Mary Wickes

Actor

About

Also Known As

Mary Isabelle Wickenhauser

Birth Place

St Louis, Missouri, USA

Born

June 13, 1910

Died

October 22, 1995

Cause of Death

Complications Following Surgery

Biography

Filmography

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Voice

Little Women (1994)

Aunt March

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)

Sister Act (1992)

Postcards From The Edge (1990)

Grandma

Fatal Confession: A Father Dowling Mystery (1987)

Photos & Videos

View All

Music Man, The (1962) -- (Original Trailer)

Music Man, The (1962) -- (Movie Clip) Iowa Stubborn

Notes

According to CINEFANTASTIQUE (in the course of its extensive coverage of the Disney animated remake of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in the June 1996 issue), Wickes was reportedly the live-action model for the villainess Cruella De Vil in the Disney animated classic "101 Dalmations" (1961).

Biography

A tall, lanky character actress, Wickes was a durable and invaluable comedy player of innumerable housekeepers, nurses and nuns. With her gawky frame, deliciously angular features and famous recessed chin, she wisecracked, busybodied and nosed her way through almost 20 Broadway plays, hundreds of stock productions, ten TV series, countless small-screen guest spots and nearly 50 feature films. Wickes began on stage in the early 1930s and acted in five plays either written or directed by George S. Kaufman. Her breakthrough came when she hilariously played Miss Preen, the endlessly harassed nurse to the vituperative Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley) in Kaufman and Hart's "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1939-40). Wickes later recreated her most famous role as her film debut in 1941, in a radio production starring Fred Allen and in a 1972 TV version with Orson Welles.

Once Hollywood had hold of Wickes, she proved she could dish up the guff as well as take it in "Now Voyager" (1942), "Happy Land" (1943), "June Bride" (1948), "On Moonlight Bay" (1951) and "It Happened to Jane" (1959). Wickes returned occasionally to Broadway in plays from "Hollywood Pinafore" (1945) to a revival of "Oklahoma!" (1979-80, as the warm and earthy Aunt Eller), but once TV caught on in the early 50s, Wickes found another ideal home in the sitcom. She could practically have declared her occupation as "housekeeper" on her income tax for the next few decades, for she played sharp-tongued but efficient and loyal factotums on "The Peter and Mary Show" (1950), "Bonino" (1953), "The Halls of Ivy" (1954), "Annette" (1958), "Sigmund & the Sea Monsters" (1973-75) and "The Father Dowling Mysteries" (1989-91). Wickes was also the first to play governess extraordinaire Mary Poppins on a "Studio One" production in the 50s. Her Emmy-nominated turn as the landlady on "Mrs. G. Goes to College" (1961-62), her doctor's wife on "Julia" (1968-71) and her crusty nurse on "Doc" (1975-76) were just so many welcome variations on a much-loved persona.

Feature work for Wickes continued with colorful roles in "The Music Man" (1962) and "Snowball Express" (1972). In "The Trouble with Angels" (1966) she played the bus-driving Sister Clarissa, a role she reprised for the lesser sequel, "Where Angels Go . . . Trouble Follows" (1968). Over the years, the tireless Wickes also began to teach seminars on acting in comedy at her alma mater, Washington University (which later awarded her an honorary doctorate), the College of William and Mary and the American Conservatory Theater. She did extensive volunteer nursing work and served as a board member of several prestigious medical institutions. (An episode of TV's "M*A*S*H," with Wickes as the most decorated nurse of the Korean War, was especially written for her.) In the 90s, Wickes returned to college to earn a Master's Degree at UCLA. She received her widest feature exposure in years as the hilarious Sister Mary Lazarus in "Sister Act" (1992) and its sequel, "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" (1993), and as Aunt March in "Little Women" (1994). Her final film credit was providing the voice of the gargoyle Laverne in Disney's animated "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996).

Filmography

Life Events

1935

Appeared on Broadway in supporting role in the George S. Kaufman-Edna Ferber comedy-drama, "Stage Door" (date approximate)

1941

Made feature film debut recreating her acclaimed stage role as Nurse Preen in the comedy, "The Man Who Came to Dinner"

1945

Acted on Broadway in the play, "Hollywood Pinafore"

1950

Played Miss Wickes, the housekeeper, on about half of the run of the NBC sitcom, "The Peter and Mary Show" (renamed "The Peter Lind Hayes Show" midway through its one-season run)

1953

Played Martha the housekeeper on the short-lived NBC sitcom, "Bonino"

1958

Played Katie the housekeeper on the short-lived ABC comedy series, "Annette", starring Annette Funicello

1969

First TV-movie, "The Monk"

1972

Last feature film for seven years, "Snowball Express"

1972

Recreated her Broadway and Hollywood feature role as the nurse in an NBC TV-movie adaptation of the stage comedy, "The Man Who Came to Dinner"

1979

Returned to films to play a role in the feature, "Touched By Love"

1990

Returned to films regularly with her role in the comedy-drama, "Postcards from the Edge"

1992

Played one of her most popular roles in features, Sister Mary Lazarus, in "Sister Act"; reprised the role for the 1993 sequel

1996

Final film credit, voiced Laverne, a gargoyle in Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"

Photo Collections

The Man Who Came to Dinner - Lobby Card

Here is a Lobby Card from Warner Bros' The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), starring Monty Woolley. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.