MADGE BLAKE

May 31, 1899 – February 19, 1969

Madge Blake (née Cummings) was best remembered for her roles as Margaret Mondello on “Leave It to Beaver”, Flora MacMichael on “The Real McCoys,” and Aunt Harriet Cooper on “Batman”. Born in Kansas just before the turn of the last century, her father discouraged her from becoming an actress, so she did not enter acting until later in life. During World War II, Blake and her husband James Lincoln Blake worked on construction of the detonator for the atomic bomb and received a citation for their work from the U.S. government.

Blake’s first cousin was actor Milburn Stone (”Gunsmoke”). They both acted in the 1955 film The Private War of Major Benson starring Chaleton Heston and Sal Mineo. 

Gene Kelly had a special affection for her and included her in each of his films including An American in Paris, Brigadoon, and Singing in the Rain as Dora Bailey (above).  

Her first collaboration with Lucy and Desi was as Aunt Anastasia in The Long, Long Trailer, which premiered in February 1954.  

A month later she was seen as Mrs. Mulford (of Jeri’s Hats), on “I Love Lucy” in “Ricky Loses His Temper” (ILL S3;E19). A sly salesperson, Mrs. Mulford entices Lucy to buy a new hat, despite her promise to Ricky that she wouldn’t. 

MRS. MULFORD: “It’s half price!” 
LUCY: “I’ll take it!”

Technically, The Long, Long Trailer was filmed first, so the movie was her introduction to Lucille Ball and probably resulted in this series appearance.

In January 1957, she played Martha, a prospective new tenant at 623 East 68th Street who is afraid of heights, alongside her caring husband Herbert (Ralph Dumke), in “Lucy and Superman” (ILL S6;E13). Imagine her shock when she spies Lucy dressed as Superman perched on the ledge!   

HERBERT: “Was it a bird?”
MARTHA: “No.”
HERBERT:  “Was it a plane?”
MARTHA: “No.”
HERBERT: “Well, what was it, dear?”
MARTHA: “It was Superman!”

It is somewhat coincidental that Blake should star with TV’s Superman (George  Reeves), nearly ten years before being cast in TV’s “Batman.”  Just as coincidentally, Blake and Dumke both appeared in The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956) and Loving You (1957).  

Her final appearance with Lucille Ball was on a 1964 episode of “The Lucy Show”, “Lucy, the Camp Cook” (TLS S3;E6). Blake plays a motorist who stops to help a stranded Mr. Mooney. Lucy and Viv are hiding just out of sight.  Clearly, she has no idea that she is helping out two women as well as the handsome banker.

DRIVER (flirty): “Let me go in first and dust the seat…big boy!” 

THE DESILU CONNECTIONS

Desilu’s many television shows often blurred the lines; characters being spun-off, or crossing over to another show. Madge Blake’s characters existed in several TV worlds, although she may not have appeared in the actual cross-over episodes. 

For example, Blake made two appearances on the Ann Sothern sitcom “Private Secretary” both times playing Mrs. Bernard Hugo – once in 1953, and again in  1956. During 1957, Sothern’s character Susie MacNamara appeared as Lucy Ricardo’s friend in the first “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” titled “Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana” (LDCH S1;E1).  

After her first appearance on “I Love Lucy” Blake was cast as Anita Henderson on the CBS / Desilu series “December Bridge,” a role she played in 1955 and 1956. She did one more episode in 1957 as Margaret. The show featured many actors who also appeared on “I Love Lucy.” In 1957, Executive Producer Desi Arnaz appeared as himself. 

In another cross-over connection, Blake made four appearances on “The Danny Thomas Show” from 1954 to 1961, each time playing a different character. In 1958, to symbolize the show’s move to CBS, the Williams family moved into the Ricardo home in Westport. In return, Lucy and Desi guest-starred on “The Danny Thomas Show” as the Ricardos. 

On February 9, 1961, Blake did a guest-spot on the short-lived CBS Desilu series “Guestward, Ho!” Ironically, the leading role was originally intended for Vivian Vance, but the network thought her too associated with Ethel Mertz. 

That same evening, February 9, 1961, Blake also did a guest-spot on the ABC series “Angel” which was filmed on the Desilu lot. She acted opposite Doris Singleton, who had played Carolyn Appleby in “Lucy Meets Superman,” although the two did not share any scenes. The one-season series was created by Jess Oppenheimer, writer of “I Love Lucy.” 

In 1963 and 1965, Blake joined the cast of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” which filmed on the Desilu Lot. 

In 1966, she was cast as Aunt Harriet Cooper on “Batman”, a role she played for 96 episodes and in a 1966 feature film that also had the same cast. She became good friends with star Adam West (Bruce Wayne / Batman). When producers wanted to let Blake go, West intervened and she stayed with the show until illness reduced her ability to work. On the series, Blake worked with many of the same actors who appeared with Lucille Ball: Cesar Romero, Van Johnson, Shelley Winters, Liberace, Tallulah
Bankhead, Ethel Merman. Milton Berle. Rudy Vallee, Ida Lupino, Howard Duff, Stafford Repp, Victor Buono, Vincent Price, Edward Everett
Horton, Vito Scotti, Norma Varden, Tristram Coffin, Ellen Corby, Sammy Davis Jr., Allen Jenkins, Art Linkletter, Alan Hale Jr.,  Jessyln Fax, and Alberto Morin.   

In 1967, Blake did a single episode of “Gomer Pyle USMC” (a spin-off of “The Andy Griffith Show”).  A year earlier, Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) made a cameo appearances on “The Lucy Show” (TLS S5;E9) in which Lucy Carmichael is mistaken for Lou C. Carmichael and drafted! 

Blake’s final appearance was a 1970 TV movie “The Shameful Secrets of Hastings Corner” produced by Harry Ackerman, who was a CBS executive who worked on (and appeared on) “I Love Lucy.” It was aired posthumously as Blake died in February 1969 at the age of 69.