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Dig A Hole: Meeskite Alice Ghostley, “Bewitched’s” Esmerelda

September 22nd, 2007 by Scott Marks

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Appropriately enough, Alice Ghostley and Paul Lynde both got their starts in the Broadway Revue New Faces of 1952. With their nervous manners, plain demeanor and whiny delivery styles they could have been mistaken for a brother and sister act.

The first time I remember seeing Alice Ghostley was in Car 54 Where Are You? Her gentle, childlike innocence and painfully homely appearance touched my 6-year-old psyche. She had a face that looked like a shoe. For years I loyally followed her career in movies and TV.

She showed up in many of the sitcoms that I grew up studying (Please Don’t Eat the Dasies, Captain Nice, Get Smart, Love, American Style). Film appearances were harder to find. One can only imagine my shock and surprise when she appeared out of nowhere in a television viewing of something as serious as To Kill a Mockingbird. Even more bewildering (and delightful) was her cameo in the 60s sex classic The Graduate.

The actress is probably best remembered as frumpy Esmerelda on TV’s Bewitched, where she was once again reunited with Paul Lynde.

After Burt Reynolds’ Gator and a bit part in Grease, Ms. Ghostley was pretty much sentenced to spend the rest of her life in sitcom hell.

Her last appearance in a feature was in something called Mothers and Daughters (2002). The last time I was fortunate enough to gaze upon her in a theatre (and in ‘Scope!) was The Odd Couple II.

Next to Walter Matthua’s olive loaf arms, seeing her again after all those years is the only memory I retain from that movie. Alice Ghostley was 81.

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Filed Under Obituaries