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The voice of Betty Rubble was happy being a supporting character
She didn't have to steal the show to be a part of (pre)history
When actors star in supporting roles, we assume it's so they can work toward a project as the main character. There is a hierarchy in acting, with the lead at the top. But many people want that #1 spot on the call sheet. With such stiff competition, the energy on set can feel icy and distrustful.
Bea Benaderet, though, was quite content with being a little lower down the list. She made a comfortable living playing roles that contribute to a show while never stealing it. Benaderet was one of the best at propping up a lead character.
"You might call me the professional friend," Benaderet told the Detroit Free Press in 1961. "It sounds like I'm making an idiot of myself, but I love my work. I never wanted to reach higher than the second banana. I never thought of myself as star material."
Her name might not be instantly recognizable, but her voice sure is; Benaderet voiced the role of Betty Rubble. But before accepting her most famous role, Benaderet made a career out of not being the lead actor. During the Golden Age of Radio, she supported comedians such as Jack Benny, Burns & Allen, and even Lucille Ball. If Betty Rubble ever seems like the perfect best friend, it's because Benaderet had decades of experience. During this era, the actress also became skilled with accents and dialects, skills which would doubtlessly aid her in future animated roles.
While lack of vanity may be a rare trait in Hollywood, Bea Benaderet was the exception that proved the rule. Rather than spend her time positioning herself for better roles, Benaderet instead focused her energy on raising her children. It was her role as a mother that the actress was truly proudest of. At the time of her interview in the Detroit Free Press, Benaderet's son, Jack, was 21, while her daughter, Maggie, was 14.
"They suddenly both got interested in acting. They went to drama classes last summer and now Jack is majoring in it at college, and Maggie belongs to a teenagers' drama group."
The proverbial apple must not have fallen too far from the tree.
"Maggie has that star-sparkle, that extra something that you can't put your finger on, but it's there. And Jack is so handsome that --oh, honey-- if he can just read he'll be all right. I can see him in a million parts."
Two years after the interview, Bea Benaderet would land what was perhaps her best-known role, as Kate Bradley in Petticoat Junction.
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His mom also got him work as a dialogue coach on the various Filmways sitcoms. If you're an avid credit reader, like me, you can see his name listed on those shows.
Their live-in housekeeper is Bea Benaderet, and she was often more entertaining than the lead characters.
By the way, Blanche Morton went through **four** Harry's during the run of the show:
John Brown: 7 episodes, 1951
Hal March: 15 episodes, 1950-1953
Fred Clark: 75 episodes, 1951-1953
Larry Keating: 199 episodes, 1953-1958
You can watch George Burns break "the fourth wall" and change out Harrys mid-show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLmALqDXlzg
I can't say for sure, but this might hold the record for the number of different actors to play the same character in a TV series...
As for US prime-time network, four Harry Mortons is tied with four Ally Starks (Krysten Ritter, Laura Clery, Lindsay Broad and Kate Micucci) on the series "'Til Death". Later seasons worked Ally's changing appearance into the storyline of the show.
The Harry Morton situation was either actors chose to move on or were dismissed in order to find a better fit for George's next-door neighbor.
Since I'd never watched "Til Death", I was unaware of the four Ally Starks actors. This then does make it a tie... still something unusual in a TV show.
There have been numerous "second" characters (ie: Mr. Wilson, Darrin Stevens, etc.) but not four changes of actors except as we've noted...
The case with 'Til Death originally had Ally move out, and when she came back married the second actress had taken over the role. Later on her husband nearly had a breakdown because while *he* knew his wife had turned into someone else, nobody else on the show seemed to believe in. (And of course it eventually got them Kate Micucci who's an absolute treasure.)
There may be another extreme case of this on another show you made passing reference to: on "Bewitched", the secretary at McMann and Tate was always "Betty", and when I went through the list of actors I found at least eight different actresses playing a secretary with that name (including Marcia Wallace!), but there's no out-and-out statement that they're all supposed to be the same woman. Maybe the agency just put out a classified ad every couple of months with requirements "experienced secretary wanted for busy ad agency, must take messages and set appointments, skilled in filing and dictation, type at least 80wpm, and either be named "Betty" or be willing to be called that by everyone else who works here".
(That's not as out there as it might seem; maybe McMann wasn't able to remember a new name every time someone was replaced, and when I was taking ballroom dance I learned that whoever answered the phones at the studio was instructed to identify herself as the "Miss Jill" mentioned in their ad.)