Bea Benaderet

Bea Benaderet
Benadaret in 1966.
Born	Beatrice Benaderet (1906-04-04)April 4, 1906 New York, New York, U.S.
Died	October 13, 1968(1968-10-13) (aged 62) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Lung cancer and pneumonia
Resting place	Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1926–1968
Spouse(s)	Jim Bannon (m. 1938; div. 1950) Eugene Twombly (m. 1957; her death 1968)
Children	2, including Jack Bannon

Beatrice “Bea” Benaderet (April 4, 1906 – October 13, 1968) was an American actress born in New York City and reared in San Francisco, California. Her major breaks in radio came on The Jack Benny Program and as a member of Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre repertory company. She appeared in a wide variety of television work, which included a starring role in the 1960s television series Petticoat Junction and Green Acres as Shady Rest Hotel owner Kate Bradley, supporting roles as Blanche Morton in The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and as the original voice of Betty Rubble during the first four seasons of The Flintstones, and in The Beverly Hillbillies as Pearl Bodine. She did a great deal of voice work in Warner Bros. animated cartoons of the 1940s and early 1950s, most famously as Granny.

Benaderet was born in 1906 in Manhattan, although occasionally her year of birth was given as 1907 or 1909 in census records. Her father Samuel was a Turkish Jewish emigrant. Her mother, Margaret (née O'Keefe), was Irish-American. Her family moved to San Francisco, California, around 1910, where she attended St. Rose Academy, a private girls' school.

Her debut on radio came when she was 12. She had performed in a children's production of The Beggar's Opera on KGO. Her first job in radio was at KFRC in San Francisco, California. Her responsibilities there included acting, singing, writing, and producing. Bea Benaderet was a member of the Mercury Theatre repertory company heard in Orson Welles's radio presentations including "Escape", "The Magnificent Ambersons," "The Hurricane," "A Christmas Carol," "Craig's Wife" and "June Moon." She first received notice for her radio work in the 1940s on Fibber McGee & Molly, The Jack Benny Program, My Favorite Husband, The Mel Blanc Show, The Great Gildersleeve, and Amos 'n Andy. She played Blanche Morton, the next-door neighbor to George Burns and Gracie Allen, on both the radio and television incarnations of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.