Doris Singleton
Encyclopedia
Doris Singleton is an American
actress perhaps best remembered as Lucy Ricardo's frenemy
, Carolyn Appleby, on I Love Lucy
.
's orchestra and as a dancer for three seasons with the New York City Ballet
.
Her distinctive voice made her a favorite in the radio
industry. It was during a guest appearance on the radio show My Favorite Husband
in 1948 that she met Lucille Ball
and began their life-long friendship. Singleton made her television debut in a 1953 episode of The Adventures of Superman
. Later that year, Doris made an appearance on I Love Lucy
playing Carolyn (initially referred to as "Lillian") Appleby. She would appear on I Love Lucy
a total of nine times. (Incidentally, TV Superman George Reeves guest starred in one episode). In 1966, Singleton was teamed again with Ball on The Lucy Show
in the episode, "Lucy and Art Linkletter", in which she played Miss Cosgrove, an actress whom Linkletter hires to help Lucy with a stunt on his TV show. In an interview in "The Lucy Book" by Geoffrey Mark Fidelman (Renaissance Books, p. 233), Singleton revealed that she had originally been hired to be a regular on Ball's third series, Here's Lucy
, in 1968. Ball would have played a dumb secretary and Singleton the more intelligent one, but the premise was dropped when Ball decided to cast her own children in the show. She did, however, appear in the series premiere episode, "Mod, Mod Lucy". In 1970, Singleton was featured on an episode of the ABC-TV 1970-1971 sitcom, Make Room For Granddaddy (an updated version of The Danny Thomas Show
) which had Lucille Ball as the guest star. In this installment, entitled "Lucy Carter, Houseguest", Singleton played Grace Munson, another character from I Love Lucy
. Her final appearance on Here's Lucy
was as Lucille Ball's studio secretary in an episode titled "Lucy (Carter) Meets Lucille Ball". Singleton and Ball were reunited one last time in 1973 for the NBC-TV Bob Hope Christmas Special.
Singleton guest starred on several other television shows including Hogan's Heroes
, The Dick Van Dyke Show
and The Twilight Zone
, all on CBS, and on Rod Cameron
's syndicated
modern western
crime drama, State Trooper
. She played Laura, the girlfriend of Butch Cassidy
on a 1958 episode, "The Outlaw Legion", of the syndicated western Frontier Doctor
. Singleton played the sympathetic neighbor, Susie, to Annie Fargé
's scatterbrained character Angel Smith in the short-lived CBS sitcom Angel
(1960–61). She also appeared in All in the Family
as Edith's hotel roommate, Lydia Stonehurst, in the well remembered 1971 episode "Edith has Jury Duty".
Singleton also has the distinction of having guest starred on the Fred MacMurray sitcom My Three Sons
playing two different characters who had recurring roles throughout the long run of the show. She originally played the mother of Meredith MacRae
whose character Sally Morrison married original oldest son Mike Douglas (Tim Considine
) in the 1964-65 season. Later she played Margaret, mother of Polly Williams' (Ronne Troup
) in the 1970-71 season.
As of 2011, Singleton was one of two recurring cast members from the "I Love Lucy
" show still living (the other being Shirley Mitchell
, who played Marion Strong). A third cast member, Peggy Rea
, who played a regular clubwoman/card player died on February 5, 2011 at age 89. In 2001, Singleton took part in festivities honoring the 50th anniversary of the show, and in 1999, she participated in a panel discussion concerning the life and legacy of Lucille Ball
at a Loving Lucy convention in California
. Her last acting role was in Deadly Messages (1985).
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress perhaps best remembered as Lucy Ricardo's frenemy
Frenemy
"Frenemy" is a portmanteau of "friend" and "enemy" that can refer to either an enemy disguised as a friend or to a partner who is simultaneously a competitor and rival. The term is used to describe personal, geopolitical, and commercial relationships both among individuals and groups or institutions...
, Carolyn Appleby, on I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
.
Career
Singleton began her career in show business as a vocalist in the late 1930s with Art JarrettArt Jarrett
Arthur L. Jarrett, Jr. born to stage actor and playwright Arthur L. Jarrett, Sr. . Art Jr...
's orchestra and as a dancer for three seasons with the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
.
Her distinctive voice made her a favorite in the radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
industry. It was during a guest appearance on the radio show My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband is the name of an American radio program and network television series. The original radio show, co-starring Lucille Ball, was the initial basis for what evolved into the groundbreaking TV sitcom I Love Lucy. The series was based on the novel Mr. and Mrs...
in 1948 that she met Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
and began their life-long friendship. Singleton made her television debut in a 1953 episode of The Adventures of Superman
Adventures of Superman (TV series)
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
. Later that year, Doris made an appearance on I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
playing Carolyn (initially referred to as "Lillian") Appleby. She would appear on I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
a total of nine times. (Incidentally, TV Superman George Reeves guest starred in one episode). In 1966, Singleton was teamed again with Ball on The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1962 until 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965-66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program...
in the episode, "Lucy and Art Linkletter", in which she played Miss Cosgrove, an actress whom Linkletter hires to help Lucy with a stunt on his TV show. In an interview in "The Lucy Book" by Geoffrey Mark Fidelman (Renaissance Books, p. 233), Singleton revealed that she had originally been hired to be a regular on Ball's third series, Here's Lucy
Here's Lucy
Here's Lucy is Lucille Ball's third network television sitcom. It ran on CBS from 1968 to 1974.-Background:Though The Lucy Show was still hugely popular during the previous season, finishing in the top five of the Nielsen Ratings , Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season and create...
, in 1968. Ball would have played a dumb secretary and Singleton the more intelligent one, but the premise was dropped when Ball decided to cast her own children in the show. She did, however, appear in the series premiere episode, "Mod, Mod Lucy". In 1970, Singleton was featured on an episode of the ABC-TV 1970-1971 sitcom, Make Room For Granddaddy (an updated version of The Danny Thomas Show
The Danny Thomas Show
The Danny Thomas Show is an American sitcom which ran from 1953-1957 on ABC and from 1957-1964 on CBS...
) which had Lucille Ball as the guest star. In this installment, entitled "Lucy Carter, Houseguest", Singleton played Grace Munson, another character from I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
. Her final appearance on Here's Lucy
Here's Lucy
Here's Lucy is Lucille Ball's third network television sitcom. It ran on CBS from 1968 to 1974.-Background:Though The Lucy Show was still hugely popular during the previous season, finishing in the top five of the Nielsen Ratings , Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season and create...
was as Lucille Ball's studio secretary in an episode titled "Lucy (Carter) Meets Lucille Ball". Singleton and Ball were reunited one last time in 1973 for the NBC-TV Bob Hope Christmas Special.
Singleton guest starred on several other television shows including Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to March 28, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Bob Crane had the starring role as Colonel Robert E...
, The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
and The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
, all on CBS, and on Rod Cameron
Rod Cameron
Rod Cameron was a Canadian-born movie actor whose career extended from the 1930s to the 1970s. He appeared in horror, war, action and science fiction movies, but is best remembered for his many Westerns....
's syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
modern western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
crime drama, State Trooper
State Trooper (TV series)
State Trooper is a half-hour television crime drama set in the 1950s American West, starring Rod Cameron as Rod Blake, an officer of the Nevada State Troopers. The series aired 104 episodes in syndication from September 25, 1956, to June 25, 1959...
. She played Laura, the girlfriend of Butch Cassidy
Butch Cassidy
Robert LeRoy Parker , better known as Butch Cassidy, was a notorious American train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang in the American Old West...
on a 1958 episode, "The Outlaw Legion", of the syndicated western Frontier Doctor
Frontier Doctor
For the NBC program similarly named, see Frontier .Frontier Doctor is an American Western television series starring Rex Allen that aired in syndication from September 26, 1958, until June 20, 1959.-Synopsis:...
. Singleton played the sympathetic neighbor, Susie, to Annie Fargé
Annie Fargé
Annie Fargue was a French-born actress named "most promising new star in a situation comedy" in 1961 when she co-starred with Marshall Thompson, Doris Singleton, and Don Keefer in CBS's Angel....
's scatterbrained character Angel Smith in the short-lived CBS sitcom Angel
Angel (1960 TV series)
Angel is an American sitcom that aired for one season on CBS during the 1960–1961 season. The series was created and executive produced by Jess Oppenheimer, and stars Annie Fargé as the title character.-Synopsis:...
(1960–61). She also appeared in All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
as Edith's hotel roommate, Lydia Stonehurst, in the well remembered 1971 episode "Edith has Jury Duty".
Singleton also has the distinction of having guest starred on the Fred MacMurray sitcom My Three Sons
My Three Sons
My Three Sons is an American situation comedy. The series ran from 1960 to 1965 on ABC, and moved to CBS until its end on August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of a widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas , raising his three sons.The series was a cornerstone of the CBS...
playing two different characters who had recurring roles throughout the long run of the show. She originally played the mother of Meredith MacRae
Meredith MacRae
Meredith Lynn MacRae was an American actress and singer.-Life and career:MacRae was best known for her television roles as Billie Jo on Petticoat Junction and as Sally Ann in My Three Sons...
whose character Sally Morrison married original oldest son Mike Douglas (Tim Considine
Tim Considine
Timothy Daniel "Tim" Considine is a former American child actor and young adult actor who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
) in the 1964-65 season. Later she played Margaret, mother of Polly Williams' (Ronne Troup
Ronne Troup
Ronne Troup is an American actress best known for her 1970–72 role as "Polly Williams Douglas" on the long-running sitcom My Three Sons.-Biography:Ronne is the daughter of musician/actor Bobby Troup, and his first wife, Cynthia Hare...
) in the 1970-71 season.
As of 2011, Singleton was one of two recurring cast members from the "I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
" show still living (the other being Shirley Mitchell
Shirley Mitchell
-Early life:Mitchell was born in Toledo, Ohio and attended the University of Toledo and the University of Michigan.-Career:After moving to Chicago, she appeared in the network broadcast of The First Nighter and played small parts in various soap operas including The Story of Mary Marlin and The...
, who played Marion Strong). A third cast member, Peggy Rea
Peggy Rea
Peggy Jane Rea was an American character actress known for her many roles in television, often playing matronly characters...
, who played a regular clubwoman/card player died on February 5, 2011 at age 89. In 2001, Singleton took part in festivities honoring the 50th anniversary of the show, and in 1999, she participated in a panel discussion concerning the life and legacy of Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
at a Loving Lucy convention in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Her last acting role was in Deadly Messages (1985).
Personal life
Singleton is widowed, and resides in the Greater Los Angeles areaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
External links
Further reading
- Sitcom Queens: Divas of the Small Screen by Michael Karol (2005) ISBN 0-595-40251-8