Eleanor Audley


Eleanor Audley was an American character actress. With a distinctive voice and a diverse body of work that included stage, film, radio, television and animation, Audley was best known for her roles as aristocratic, somewhat villainous matrons. She is best remembered on television as Eunice Douglas on the sitcom Green Acres ; and for originating the voices of two Disney Villains: Lady Tremaine in Cinderella ; and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty.

Early and personal life

Audley was born Eleanor Zellman in Newark, New Jersey, on November 19, 1905; she and her family moved to West 86th Street, New York City by 1917. Her parents were William David Zellman and Ruth Simmons, both Yiddish speaking immigrants. Her father was born in Borky, Russia, on October 23, 1878, immigrated to the United States in 1895, and became a naturalized citizen on November 16, 1916. Her father worked in the silk industry and died in Miami on December 4, 1952. Her mother was born on January 30, 1886 in Prussia, immigrated circa 1890, and died in North Hollywood in November 1976. Audley had a younger sister named Muriel ; Audley was a witness at Muriel’s 1938 wedding to Jack Entin. Audley graduated from Hunter College High School in Manhattan in 1924. Audley began using the last name Audley before 1940.
Audley was Jewish and a Democrat who supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.

Career

Audley made her acting debut at age 20 in the 1926 Broadway production of Howdy, King. Her other stage appearances included On Call ; Pigeons and People ; Thunder on the Left ; Kill That Story ; Ladies' Money ; Susan and God ; and In Bed We Cry. She worked extensively in the 1940s and 1950s in Hollywood radio on such programs as Escape; Suspense; My Favorite Husband ; The Story of Dr. Kildare ; and Father Knows Best. She played the stepmother in re-imaginings of the Cinderella story included in episodes of the series Hallmark Playhouse, and the weekly western series The Six Shooter, which starred James Stewart.
Audley's film appearances include Three Secrets ; Gambling House ; Untamed ; Cell 2455, Death Row ; All That Heaven Allows ; The Unguarded Moment ; Full of Life ; Voice in the Mirror ; Home Before Dark ; The Pleasure of His Company ; The Second Time Around ; and Hook, Line and Sinker.
In The FBI Story, Audley portrayed the mother and victim of Jack Graham, the convicted suspect who planted a dynamite time bomb in United Airlines Flight 629.
In the animation film industry, Audley was best known for providing her distinctive voice to Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's evil stepmother, in the 1950 Disney film Cinderella; and Princess Aurora's evil fairy nemesis, Maleficent, in Disney's 1959 version of Sleeping Beauty. For those films, animators Frank Thomas and Marc Davis designed the characters' facial features and expressions to be closely similar to Audley. She was the live-action model for both characters. Audley had initially turned down the role of Maleficent because she was battling tuberculosis at the time.
In 1969, Audley's voice was used as the voice of Madame Leota, the spirit of a psychic medium, in the Haunted Mansion attractions in Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
From 1954 to 1970, Audley appeared regularly on television, including episodes of: I Love Lucy; Crossroads; The People's Choice; Richard Diamond, Private Detective; Perry Mason; Dennis the Menace; Hazel; Pete and Gladys; The Real McCoys; The Twilight Zone; Mr. Lucky; The Dick Van Dyke Show ; The Beverly Hillbillies ; Mister Ed ; and My Three Sons.
Audley had the role of Mrs. Tinsley on Pistols 'n' Petticoats. She also played a recurring character on the CBS sitcom Green Acres from 1965–69, portraying Oliver Douglas's disapproving mother, Eunice Douglas, despite being only five months older than actor Eddie Albert who played her son. When the cast were reunited for a 1990 TV movie, Return to Green Acres, Audley could not appear due to failing health.

Death

Audley died from respiratory failure on November 25, 1991. She is interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Selected work

Film