Helen Kleeb

• Name — Helen Kleeb • Born — 6 January 1907 • Birthplace — South Bend, Washington, U.S. • Died — 28 December 2003 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Resting Place — Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1952–1997 • Children — 1

Kleeb was born in South Bend, Washington, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Kleeb. Her father worked in the lumber business there, and she said, "We were very poor." Although she saw no theater as a child, she created acts from material she found in library books and performed for "Rotary, Kiwanis, or any other club or organization that would let me get up in front of them and do my act". Her career dreams were settled when her grandparetns took her to a Chautauqua — her first exposure to a theatrical production. Upon graduating from high school she told her parents that rather than going to college she wanted to study at the Ellison-White Conservatory of Music in Portland. Her mother wrote a check and she rode a bus to there.

Kleeb began acting on stage in Portland, Oregon, late in the 1920s, where she attended the Ellison-White Conservatory of Music. She also gained her first radio experience in Portland. In the late 1920s and early 1930s she acted with the Duffy Players. She joined the Alcazar stock theater company in 1935. By then she had a reputation for specializing in roles of "mothers, crochety aunts, and assorted elderly females" even though she was in her mid-20s. 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, The Virginian (Season 7, Episode 13, The Big Tiny), Get Smart, The Andy Griffith Show, Green Acres, Bewitched, Gunsmoke (as "Mrs. Randolph" in S1E38's "Unknown Grave" - 1956), Little House: A New Beginning, 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 The Waltons, as well as Dragnet, starring Jack Webb, during the 1950s. Kleeb also appeared on many radio drama shows, some now playing on XM Satellite Radio.

Kleeb's first marriage and the birth of a son, Tom Pendergast, caused a hiatus in her career. After her first husband's death in 1950, she taught drama at a college before she returned to acting. She is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City.

• 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 Whittaker - 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 • 1965 — Get Smart — Frieda — Season 1, episode 4: "Our Man in Toyland" • 1966 — Munster, Go Home! — Emily — Uncredited • | The Fortune Cookie — The Lawyers' Receptionist • | Bewitched — Sarah Albright — Season 3, episode 11: "Oedipux Hex" • 1967 — Eight on the Lam — Bit Role — Uncredited • | Fitzwilly — Mrs. Mortimer • 1968 — The Party — Secretary • | Blue — Elizabeth Parker • 1968 — The Virginian (TV series) — Mrs. Mauder — Season 7, episode 13: "Big Tiny" • 1969-1971 — Room 222 — Mrs. Tandy — recurring character • 1970 — Halls of Anger — Rita Monahann • 1971 — Star Spangled Girl — YWCA Receptionist • 1972-1981 — The Waltons — Mamie Baldwin — recurring character • 1982 — The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas — Dora • 1985 — Who's the Boss? — | Mrs. Randolf — |Season 1, episode 16: "Angela’s Ex part 2" • 1988 — The Golden Girls — Elizabeth Ann Hollingsworth — Season 3, episode 25: "Mother's Day" • 1997 — A Walton Easter — Miss Mamie Baldwin — TV movie