Ann Bradford Davis (May 3, 1926 – June 1, 2014) was an American actress. She achieved prominence for her role in the NBC situation comedy The Bob Cummings Show (1955–1959), for which she twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, but she was best known for playing the part of Alice Nelson, the housekeeper in ABC's The Brady Bunch (1969–1974).
Early life Davis was born in Schenectady, New York, to Marguerite (née Stott) and Cassius Miles Davis. She had an identical twin, Harriet, and an older sister and brother, Elizabeth (1917–1974) and Evans (1921–2005). When she was three, she and her family moved to Erie in northwestern Pennsylvania. She graduated from Strong Vincent High School and later from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She originally enrolled as a pre-medical major, but she changed her mind and went into drama after seeing her brother's performance of Oklahoma! Davis graduated in 1948 with a degree in drama and speech.
Career
In the 1953–1954 season, Davis appeared as a musical judge on ABC's Jukebox Jury.Jukebox Jury: Research Video, Inc.: Music Footing Licensing Agency and Vintage Television Footage Archive
Davis's first television success was as Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz in The Bob Cummings Show, 1955–1959. She auditioned for the role because her friend's boyfriend was a casting director and recommended her for the part. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series twice out of four nominations for this role.
She appeared on January 23, 1958, as a guest star on The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. On February 9, 1960, Davis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In this period, Davis also focused on theater. As early as 1958, she appeared in a national touring company of the Thornton Wilder play The Matchmaker, co-starring with her Bob Cummings Show castmate, Lyle Talbot, who played Bob's Air Force buddy, and on June 27, 1960 she replaced Carol Burnett in the starring role of Princess Winnifred in the Broadway production of the musical Once Upon a Mattress. Davis only played the role for a week before the show closed on July 2.
In May 1964, she appeared in the stage production of Bus Stop at the Yonkers Playhouse. Jayne Mansfield played the lead character Cherie, while Davis played the character of Grace, owner of the diner. The play had a three-week engagement that ended on June 14.
In the 1965–1966 television season, Davis appeared as Miss Wilson, a physical education teacher at a private girls' academy in John Forsythe's single-season NBC sitcom, The John Forsythe Show.
For a period in the 1960s and 1970s, Davis was known for her appearances in television commercials for the Ford Motor Company, particularly for the midsized Ford Fairlane models. Davis was also featured in commercials for Minute Rice in Canada until the mid-1980s. During this period, she also performed as a comedian; before Sherwood Schwartz could cast her in The Brady Bunch, Paramount Studios had to buy her out of a multiweek booking in Seattle.
From 1969 to 1974, Davis played housekeeper Alice Nelson in The Brady Bunch television series. She later returned to take part in various Brady Bunch television movies, including The Brady Girls Get Married (1981) and A Very Brady Christmas (1988). She also reprised her role as Alice Nelson in two short-lived Brady Bunch spin-off television series: The Brady Brides (1981), which ran for 10 episodes, and The Bradys (1990), which lasted only six episodes. She also made a cameo appearance as a truck driver named "Schultzy", a reference to her days on The Bob Cummings Show, in The Brady Bunch Movie in 1995. In 1994, Davis published a cookbook, Alice's Brady Bunch Cookbook, with Brady Bunch-inspired recipes. The book also includes recipes from cast members.
In the early 1990s, Davis returned to theater. She performed in a production of Arsenic and Old Lace, and both the Broadway production and a world tour of Crazy for You.
Davis never completely retired from acting; in her later years, she was the celebrity spokeswoman in several Shake 'n Bake commercials and later appeared in several disposable mop commercials for Swiffer. She also appeared in a number of Brady Bunch reunion projects, most recently TV Land's The Brady Bunch 35th Anniversary Reunion Special: Still Brady After All These Years. On April 22, 2007, The Brady Bunch was awarded the TV Land Pop Culture Award on the fifth annual TV Land Awards. Davis and other cast members accepted the award, and she received a standing ovation.Frey, William C. "Life with Alice," The Living Church, (Anglican magazine), January 15, 2016.
Personal life
In 1976, Davis sold her home in Los Angeles to move to Denver, Colorado, where she joined an Episcopal community led by Bishop William C. Frey. The community later relocated to Ambridge in Beaver County in far western Pennsylvania after Frey became dean of the seminary Trinity School for Ministry. Davis had long been a volunteer for the Episcopal Church, working at the General Convention, attending services at churches around the country. In 1968, Ms. Davis also traveled to Vietnam to do several quick "Meet & Greets" with the troops on a very casual and personal ad hoc way. She'd pop-in, to an office at Hq., give a hug and kiss and be on her way to the next soldier. This was while Davis was volunteering with the United Service Organizations (USO) and she also served on the USO National Council in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She performed several times for the U.S. Armed Forces in South Korea and Vietnam.
Death Davis died at the age of 88 on June 1, 2014, at a hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Earlier in the day, she had sustained a subdural hematoma from a fall in her bathroom in her San Antonio residence, in which she lived with Bishop Frey and his wife, Barbara."Brady Bunch actress dies," Laredo Morning Times, June 2, 2014, p. 10A Sources close to Davis say that she was in excellent health for her age and that her death was a complete shock. She was cremated and interred in the Saint Helena's Columbarium and Memorial Gardens in Boerne, Texas.Gross, Joe. "12 fascinating Texans and where to find their graves," Austin American-Statesman, September 26, 2018.
Works
Film Year Title Role Notes 1955 A Man Called Peter Ruby Coleman Uncredited 1956 The Best Things in Life Are Free Hattie Stewart Uncredited 1960 Pepe Ann B. "Schultzy" Davis 1961 All Hands on Deck Nobby 1961 Lover Come Back Millie 1994 Naked Gun : The Final Insult Alice Nelson Credited as playing herself 1995 The Brady Bunch Movie Trucker (Shultzy)
Television Year Title Role Notes 1953–1953 Jukebox Jury Herself/Judge Musical series 1956 Matinee Theater Peg Miller Episode: "Belong to Me" 1956 Lux Video Theatre Miss Killicat Episode: "The Wayward Saint" 1955–1959 The Bob Cummings Show Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz 153 episodes 1960 Wagon Train Mrs. Foster Episode: "The Countess Baranof Story" 1962 The New Breed Elizabeth MacBaine Episode: "Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo?" 1962 Here's Hollywood Herself Celebrity interview program 1963 McKeever and the Colonel Sgt. Gruber Episode: "Too Many Sergeants" 1963 The Keefe Brasselle Show Herself 3 appearances on summer replacement series for The Garry Moore Show 1964 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Matha Episode: "Wake Up, Darling" 1965–1966 The John Forsythe Show Miss Wilson 29 episodes 1966 The Pruitts of Southampton Mrs. Derwin Episode: "Phyllis Takes a Letter" 1968 Insight Pat Episode: "The Late Great God" 1970/1973 Love, American Style 2 episodes 1971 Big Fish, Little Fish Hilda Rose Movie 1973 The World of Sid & Marty Krofft at the Hollywood Bowl Audience member Uncredited 1969–1974 The Brady Bunch Alice Nelson / Cousin Emma 117 episodes 1974 Only with Married Men Mola Movie; uncredited 1976–1977 The Brady Bunch Hour Alice Nelson 9 episodes 1980 The Love Boat Agnes Episode: "Invisible Maniac/September Song/Peekaboo" 1981 The Brady Girls Get MarriedAlice Nelson Movie 1981 The Brady Brides 6 episodes 1983 Rosie Jill Po Episode: "Waitresses in Line" 1988 A Very Brady ChristmasAlice Nelson Movie 1989 Day by Day Episode: "A Very Brady Episode" 1990 The Bradys 4 episodes 1991 Hi Honey, I'm Home! Episode: "SRP" 1993 Bradymania: A Very Brady Special Herself TV special 1997 Something So Right Maxine Episode: "Something About Inter-Ex-Spousal Relations" 2004 The Brady Bunch 35th Anniversary Reunion Special Herself TV special
Stage Year Title Role Venue Notes 1960 Once Upon a Mattress Princess Winnifred 1972–1973 No, No, Nanette 1992–1996 Crazy for You Mother 1996 Arsenic and Old Lace Abby Brewster
Awards and nominations Davis received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations, resulting in two awards, for her portrayal of Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz on The Bob Cummings Show.
Television Season Award Category Television Program Result Notes 1955–1956 Emmy Award Best Actress in a Supporting Role The Bob Cummings Show(Episode: "Schultzy's Dream World") Lost to Nanette Fabray (Caesar's Hour) 1956–1957 Emmy Award Best Supporting Performance by an Actress The Bob Cummings Show Lost to Pat Carroll (Caesar's Hour) 1957–1958 Emmy Award Best Continuing Supporting Performance by an Actress in a Dramatic or Comedy Series The Bob Cummings Show 1958–1959 Emmy Award Best Supporting Actress (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series The Bob Cummings Show
On February 9, 1960, Davis also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7048 Hollywood Boulevard. She also received TV Land Awards in 2004, 2006, and 2007 for her portrayal of Alice Nelson, the housekeeper on The Brady Bunch.
References
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