Alice Pearce
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Alice Pearce (October 16, 1913 - March 3, 1966) was an American actress.
Born Alicia Pearce in New York City, Pearce was educated in Europe and returned to the US as an adult. She began working in nightclubs as a comedienne and was cast in the Broadway production of On The Town. Gene Kelly was so impressed by her, that she became the only cast member to be included in the film version in 1949. Her comedic performance was well received by critics and public alike, and she was given her own television variety show. More movie roles followed, and she made appearances on Broadway, where she met her husband director Paul Davis during a production of The Bells are Ringing.
In 1964 she joined the cast of the television series Bewitched. As the nagging and nosy neighbor, Gladys Kravitz, Pearce's scenes were almost entirely reactions to acts of witchcraft she had witnessed at the house across the street. Her hysterical accusations against Samantha, played by Elizabeth Montgomery, and the disbelief of her husband Abner, played by George Tobias, provided a common thread through many of the series early episodes. Pearce was posthumously awarded an Emmy Award for this role.
Diagnosed with terminal cancer before the show began, Pearce kept her illness a secret, but died from ovarian cancer during the second season. Gladys Kravitz was played from 1966 by Sandra Gould.