08/16/2026
Remembering Alice Ghostley today on her 103rd Heavenly Birthday ✨.
Born August 14, 1923, in Eve, Missouri, Alice Ghostley became one of America’s most distinctive character actresses, bringing impeccable comic timing to stage, television, and film.
Audiences remember her as the lovably inept witch Esmeralda on Bewitched and the wonderfully eccentric Bernice Clifton on Designing Women. Her performance as Bernice earned her a 1992 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
In 1957, Ghostley played stepsister Joy opposite Julie Andrews in the original live television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Alongside Kaye Ballard as Portia, she performed “Stepsisters’ Lament” during a historic broadcast watched by more than 100 million people.
Her films included To Kill a Mockingbird as neighborhood gossip Stephanie Crawford, Grease as auto-shop teacher Mrs. Murdock, The Graduate, and With Six You Get Eggroll. She also guest-starred on the television version of The Odd Couple as Mimi Greshler, wife of Murray the cop.
Her Disney connection included playing Emily Stowecroft in Walt Disney Productions’ 1968 comedy Blackbeard’s Ghost, starring Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, and Suzanne Pleshette. She later voiced Tuskless in Disney’s Whispers: An Elephant’s Tale in 2000.
Ghostley first gained Broadway attention in New Faces of 1952. In 1965, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window.
Alice passed away at her Studio City home on September 21, 2007, following a long battle with colon cancer and the effects of several strokes. She was 84. Following cremation, some of her ashes were interred with her parents and sister at Oak Hill Cemetery in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Relatives said others were scattered beneath an orange tree planted by her husband.
With her unmistakable voice and gift for turning eccentric supporting characters into scene-stealers, Alice Ghostley created a legacy filled with laughter, warmth, and unforgettable performances.
