Helen Kleeb (January 6, 1907 – December 28, 2003) was an American film and television actress. In a career covering nearly 50 years, she may be best known for her role from 1972 to 1981 as Miss Mamie Baldwin on the family drama The Waltons.
Early life 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.
Career 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.
Personal life 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.Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1952 Kansas City Confidential Mrs. Crane Uncredited1953 99 River Street Miss Henderson Uncredited Half a Hero Desk Nurse Uncredited1954 Witness to Murder Nurse in Mental Ward Uncredited Magnificent Obsession Mrs. Eden 1955 There's Always Tomorrow Miss Walker The Desperate Hours Miss Wells Uncredited1956 A Day of Fury Mrs. McLean Friendly Persuasion Old Lady Uncredited1957 Hot Summer Night Scrub Woman Uncredited The Invisible Boy Miss Vandergrift Uncredited1958 High School Confidential Miss Dodge Uncredited Summer Love Bit Role Uncredited I Want to Live! Prison Matron Uncredited1959 Curse of the Undead Dora The Gazebo Miss Spence Uncredited1960 Cage of Evil Mrs. Melton, Cherry's Motel 1961 The Young Savages Mrs. Patton Uncredited Ada Mrs. Smith Uncredited1962 The Manchurian Candidate Mrs. Henry Whittaker - Chairlady Uncredited 40 Pounds of Trouble Child Welfare Worker Uncredited1963 Toys in the Attic Warkins' Secretary Uncredited1964 Seven Days in May Esther Townsend Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte Town Gossip Sex and the Single Girl Hilda 1965 The Hallelujah Trail Henrietta 1965Get SmartFriedaSeason 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 character1970 Halls of Anger Rita Monahann1971 Star Spangled Girl YWCA Receptionist1972-1981 The Waltons Mamie Baldwin recurring character1982 The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Dora1985Who's the Boss? Mrs. RandolfSeason 1, episode 16: "Angela’s Ex part 2"1988The Golden Girls Elizabeth Ann Hollingsworth Season 3, episode 25: "Mother's Day" 1997 A Walton Easter Miss Mamie Baldwin TV movie
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