Helen Kleeb

Helen Kleeb (January 6, 1907 – December 28, 2003)[1] was an American film and television actress. In a career covering nearly 50 years, she may be best known for her role from 1972 to 1981 as Miss Mamie Baldwin on the family drama The Waltons.[2][3][4]

Helen Kleeb
Born	(1907-01-06)January 6, 1907 South Bend, Washington, U.S.
Died	December 28, 2003(2003-12-28) (aged 96) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California
Occupation	Actress of film and television
Years active	1952–1997
Spouse(s)	(1) John Gerald Prendergast (1937–1950, his death) (1 child, Thomas Arthur Prendergrast, born May 13, 1940, died May 22, 2015, Cottonwood Arizona,) (2) Elmer Garrison (1959–2003, her death)

Biography

Kleeb began acting on stage in Portland, Oregon, late in the 1920s, where she attended the Ellison-White Conservatory of Music.[5] She also gained her first radio experience in Portland.[1]

From 1949 to 1951, she performed voices for the radio program Candy Matson. In 1956–1957, Kleeb guest-starred on Hey, Jeannie!, starring Jeannie Carson. In the 1960–1961 television season, Kleeb appeared as Miss Claridge, a legal secretary, on the sitcom Harrigan and Son.

She appeared in episodes of Dennis the Menace, I Love Lucy, Pete and Gladys, Hennesey, Death Valley Days, Get Smart, The Andy Griffith Show, Green Acres, Bewitched, Highway to Heaven, Room 222, and The Golden Girls as well as in small film roles in The Manchurian Candidate, and Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte. She also appeared in a number of episodes of Dragnet, starring Jack Webb, during the 1950s as well as Helen appeared on many radio drama shows, some now playing on XM Satellite Radio.

Kleeb married Elmer Garrison[6] in 1959. She died in 2003, nine days before her 97th birthday, in Los Angeles, California. She reportedly left no known survivors other than her second husband, although many sources said that she had a son from her first marriage to John Gerald Pendergast, which ended with his death in 1950. According to California birth records, Thomas Arthur Pendergrast was born to a mother with the last name Kleeb on 13 May 1940 in San Francisco, California. Helen and John Prendergast were enumerated in April 1940 in San Francisco.[7]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1952	Kansas City Confidential	Mrs. Crane	Uncredited
1953	99 River Street	Miss Henderson	Uncredited
	Half a Hero	Desk Nurse	Uncredited
1954	Witness to Murder	Nurse in Mental Ward	Uncredited
	Magnificent Obsession	Mrs. Eden
1955	There's Always Tomorrow	Miss Walker
	The Desperate Hours	Miss Wells	Uncredited
1956	A Day of Fury	Mrs. McLean
	Friendly Persuasion	Old Lady	Uncredited
1957	Hot Summer Night	Scrub Woman	Uncredited
	The Invisible Boy	Miss Vandergrift	Uncredited
1958	High School Confidential	Miss Dodge	Uncredited
	Summer Love	Bit Role	Uncredited
	I Want to Live!	Prison Matron	Uncredited
1959	Curse of the Undead	Dora
	The Gazebo	Miss Spence	Uncredited
1960	Cage of Evil	Mrs. Melton, Cherry's Motel
1961	The Young Savages	Mrs. Patton	Uncredited
	Ada	Mrs. Smith	Uncredited
1962	The Manchurian Candidate	Mrs. Henry Whitaker - Chairlady	Uncredited
	40 Pounds of Trouble	Child Welfare Worker	Uncredited
1963	Toys in the Attic	Warkins' Secretary	Uncredited
1964	Seven Days in May	Esther Townsend
	Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte	Town Gossip
	Sex and the Single Girl	Hilda
1965	The Hallelujah Trail	Henrietta
1966	Munster, Go Home!	Emily	Uncredited
	The Fortune Cookie	The Lawyers' Receptionist
1967	Eight on the Lam	Bit Role	Uncredited
	Fitzwilly	Mrs. Mortimer
1968	The Party	Secretary
	Blue	Elizabeth Parker
1970	Halls of Anger	Rita Monahan
1971	Star Spangled Girl	YWCA Receptionist
1982	The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas	Dora

References

1. Lentz, Harris M., III (2008). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2003: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture. McFarland. ISBN 9780786452088. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
2. "Helen Kleeb". BFI. Archived from the original on 2012-07-20.
3. "Helen Kleeb movies, photos, movie reviews, filmography, and biography - AllMovie". AllMovie.
4. "The Waltons: The Baldwin Sisters". the-waltons.com.
5. Johnson, Jimmy (August 18, 1977). "Two Sisters Have 'The Recipe'". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. Gannett News Service. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Wilson, Scott (Aug 19, 2016). "Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed". McFarland. Retrieved Dec 16, 2019 – via Google Books.
7. "FamilySearch". Retrieved Dec 16, 2019.

External links

• Helen Kleeb on IMDb
• Helen Kleeb at Find a Grave