Alice Pearce

 Alice Pearce (October 16, 1917 – March 3, 1966)

She was brought to Hollywood by Gene Kelly to reprise her Broadway performance in the film version of On the Town (1949). Her comedic performance was well received by critics and public alike, and she was given her own television variety show, The Alice Pearce Show. More movie roles followed, and she made appearances on Broadway, where she met her husband, director Paul Davis, during a production of Bells Are Ringing. Pearce played comedic supporting roles in several films, before being cast as nosy neighbor Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched in 1964. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series posthumously after the second season of the series. Pearce was diagnosed with terminal cancer before Bewitched began. She kept her illness a secret, although her rapid weight loss was evident during the second season of the sitcom. She died from ovarian cancer toward the end of the second year of Bewitched at the age of 48. Pearce was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.