Press that Howland died Dec. 31 of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California. He said there had been no announcement, funeral or memorial service because that's how she wanted it.

"That was her choice," he said.

Howland was born May 28, 1941, in Boston. At 16, she landed a role on Broadway alongside Dick Van Dyke in "Bye Bye Birdie." CBS later noticed Howland on stage in the 1970 production of "Company" and brought her to Hollywood for a bit part on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

Small roles on "The Love Boat" and "Little House on the Prairie" followed and a major break came when she was cast as Vera Louise Gorman on "Alice," a comedy set in an Arizona greasy spoon diner based on the 1974 Martin Scorsese film, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore."

Howland earned four Golden Globe nominations during the comedy's 1976-85 run for her performance as the naive Vera. Howland described herself in a 1979 AP profile as "very shy" and said she saw something of herself in the character.

"I'm a little naive sometimes but not as much as Vera. I guess I'm really a cynic," she said.

After "Alice" ended, Howland largely disappeared from television acting, aside from bit parts on series including "Murder, She Wrote" and "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch."

Howland created Tiger Rose Productions with actress Jennifer Warren. The company produced "You Don't Have to Die," a 1988 HBO documentary about a boy's battle against cancer that won an Academy Award for best short-subject documentary.

Howland is survived by a daughter from her previous marriage to actor Michael J. Pollard.



Film

Year Title Role Notes

1959 Li'l Abner Clem's wife

Uncredited

Musical film based on the comic strip of the same name created by Al Capp and the successful Broadway musical of the same name that opened in 1956 and was produced by Norman Panama & directed by Melvin Frank.

1974 Thunderbolt and Lightfoot Vault Manager's Wife

Uncredited

Crime film written and directed by Michael Cimino.



Television

Year Title Role Notes

1972 The Mary Tyler Moore Show Linda Foster Episode: "Have I Found a Guy for You" (S 3:Ep 10)

1973 The Ted Bessell Show Margaret Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Bill Persky.[14]

Love, American Style Rita Episode: "Love and Carmen Lopez/Love and the Cover/Love and the Cryin' Cowboy" (S 5:Ep 13)

1975 Cannon Secretary Episode: "Nightmare" (S 5:Ep 1)

The Rookies Mrs. Ross Episode: "Reading, Writing and Angel Dust" (S 4:Ep 2)

Bronk June Kramer Episode: "Echo of Danger" (S 1:Ep 4)

The Mary Tyler Moore Show Joan Episode: "Mary Richards Falls in Love" (S 6:Ep 11)

1976 Little House on the Prairie Clerk Episode: "The Pride of Walnut Grove" (S 2:Ep 14)

1976–85 Alice Vera Louise Gorman Contract role (202 episodes)

1977 Eight Is Enough Mavis Episode: "Is There a Doctor in the House?" (S 2:Ep 1)

1979 The Love Boat Lee Noble Episode: "Third Wheel/Grandmother's Day/Second String Mom" (S 2:Ep 27)

You Can't Take It with You Essie Carmichael Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Paul Bogart.

1980 The Wild Wacky Wonderful World of Winter Stripper Made-for-TV-Movie

1981 The Love Boat Eloise Farnsworth Episodes:

"Farnsworth's Fling/Three in a Bed/I Remember Helen/Merrill, Melanie & Melanesia/Gopher Farnsworth Smith: Part 1" (S 5:Ep 8)

1982 American Playhouse Housewife Episode: "Working" (S 1:Ep 14)

1983 The Love Boat Jeannie Davis Episodes:

"Hits and Missus/Return of Annabelle/Just Plain Folks Medicine/Caught in the Act/The Real Thing/Do Not Disturb/Lulu & Kenny (Country Music Jamboree): Part 1" (S 6:Ep 27)

Captain Bernice Tobin Episode: "Youth Takes a Holiday/Don't Leave Home Without It/Prisoner of Love" (S 7:Ep 4)

A Caribbean Mystery Evelyn Hillingdon Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Robert Michael Lewis.

1985 Comedy Factory Kate Weston Episode: "It Takes Two" (S 1:Ep 6)

1988 ABC Afterschool Special Eleanor Flemming Episode: "Terrible Things My Mother Told Me" (S 16:Ep 5)

You Can't Take It with You Anita Briggs Episode: "For Whom the Phone Rings" (S 1:Ep 14)

1993 Murder, She Wrote Sandy Oates Episode: "Lone Witness" (S 9:Ep 19)

1997 Sabrina the Teenage Witch Mrs. Ericson Episode: "Cat Showdown" (S 1:Ep 19)

2000 Chicken Soup for the Soul Diane Episode: "Thinking of You/Mama's Soup Pot/The Letter" (S 1:Ep 17)

Batman Beyond Singer (voice) Episode: "Out of the Past" (S 3:Ep 5)

2002 The Tick Bea Episode: "Arthur, Interrupted" (S 1:Ep 8)

As Told by Ginger Dr. Leventhal (voice) Episode: "And She Was Gone" (S 2:Ep 23)