MARY JANE CROFT

February 15, 1916

(above art by Dave Woodman)

MARY JANE CROFT was born on February 15, 1916 in Muncie, Indiana. She began her career on the stage.  She once said “from 1935 to 1939, I played parts with every kind of voice and accent: children, babies, old women, society belles, main street floozies – everything."  She went from the stage to radio and then into television, where her most famous association was with Lucille Ball. She also appeared on sitcoms like “Our Miss Brooks” and “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett”. After divorcing her first husband, she married producer Elliott Lewis in 1959. Croft had a son, Eric, by her first marriage, who was killed in action during the Vietnam War. 

On “I Love Lucy,” Mary Jane Croft first played Cynthia Harcourt 

in “Lucy is Envious” (ILL S3;E23) in 1954…

…and Evelyn Bigsby in “Return Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26). 

Before taking on the role of snobby next door neighbor Betty Ramsey during six episode of season six of “I Love Lucy.” Both she and Ethel attended Albuquerque Elementary. Her maiden name was Foster.

On “The Lucy Show,” she was introduced as Audrey Simmons in “Lucy the Music Lover” (TLS S1;E8) and played the character for eight episodes – all set in Danfield. 

Naturally, she was a member of the Danfield Women’s Volunteer Fire Brigade – along with Thelma Green (Carole Cook). 

She was a member of Lucy’s Bridge Club with Kathleen (Kathleen Freeman). 

When Lucy Carmichael moved to California in 1965, she played Mary Jane Lewis, the actor’s married name and the same one she uses on all 31 of her episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”  The new iteration of her character was introduced in “Lucy and The Golden Greek” (TLS S4;E2) and she played the role for 31 episodes.

On “Here’s Lucy,” her high-pitched, squeaky voice was often the source of humor for Lucy and Harry. She appeared in a total of 34 episodes. 

Mary Jane was Lucy Carter’s friend and was employed at a nearby movie studio (although not as an usher, despite wearing the above dress in many episodes). 

Like Lucy, she was unmarried, and usually popped over to Lucy’s home or workplace for moral support and – like Viv before her – only to get dragged into Lucy Carter’s outrageous schemes. 

Her last appearance on “Here’s Lucy” was in “Mary Jane’s Boyfriend” (HL S6;E20), the only episode with a story that revolved around the character.  

Her final acting credit was playing Midge Bowser, the mayor’s wife, on “Lucy Calls the President” (1977). 

She died in 1999 at the age of 83.

After her death, Lucie Arnaz eulogized her Mary Jane as being the antithesis of the dizzy blonde she portrayed on screen and as a fun-loving and joyous spirit.