Hope Summers was an American character actress

Character actor

A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...

 known for her work on The Andy Griffith Show

The Andy Griffith Show

The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...

and Mayberry RFD, portraying Clara Edwards

Clara Edwards

Clara Edwards is a fictional character on the American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show . Clara was portrayed by actress Hope Summers....

.

Career

Born Sarah Hope Summers in Mattoon, Illinois

Mattoon, Illinois

Mattoon is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,555 as of the 2010 census. It is a principal city of the Charleston–Mattoon Micropolitan Statistical Area.Mattoon was the site of the "Mad Gasser" attacks of the 1940s....

, Summers was the daughter of John W. Summers

John W. Summers

John William Summers was a U.S. Representative from Washington.Born near Valeene, Indiana, Summers attended the public schools....

 and Jennie B. (Burks) Summers, and reared in Illinois and in Walla Walla, Washington

Walla Walla, Washington

Walla Walla is the largest city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,731 at the 2010 census...

. A regional actress who had often performed in one-woman shows, Summers was past fifty when she came to Hollywood

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...

 to begin her career as a character player. She made her television debut in 1951 on the series Hawkin Falls, Population 6200 but it was not until the late 1950s

1950s

The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...

 when she kicked off a career as one of the most in-demand character performers on television.

Summers first attracted attention in 1958 in the semi-regular role as Hattie Denton on the western series The Rifleman

The Rifleman

The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...

, starring Chuck Connors

Chuck Connors

Chuck Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960s ABC hit Western series The Rifleman....

. She guest starred on dozens of series including Joan Caulfield

Joan Caulfield

Joan Caulfield was an American actress and former fashion model. After being discovered by Broadway producers, she began a stage career in 1943 that eventually led to signing as an actress with Paramount Pictures....

's Sally

Sally (1957 TV series)

Sally is an American situation comedy which aired on NBC from September 15, 1957 to March 30, 1958. The series is the first filmed television series produced by Paramount Studios.-Synopsis:...

, Wagon Train

Wagon Train

Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...

, 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...

, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (TV series)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1962-1963 ABC sitcom starring Fess Parker as Eugene Smith, an honest but unsophisticated U.S. senator from an unidentified small-populated state. The half-hour program is based on the 1939 Frank Capra film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring James Stewart in...

, Hazel

Hazel (TV series)

Hazel is a Screen Gems television series about a fictional live-in maid named Hazel Burke and her employers, the Baxters. The five-season, 154-episode series aired in primetime from September 1961 until April 1966...

, Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....

, 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...

, 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...

, Love on a Rooftop

Love on a Rooftop

Love on a Rooftop is an American sitcom about a newlywed couple, Dave and Julie Willis, and their humorous struggles to survive in San Francisco on Dave's apprentice architect's salary of $85.37 a week...

, The Pruitts of Southampton

The Pruitts of Southampton

The Pruitts of Southampton was a situation comedy that aired during the 1966-67 season on the ABC network. The show was based on the novel House Party by Patrick Dennis....

, The Second Hundred Years, and The Paul Lynde Show

The Paul Lynde Show

The Paul Lynde Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC. The series stars Paul Lynde and aired from September 13, 1972 to September 8, 1973.-Setting:...

but will be forever known for her work as Clara Edwards, Aunt Bee

Aunt Bee

Beatrice Taylor is a fictional character from the 1960s American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. The show was televised on CBS from October 3, 1960, until April 1, 1968...

's slightly gossipy best friend on The Andy Griffith Show

The Andy Griffith Show

The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...

. Summers made thirty-six appearances on the program during the 1960s (in earlier episodes her character was called Bertha) as well as five appearances on the post-Griffith spinoff, Mayberry R.F.D.

Mayberry R.F.D.

Mayberry R.F.D. is a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title, for the same sponsor, General Foods...

.

Her film work usually was in quite small parts, occasionally unbilled, but she had a good-sized role in the most un-Griffith-like Rosemary's Baby

Rosemary's Baby (film)

Rosemary's Baby is a 1968 American horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski, based on the bestselling 1967 novel Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin...

in 1968. She was still a very active actress until the year before her death from congestive heart failure

Congestive heart failure

Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...

 at age 83 in 1979. She died in Woodland Hills, California

Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section...

.

Selected filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1957	Zero Hour! Zero Hour! Zero Hour! is a 1957 movie whose screenplay was written by Arthur Hailey, starring Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Sterling Hayden, and released by Paramount Pictures. Zero Hour! was an adaptation of Hailey's 1956 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation play Flight into Danger...	Mrs. Summers
1958	I Want to Live! I Want to Live! I Want to Live! is a 1958 film noir produced by Walter Wanger and directed by Robert Wise which tells the heavily fictionalized story of a woman, Barbara Graham, convicted of murder and facing execution. It stars Susan Hayward as Graham, and also features Simon Oakland, Stafford Repp, and Theodore...	Ethel, Policewoman on bus	Uncredited
1960	Inherit the Wind Inherit the Wind (1960 film) Inherit the Wind is a 1960 Hollywood film adaptation of the play of the same name, written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, directed by Stanley Kramer....	Mrs. Krebs - Righteous Townswoman
1961	Parrish Parrish (film) Parrish is a 1961 drama film made by Warner Bros.. It was written, produced and directed by Delmer Daves, based on the novel by Mildred Savage. The music score was by Max Steiner, the cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr., the art direction by Leo K...	Mary
	Homicidal Homicidal Homicidal is a 1961 thriller film produced and directed by the self-proclaimed "King of Showmanship", William Castle. Written by Robb White, the film stars Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Eugenie Leontovich, Alan Bunce, Richard Rust, and Joan Marshall...	Mrs. Martha Adrims	Uncredited
	The Children's Hour	Agatha (Tilford's maid)	Alternative title: The Loudest Whisper
1962	Rome Adventure Rome Adventure Rome Adventure, also known as Lovers Must Learn, is a 1962 romantic drama film, based on Irving Fineman's novel. It was directed by Delmer Daves and stars Troy Donahue, Angie Dickenson, and Suzanne Pleshette.-Plot:...	Mrs. St. Uwell	Uncredited Alternative title: Lovers Must Learn
1963	Spencer's Mountain Spencer's Mountain Spencer's Mountain is a 1963 family film written, directed, and produced by Delmer Daves from a novel by Earl Hamner, Jr. The novel and film became the basis for the popular television series The Waltons, which followed in 1972...	Mother Ida
1966	The Ghost and Mr. Chicken The Ghost and Mr. Chicken The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is a 1966 American Universal Pictures feature film starring Don Knotts as Luther Heggs, a newspaper typesetter who spends a night in a haunted house, which is located in the fictitious community of Rachel, Kansas...	Suzanna Blush	Uncredited
	Penelope Penelope (1966 film) Penelope is a 1966 comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Natalie Wood, Ian Bannen, Peter Falk, Jonathan Winters, and Dick Shawn.-Plot:Penelope Elcott is the wife of wealthy banker of James Elcott...	Shop Lady	Uncredited
1968	The Shakiest Gun in the West The Shakiest Gun in the West The Shakiest Gun in the West is a 1968 Western comedy film starring Don Knotts. It was directed by Alan Rafkin and written by Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum.The film is a remake of The Paleface, a 1948 movie starring Bob Hope and Jane Russell....	Celia
	5 Card Stud 5 Card Stud 5 Card Stud is a 1968 Western, released by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Henry Hathaway, the script, based on a novel by Ray Gaulden, was written by Marguerite Roberts, who also wrote the screenplay of True Grit for Hathaway the following year...	Female customer in general store	Uncredited
	Rosemary's Baby Rosemary's Baby (film) Rosemary's Baby is a 1968 American horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski, based on the bestselling 1967 novel Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin...	Mrs. Gilmore
1969	The Learning Tree The Learning Tree The Learning Tree is a 1969 drama film which tells the story of a young African American growing up in rural Kansas during the late 1920s and early 1930s, when racial discrimination was a social norm, legally sanctioned in parts of the United States. Written and directed by Gordon Parks, the film...	Mrs. Kiner
1972	Get to Know Your Rabbit Get to Know Your Rabbit Get to Know Your Rabbit is a 1972 American comedy film written by Jordan Crittenden and directed by Brian De Palma.-Synopsis:Corporate executive Donald Beeman, fed up with the rat race, impulsively quits his job and takes to the road as a traveling tap dancing magician under the tutelage of Mr....	Mrs. Beeman
1973	Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies is a 1973 adventure-comedy film, with a story by Steven Spielberg. The film centers on a stunt pilot and his son as they fly around the United States in the 1920s, and their adventures along the way.-Background:Steven Spielberg had developed the story of a flyer...	Laura
	Charley Varrick Charley Varrick Charley Varrick is a 1973 crime film directed by Don Siegel and starring Walter Matthau, Andrew Robinson, Joe Don Baker and John Vernon. The film was based on the novel The Looters by John H. Reese.-Plot:...	Mess Vesta	Alternative title: Kill Charley Varrick
1978	Foul Play Foul Play Foul Play is a 1978 American comic mystery/thriller film written and directed by Colin Higgins. In it, a recently divorced librarian is drawn into a mystery when a stranger hides a roll of film in a pack of cigarettes and gives it to her for safekeeping....	Ethel
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951–1952	Hawkins Falls Hawkins Falls Hawkins Falls, Population 6200 is the first successful American television soap opera. Sponsored by Unilever's blue detergent, Surf, the program began as a one hour comedy-drama on June 17, 1950, and ran in prime time on the NBC network until October 12, 1950.On April 2, 1951, the series was moved...	Belinda Catherwood	Unknown episodes
1957	Private Secretary Private Secretary (TV series) Private Secretary is an American sitcom that aired from February 1, 1953 to September 10, 1957 on CBS, alternating with The Jack Benny Program on Sundays at 7:30pm EST...	Della Loganbury	1 episode
1958	The Thin Man The Thin Man (TV series) The Thin Man is a half-hour weekly television series based on the mystery novel The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett. The 72 episodes were produced by MGM Television and shown on NBC for two seasons from 1957–1959 on Friday evening.-Overview:...	Letitia	1 episode
1958–1960	The Rifleman The Rifleman The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...	Hattie Denton	16 episodes
1959	Maverick Maverick (TV series) Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...	Martha Abbott	1 episode
	Rescue 8 Rescue 8 Rescue 8 is a syndicated American action drama series about Los Angeles County Fire Department Rescue Squad Number 8. It premiered in 1958, and originally ran for two seasons with syndicated reruns continuing for almost a decade after. It starred Jim Davis as fireman Wes Cameron, and Lang Jeffries...	Dora	1 episode
	Whirlybirds Whirlybirds Whirlybirds is an American drama television series....	Mrs. Wagner	1 episode
	Law of the Plainsman Law of the Plainsman Law of The Plainsman is a Western television series starring Michael Ansara that aired on the NBC television network from October 1, 1959, until May 5, 1960. The character of Native American U.S...	Mrs. Dodge	1 episode
	Dennis the Menace	Mrs. Burns	1 episode
	The Gale Storm Show The Gale Storm Show The Gale Storm Show is an American sitcom starring Gale Storm. The series premiered on September 29, 1956, and ran until 1960 for 143 half-hour black-and-white episodes, initially on CBS and in its last year on ABC...	Angie Kirkham	1 episode
1961–1968	The Andy Griffith Show The Andy Griffith Show The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...	Clara Edwards	32 episodes
1962	Dr. Kildare	Madge	1 episode
1963	Glynis Glynis Glynis is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from September 25 to December 18, 1963.-Synopsis:The series stars Welsh actress Glynis Johns as Glynis Granville, a mystery writer. Keith Andes appeared as Keith Granville, Glynis' husband who works as a successful criminal defense attorney....	Carrie Cobb	1 episode
1964	My Living Doll My Living Doll My Living Doll is an American science fiction sitcom that aired for 26 episodes on CBS from September 27, 1964 to September 8, 1965. This series was produced by Jack Chertok and was filmed at Desilu studios by Jack Chertok Television, Inc., in association with the CBS Television Network...	Edwina	1 episode
1965	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....	Lady with Dog	1 episode
	Petticoat Junction Petticoat Junction Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning; the others are The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The setting for the series...	Mabel Denton	1 episode
1966	The Beverly Hillbillies The Beverly Hillbillies The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....	Miss Pringle	1 episode
1967	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.The show renders the title as Gomer Pyle - USMC. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy...	Clarice	1 episode
1968	That Girl That Girl That Girl is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York to make it big in New York City...	Miss Marker	1 episode
1968–1970	Mayberry R.F.D. Mayberry R.F.D. Mayberry R.F.D. is a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title, for the same sponsor, General Foods...	Clara Edwards	5 episodes
1970	Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...	Mrs. Whittaker	1 episode
	Adam-12 Adam-12 Adam-12 was a television police drama which followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by Jack Webb who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a...	Clara Fisher	1 episode
	Bewitched Bewitched Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...	Carolyn	1 episode
1971	Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...	Minnie Leona Moroney	1 episode
	Night Gallery Night Gallery Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...	Lettie Moore	1 episode
1972	Banacek Banacek Banacek is a short-lived, light-hearted detective TV series starring George Peppard on NBC from 1972 to 1974. It alternated in its timeslot with several other shows but was the only one to last beyond its first season...	Mrs. Liddell	1 episode
1973	M*A*S*H	Nurse Meg Cratty	1 episode
1975	Chico and the Man Chico and the Man Chico and the Man is an American sitcom which ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974 to July 21, 1978. It stars Jack Albertson as Ed Brown , the cantankerous owner of a run down garage in an East Los Angeles barrio, and Freddie Prinze as Chico Rodriguez, an upbeat, optimistic Chicano...	Lucille Nelson	1 episode
	Starsky and Hutch Starsky and Hutch Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...	Sarah Wilson	1 episode
	Welcome Back, Kotter Welcome Back, Kotter Welcome Back, Kotter was an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta.It originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979.-Premise:...	Ms. Riley	1 episode
1976	Little House on the Prairie Little House on the Prairie (TV series) Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...	Addie Bjornesen	1 episode

External links