Brock Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Mrs. Gordon MacRae has died at 93, according to the Huffington Post. :( Sheila Mac Rae, best known for portraying Alice Kramden in the Honeymooners, died on March 6 in the Lillian Booth Actor's Home in Englewood, N.J. Sheila will be remembered for her class, her wit, her dignity and, of course, talent. Gordon Mac Rae had been her husband and together they gave birth to Heather, Gare, Bruce and Meredith. I remember Sheila singing to my own 95-year-old mother in a wheelchair inside a café by Lincoln Center. She sang Surrey with the Fringe on Top from Oklahoma and my mother would smile as Heather, Sheila and I would serenade. Sheila had an enormous heart and more talent than most. She could write, sing, dance and produce and was a founding member of S.H.A.R.E. a charitable organization formed by wives of Hollywood celebrities. A great raconteur, she loved telling us about how Hollywood used to be as friends would listen wide-eyed to stories of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Generous, she once gave me acting lessons and was encouraging and kind. Being in her company made me feel special because she had so much class and was so caring. FULL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/sheila-mac-rae-is-with-th_b_4920737.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreddieMertz Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Any Honeymooner's cast left? How many Alices were there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shemp Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Any Honeymooner's cast left? How many Alices were there? Four actresses played 'Alice'... Pert Kelton, Audrey Meadows, Sue Ane Langdon and Sheila MacRae. Sue Ane is still with us. Four actresses played 'Trixie'... Elaine Stritch, Joyce Randolph, Patricia Wilson and Jane Kean. Jane is the only one who's passed on. Sue Ane and Patricia played the roles in 1962 in a handful of sketches on JACKIE GLEASON'S AMERICAN SCENE. Gleason didn't feel the chemistry was there, and retired the "Honeymooners" before bringing it back in 1966... first with a TV special that brought back Audrey Meadows, and then as a permanent fixture in his variety show from 1966 - 1971, with Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean as the female leads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted March 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Sheila: I know this is awfully short notice, but we're having a fashion show for charity. Lucy: Oh. Sheila: And the wives of the stars are going to model the gowns. Lucy: Oh, how nice. Sheila: And one of the girls dropped out-- Lucy: I'd love to! Sheila: I beg your pardon? Lucy: Weren't you going to ask me to be in it? Sheila: Yes, I was. Lucy: I'd love to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 The Fashion Show is a top five episode for me. I started recording I Love Lucy off Nick at Nite in 1995 and The Fashion Show was the first episode I taped. I've probably seen it more than any other episode. Sheila is great in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annaleigh Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Very sad indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Didn't know she had four kids, of which two pre deceased her, of course I remembered that Heather had died, star of Petticoat Junction. Also did not know she was born in Britain. Knew there were four Alices, but had no idea Elaine Stritch was one of the Trixies. Sad indeed, but she made it to 93, was living in a HOME in "New Jersey", NOBODY needs to suffer like that. LOL! As I've said many times, on a show, a later one, Gleason celebrated his birthday and Sheilah said she would do some imitations, she was like Debbie Reynolds, she could do several. Anyway, she went behind a curtain and instead of Sheilah coming out, Lucy did instead. That's how much Lucy wanted Gleason to do that movie or special with her of Diamond Jim Brady and Lillian Russell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreddieMertz Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 elaine stritch was a trixie!!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 It was Meredith on Petticoat Junction a favorite from my early years. I wish she had done that project. Lucy had so many projects she didn't do kind of sad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 elaine stritch was a trixie!!?!? Elaine Stritch played Trixie once and was told she was too much like Gleason, so they replaced her with Joyce Randolph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 God knows Elaine DRANK as much as Gleason but I can't see any other similarities, LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted March 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Hollywood Reporter: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/honeymooners-star-sheila-macrae-dies-686939 Item in Variety: http://variety.com/2014/tv/people-news/sheila-macrae-who-played-alice-on-the-honeymooners-dies-at-93-1201128053/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shemp Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 It was Meredith on Petticoat Junction a favorite from my early years. Sheilia's daughter Meredith was on MY THREE SONS for two years, with Bill Frawley. She played Mike's girlfriend in season 4, graduating to a cast regular as his fiancée in season 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Oh yeah, forgot about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 Wow, her drunk gambler also died in '86. Wonder if Lucy had anything to do with her show back in the early seventies. Like that they mention her I Love Lucy stint, I guess most people remember her from that. AND the Gleason show of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 elaine stritch was a trixie!!?!? Can't see Elaine as Trixie. Alice maybe. Fashion Show is one that I didn't appreciate as a kid, but love it now. There was a strike of some sort in between the time CBS replaced ILL in the morning with Candid Camera and the show going into syndication, so CBS ran a few ILLs and Pete&Gladys's instead. I remember two of those episodes being Scotland and Fashion Show. The edited Fashion Show ended as Lucy gets done modeling and says to Ethel "I did it! The dress is mine!" The subsequent scene was cut. Sheila is adorable in the episode but hadn't really developed as the actress she would become. Her gasp and "Francis can't make it!" are hilarious. ("Scotland", by the way, cut the whole sword dance scene--and I didn't miss it. Also the whole Enchilada Ricardo family history by Ricky.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 They did the same thing to a Lucy show yesterday here, always ruins the end punchline, hate that. Yeah, I too was stunned to see and hear Sheil's lousy delivery of that line and she looks a bit haughty also, wasn't like that in real life I'm sure, then again Lucy herself when portraying Miss Ball did the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 CBS Sunday Morning did a nice tribute to Sheila, complete with a clip from The Fashion Show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 Awwwwwwwwwwwww, that's nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Here's the CBS Sunday Morning salute to Sheila: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/passage-sheila-macrae/ Sheila actually did a Lucy impression on one of the famous Beatles episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted March 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 A Don Loper fashion show featuring another getup in Pink Mink, a new colour he had just created: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Well, that was fun to see. I was around back then, but I never heard anything about Don Loper EXCEPT for that LUCY episode. Maybe I should dye my mink, PINK, like people don't know that I'm gay already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 That's probably why, Harry, that when Sheil said she would DO Lucy on the Gleason birthday show, I had seen the one you're talking about and I fully expected her to DO Lucy but instead, Lucy came out. I vaguely recall the one you're talking about as I never missed the Sullivan show and would certainly tune in for The Beatles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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