Madge Blake (1899-1969)

Madge Blake was an American character actress most famous for her role as Larry Mondello's mother on Leave It to Beaver, as neighbor Flora McMichael on The Real McCoys, as the president of Jack Benny’s fan club on The Jack Benny Program, and as Aunt Harriet Cooper on the Batman series in the 1960s. She was born May 31, 1899, in Kinsley, Kansas.  Her father was a Methodist who discouraged her from becoming an actress. As a result of her father's feelings, she did not enter acting until later in life. During World War II, Blake and her husband worked in Utah on construction of the detonator for the atomic bomb and performed such jobs as testing equipment destined for the Manhattan Project.

Though she was five years his senior, Blake was a niece of actor Milburn Stone, who played the role of Doc Adams on Gunsmoke. She took advantage of his influence to help her land acting roles. In addition to her roles on Leave it to Beaver, The Real McCoys, and Batman, her other well-known roles include the party of gushy gossip columnist Dora Bailey in Singin’ in the Rain in 1952, Edna May Bestram in An American in Paris in 1951, and as one of the models for the fairies in Disney’s animated version of Sleeping Beauty in 1959. She guest starred in many TV series including My Favorite Martian, The Lucy Show, Dennis the Menace, I Love Lucy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Bewitched, The Addams Family, and Mannix.

Declining health saw her role as Aunt Harriet reduced and with the introduction of Batgirl in the third and final season of Batman she only appeared in two episodes. Madge Blake was admitted to a hospital after falling at home and fracturing her ankle. She died of a heart attack in the hospital at Pasadena, California, at the age of 70 on February 19, 1969, a little more than a year after Batman had been cancelled. She is buried at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.