Frieda Altman (August 18, 1904 – January 14, 2002) was an American theatre and television character actress, perhaps best known for her recurring role as Mrs. Miller, the housekeeper, on Search for Tomorrow.LaGuardia, Robert (1977). From Ma Perkins to Mary Hartman: The Illustrated History of Soap Operas. New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 108, 109. . "1965: The greatest romance in the history of Search for Tomorrow started in 1965, between Joanne and business tycoon Sam Reynolds (played by handsome Bob Madigan). [...] On September 2, the cast of Search for Tomorrow gathered to celebrate the show’s fourteenth anniversary. From left: Freida [sic] Altman (Mrs. Miller), Dino Narizzano, Mary Stuart, Terry O’Sullivan, Melba Rae, Bob Mandan, Pat Harty (the new Patti), Carl Low (Dr. Bob Rogers), and Margaret Draper (a social worker)."
Early life and career Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 18, 1904,"Boston-Born Frieda Altman Plays One of the Roles in 'Little Brown Jug'". The Boston Globe. February 17, 1946. p. 30. "Boston-born Frieda Altman is again in her native city to act in "Little Brown Jug" at the Copley Theatre. Miss Altman's first stage appearance was at nearby Falmouth, Cape, with the University Players [...] She also played in Baltimore with this organization prior to making her debut on the Broadway stage in 'Carrie Nation.' A young actress, it was her fate to be cast old woman, and ever since she has been working her way back to roles which are more in keeping with her years. Among these were the society woman in the Gypsy Rose Lee epic, 'The Naked Genius,' a brisk lady journalist in 'Guest in the House' and a vivid Italian character part in 'Hickory Stick.' Miss Altman was last seen here in 'Mr. Cooper's Left Hand.'"Blum, Daniel C.; Willis, John A. (1950). Theatre World. New York: Crown Publishers. p. 159. Altman was the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants Samuel and Bella Altman. She attended George Putnam School,"7545 Graduated Today From Boston Elementary Schools; Putnam School". The Boston Globe. June 23, 1916. p. 12. Boston Latin School (class of 1920),"GRADUATE 1290 GIRLS, 784 BOYS; Boston's Normal and High Schools Exercises Held; Girls' Latin School Graduates 87 Pupils: Diplomas". The Boston Globe. June 25, 1920. p. 12. and Wellesley College,"Honor Students of 1924 Class, Wellesley College, Announced". The Boston Globe. November 16, 1921. p. 4. earning her Bachelor of Arts in 1924."WELLESLEY COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT HELD FOR GRADUATING CLASS OF 389; Bachelor of Arts". The Boston Globe. June 18, 1924. p. 14. Having done so roughly two months before her 20th birthday, Altman was said to be the second youngest member of her graduating class."Ten N.E. Girls Get High Wellesley Honors". The Boston Globe. Ten New England girls, five natives Massachusetts, are among senior Durant scholars at Wellesley, while three other New Englanders are among Junior Durant scholars. [...] In the Durant senior list are Miss Frieda Altman of Dorchester, the second youngest senior, Helen Eastman of Arlington and Miss Marion Russell of Dorchester."
In the spring of 1916, at age 11, Altman had reportedly been one of "500 little dancers" performing at the annual May Festival held at the Mechanic's Building in Boston."LITTLE DANCERS NUMBER 500". The Boston Globe. April 30, 1916. p. 51. In a similar vein is her next documented public appearance, seven years later, wherein another annual event, Wellesley College's annual Tree Day, formed the backdrop for a variety of solo and group dances, including Altman and four others "tak[ing] part in an odd dance of candy sticks"."CHOSEN FOR PARTS IN WELLESLEY TREE DAY; Many Bay State and Other N. E. Girls Selected". The Boston Globe. April 9, 1923. p. 18.
In February 1926, Altman was credited as "assistant to directors" in a production of Indian poet/playwright Kalidasa's signature work, Shakuntala. By April of that year, having advanced to "Chairman of Dramatics" of Junior Hadassah, Altman was also the second-billed player in that group's staging of Abraham Goldfaden's Shulamith, presented entirely in the original Yiddish."'Shulamith,' Famous Jewish Drama, to Be Given April 1". The Boston Globe. March 24, 1926. p. 5. "" Approximately one year later, at Boston's Brattle Hall, Altman starred as Vera in a production of Israel Zangwill's The Melting Pot, staged by the Junior Council of Temple Ashkenaz, Cambridge, Massachusetts."TEMPLE ASHKENAZ JUNIOR COUNCIL TO GIVE PLAY". The Boston Globe. March 18, 1927. p. 2. "The Junior Council of Temple Ashkenaz, Cambridge, will present 'The Melting Pot' by Israel Zangwill in Brattle Hall, Cambridge, Wednesday, April 6. Nine have been selected out of a group of 200 applicants to take part in the play. Miss Cunningham is the coach. The following are the members of the cast: Albert Szathmary, Miss Frieda Altman, Max Duchin, Louis Klashman, Miss Evelyn Andelman, Miss Mary Creedman, Miss Anna Katzen, Hyman Levine and Max Finstein." In 1929, Altman portrayed the Virgin Mary in A Christmas Mystery, a production which marked the resumption—after a two-year lapse—of the Boston Public Library's annual Nativity Play presentation."Plan Nativity Play at Boston Library". The Boston Globe. December 21, 1929. p. 4. "After two years the presentation of an annual Nativity play at the Boston Public Library is to be resumed by Community Service of Boston, Inc. The pageant was written by Harold F. Lindergreen after the manner of the old English mysteries and will be staged in six scenes representing the Annunciation, the road to Bethlehem, the shepherds' field, the adoration of the shepherds, Herod's palace, and the adoration of the Kings. Frieda Altman will appear as the Virgin Mary, Ralph Wheeler as St Joseph." The following February, while not appearing herself, Altman did direct The Eternal Song by Marc Arnstein, one of a pair of one-act plays comprising the debut of the Temple Israel Little Theatre of Boston."TEMPLE ISRAEL LITTLE THEATRE PRESENTS PLAYS". The Boston Globe. February 5, 1930. p. 19. By December of that year, Altman had joined an amateur troupe performing in the Greater Boston region, called Lend-a-Hand Masque; on Saturday the 6th, she performed in their production of Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp, staged at the Brookline High School auditorium."LEND-A-HAND MASQUE TO GIVE PLAY IN BROOKLINE". The Boston Globe. December 4, 1930 p. 19. "[Additional] Brookline members of the cast are Edith May, Phyllis Bergen, Margaret Bigelow, Elizabeth and Jean Hamilton, Frieda Altman and Georgia Record."
Prior to making her 1932 Broadway debut, Altman was with Falmouth's University Players, for a period of approximately eight months, beginning no later than December 1931."The Christmas Store: Schleiner Co., Howard and Saratoga; The Schleiner Label Tells the World You're a Thoughtful Giver". The Baltimore Sun. December 6, 1931. p. 4. "You're invited to visit our second floor ... tea and fashion revue ... Tuesday afternoon, 3 to 5 P.M. Margaret Sullavan, Merna Pace, Barbara O'Neill and Frieda Altman (University Players, at the Maryland Theatre) will be hostesses." Her fellow performers included, at various times, Margaret Sullavan, Henry Fonda,"It's a Wise Child Comes to Maryland This Week; katherine hastings; Merna Page; Frieda Altman; Comedy at Maryland This Week University Group Will Present It's A Wise Child, Which Had Long, New York Run". The Baltimore Sun. December 13, 1951. p. 51. "In addition to Miss Sullavan, the cast includes Henry Fonda, Alfred Dalrymple, Myron McCormick, Peter Wayne, Kent Smith, Charles E. Arndt, Jr., Frieda Altmán, Helen Buberth and Merna Pace." James Stewart,"KIWANIANS AT THEATER UNIT; Falmouth Group Conduct Ladies' Night with Fine Program". The New Bedford Evening Standard. July 20, 1932. p. 13. "Merna Pace, as Bertha the maid, and James Stewart, as Cool Kelly the iceman, received rounds of applause after their exits for their clever portrayal of roles that could have easily been over acted. [...] Helen Huberth carries off the role of Otho's wife, Alice Peabody, with some very good acting, and the group is completed by Frieda Altman, as the mother, Mrs. Stanton." Kent Smith, Mildred Natwick, Myron McCormick, and Bretaigne Windust, as well as actor/director Joshua Logan. During that first month, she was part of a large supporting cast in the comedy, It's a Wise Child, starring Sullavan and Fonda, and directed by Logan. Later, in Don Marquis's passion play, The Dark Hours, Altman portrayed Mary Magdalene, alongside Logan himself as Pontius Pilate, Windust as Judas Iscariot, and—as Procla, Pilate's wife—Logan's future offstage spouse, Barbara O'Neil."The Dark Hours, Passion Play, at the Maryland This Week; Drama by Don Marquis Billed by University Group; Barbaras O'Neill; Joshua Logan, Bretaigne Windust and Frieda Altman". The Baltimore Sun. March 13, 1932. p. 37. "Miss O'Neill [sic] will be Procla, the wife of Pilate, in the play by Don Marquis to be given by the University Players at the Maryland this week. Mr Logan has the part of Pilate, Mr. Windust that of Judas Iscariot, and Miss Altman that of Mary Magdalene." Later still, as Mrs. Barwick, she appeared alongside Windust, O'Neil, Natwick, and McCormick in John Balderston's time-travel fantasy, Berkeley Square.R., A. C. (July 13, 1932). "Falmouth Sees Costume Drama; Theater Unit Portrays Life 150 Years Ago". The Evening Standard. p. 7.
In 1952, Altman, as "Aunt Sarah", and child actress Patsy Bruder as "Alice", co-starred in "Little Girl", an episode of Lights Out, in which Sarah's seemingly sad but harmless delusion—mistaking Alice for a girl who had gone missing many years before—may in fact prove life-threatening for her niece.
In the 1963 DuPont Show of the Week episode, "Ride with Terror" (remade in 1967 as The Incident), Altman, Vincent Gardenia, Gene Hackman, and Ron Leibman were among the NYC Subway riders terrorized by delinquents Tony Musante and Gregory Rozakis. In 1967, she co-starred with Boris Tumarin in the Eternal Light episode, "The Book and the Window", with Tumarin portraying Israel Friedlander and Altman as his wife, Lilian.
From 1965 to 1971, Altman had the recurring role of Mrs. Miller, the housekeeper, on the CBS soap opera, Search for Tomorrow.
Personal life and death On September 3, 1933, Altman married Benjamin—aka Boris—Gamzue, a Latvian-born professor of English and literature who spent most if not all of his career on the faculty of New York University."TV Star". Holyoke Transcript-Telegram. July 3, 1969. p. 11. "A television star accompanied her husband to a 50th Holyoke High School class reunion. Mrs. Benjamin Gamzue came here Sunday with her husband, Dr. Gamzue, retired New York University professor, who graduated from Holyoke High in 1919. Mrs. Gamzue is the former Frieda Altman. She stars in the daily television show 'Search for Tomorrow.' She plays the role of Mrs. Miller, the housekeeper. The Gamzues reside in New York City and have a summer home at Lake Mahopac, N. Y., to which they [went] after the reunion.""Miss Altman Wed To B. F. Gamzue At Brookline". Holyoke Transcript-Telegram. September 6, 1933. p. 5. "The marriage of Miss Frieda Altman, daughter of Mrs. S. Altman of son Brooklne, of Mr. to and Mrs. Benjamin David B. Gamzue, of Nonotuck street, took place, Sunday, Sept. 3rd, at is the a bride's graduate home. Miss Altman is a graduate of Wellesley college and is interested in dramatics, having been associated with Jane Cowl in her various productions this past summer. Mr. Gamzue is [...] now instructor of English and Literature at New York university, Mr. and Mrs. Gamzue will make their home at 690 Riverside Drive, New York City.""New York, New York City, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940–1947", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WHSP-H7MM : Sat Apr 12 17:01:24 UTC 2025), Entry for Benjamin Gamzue and New York University, 15 Feb 1942.