The Tragic Story Of Bea Benaderet, Kate Bradley on ‘Petticoat Junction’
You may not recognize the name Bea Benaderet right away, but you certainly know her voice. The original Betty Rubble on The Flintstones, Benaderet swas also the go-to female voice for Warner Bros. cartoons. She also worked in front of the camera, starring in The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction and Green Acres. However, just as Benaderet was finally getting the attention she deserved for her acting, she passed away — the first in a series of tragedies that would rock her family.
Benaderet was born on April 4, 1906, in New York City and raised in San Francisco, where her father ran a smoke shop for decades. She discovered acting early, first appearing in a school play at the age of 11 and then on the radio by the time she was a teenager. What began as a $10 job on a children’s production soon blossomed into a lifelong career. Her knack for dialects and comedy quickly made her one of the busiest voices in radio, performing alongside stars like Jack Benny, George Burns and Lucille Ball.
Hanna-Barbera Prod./Everett Collection
By the 1940s, Benaderet became Warner Bros.’ go-to female voice for their Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. She voiced Granny in the Tweety Bird shorts, Miss Prissy in the Foghorn Leghorn series and Mama Bear. On television, she played Blanche Morton on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show from 1950 to 1958, earning two Emmy nominations for her scene-stealing comedic timing. She popped up as a neighbor, a friend or a meddling character on dozens of shows, and she even voiced the original Betty Rubble on The Flintstones. Lucille Ball once admitted she wanted Benaderet to play Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy, but because Benaderet had other professional commitments at the time, the part went to Vivian Vance instead.
Her career would have been impressive if it stopped there. But her longtime collaboration with producer Paul Henning changed everything. After stealing scenes as Cousin Pearl on The Beverly Hillbillies, Henning finally gave her a starring role in 1963 as Kate Bradley on Petticoat Junction. Kate, the warm-hearted innkeeper of the Shady Rest Hotel, was beloved by audiences. She later appeared on Green Acres as part of the crossovers Henning enjoyed creating between his shows.
Everett Collection
However, behind the success, tragedy was looming. In 1963, doctors discovered a spot on her lung. At first, it disappeared, but by 1967, it had grown, and she underwent surgery that revealed lung cancer. A longtime smoker, she quit after her diagnosis and underwent radiation treatment. For a while, she seemed to be getting better and returned to Petticoat Junction in 1968 for the season finale, “Kate’s Homecoming.”
Sadly, her health declined again afterward. She recorded only a few episodes of the next season before she became too ill to continue. On October 13, 1968, Bea Benaderet passed away at just 62 years old. In a heartbreaking twist, her husband Eugene Twombly died of a heart attack only four days later, just a day after her funeral.
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Classic TV Shows of the ’50s & ’60s
September 2020
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