Alice Frost
Frost in 1940
Born
Alice Dorothy Margaret Frost

(1910-08-01)August 1, 1910
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedJanuary 6, 1998(1998-01-06) (aged 87)
Naples, Florida, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActress
Years active1926–1979
Known forPamela North in radio's Mr. and Mrs. North

Alice Frost (August 1, 1910 – January 6, 1998) was an American actress. An inaugural member of Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre on radio and the stage, she later performed the role of Pamela North on the radio series Mr. and Mrs. North for nearly 10 years.

Early years

Alice Dorothy Margaret Frost[1] was born on August 1, 1910, in Minneapolis, Minnesota,[2] the youngest of four children.[3]

Her father, Rev. John A. Frost,[4] was a Swedish immigrant and served as a minister in the Lutheran church in Mora, Minnesota, and her mother was the church's organist.[3] She attended high school in Mora and was active with the school's newspaper, glee club, drama society, and debate society. She enrolled at the University of Minnesota but had to drop out after her father's death. Later, she studied dramatics and voice for two years at the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis.[5] She worked in a department store's credit department.[6]

Radio

Frost and Joseph Curtin as Mr. and Mrs. North (1950)

Frost debuted on radio at age 16 as a singer, participating in a duet with a friend on a Minneapolis station.[7] By 1933, she was a member of the cast of The Criminal Court.[8]

In 1934, she was "one of the ghost voices during CBS-WABC's Forty-Five Minutes In Hollywood."[9] She was an inaugural member of Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre, on radio and on the stage,[10] and was one of his favorite actresses.[11]

An item in a 1939 newspaper noted Frost's "art of mimicry," saying "Alice is known to her friends as 'the girl of a hundred voices'"[12]—a talent which originated from her childhood, when she heard ministers who visited her home "when they returned from their missions in far-off places like Siam, India or Japan... [T]he missionaries delighted in teaching the little girl their various Hindustani, Javanese or Far Eastern dialects."[13] By 1938, she had already played "more than thirty different types of roles."[14] An item in a 1937 newspaper reported: "It's nothing unusual for her to appear in as many as eight network shows in a week, each one calling for a different role. In quick succession, she has been a comedienne, a tragedian, an ingenue, a mother, a daughter and a witch!"[15]

In the 1930s, Frost was "hostess, secretary, heckler and general all-around actress each Sunday" on Stoopnagle and Budd.[1] Late in that decade, she appeared regularly on Melody and Madness[16] and Undercover Squad.[17]

In 1941, Frost starred in Are You a Missing Heir?[18] Her other roles as a regular cast member included those show in the table below.

ProgramRole
Big SisterRuth Evans[19]
Bright HorizonRuth Evans Wayne[20]
Camel Caravan"girl stooge"[21][22]
Home Sweet HomeLucy Kent[23]
Mighty CaseyCasey's girl friend.[24]
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage PatchMiss Hazy[25]
Summer Town Hall Tonight"No. 1 heckler"[26]
The Second Mrs. BurtonMarcia[27]
Woman of CourageMartha Jackson[19]

She also was heard in Song of the Stranger,[28] The Shadow, Grand Central Station,[29] The Campbell Playhouse, What Would You Have Done,[30] On Broadway,[31] Famous Jury Trials,[32] Al Pearce and His Gang,[33] David Harum, Lorenzo Jones, Suspense,[2] Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories,[34] The Fat Man, Romance,[20] The Big Story, Les Misérables,[19] The Mercury Theatre on the Air,[10] Mr. District Attorney,[35] Johnny Presents,[36] The FBI in Peace and War,[37] Don Ameche's True Life Stories,[38] and Columbia Workshop.[39]

Stage

Alice Frost and Orson Welles in Caesar (1938)

In 1928,[40] Frost appeared on stage in Chautauqua performances, playing Lorelei in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.[41] A year later, she was part of a stock theater company in Miami.[5]

In 1932, she appeared in It's the Law, a farce presented at the Ritz Theater in Scranton, Pennsylvania.[42]

She appeared on Broadway in Green Grow the Lilacs (1931), The Great Lover (1932), As Husbands Go (1933), It's a Wise Child (1933), the Mercury Theatre productions Caesar (1937–38) and The Shoemaker's Holiday (1938), A Roomful of Roses (1955),[43] and The Bad Seed (1955).[44]

In 1967, Frost co-starred with Jack Bailey in a four-week production of Ah, Wilderness! at the Pasadena Playhouse.[10]

Film

Frost had a role in the independent film Damaged Love in 1930.[5] She worked for the Independent Eastern Pictures company.[45]

Television

Frost played Mama Holstrom in 10 episodes of The Farmer's Daughter and Trina on Mama. She appeared in two episodes of Hazel and also had the role of Miss Bickle in the unsold pilot of the comedy His Model Wife.[46] She was also seen on Gunsmoke,[47] Goodyear Theatre,[48] Bus Stop,[49] and The Alcoa Hour.[50]

In the 1960s, Frost appeared in two episodes of The Twilight Zone ("The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine" S1 E4 and "It's a Good Life" S3 E8, as Aunt Amy). She also found roles in the decade's popular Westerns, appearing on The Tall Man, The Virginian and in two episodes of both Bonanza and Wagon Train. As the Westerns gave way to the police and detective dramas of the 1970s, Frost found work on such series as Ironside, Adam-12, Police Woman, and Baretta.

Frost's final television work included a 1978 visit to Fantasy Island and a 1979 episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, her last role.

Recognition

Frost was named the winner in the Radio category among America's 13 Best Dressed Women for 1941. Winners were "selected in an annual poll of 100 leading designers for the Fashion Academy Awards."[51]

Death

Frost died on January 6, 1998, in Naples, Florida, aged 87.

Selected Filmography

References

  1. 1 2 "Laboratory Hostess". The Evening News. Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. The Evening News. April 30, 1937. p. 26. Retrieved December 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. 1 2 DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc.; ISBN 978-0-7864-2834-2. p. 100.
  3. 1 2 "The Turning Point". TV Radio Mirror. Vol. 45, no. 4. March 1956. p. 91. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Alice Frost Got Her Start In Tent Chautauqua Stands". The Pittsburgh Press. February 26, 1938. p. 7. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Fairfax, Arthur (March 2, 1940). "Mr. Fairfax Replies" (PDF). Movie and Radio Guide. p. 59. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Studio Notes". The Evening News. Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. The Evening News. November 20, 1937. p. 14. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ↑ "(untitled brief)". Daily Republican. Belvidere, IL. January 10, 1939. p. 13. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ↑ "The Criminal Court". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York. February 26, 1933. p. 60. Retrieved December 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  9. ↑ Smith, Carleton (November 24, 1934). "Music in the Air" (PDF). Radio Guide. p. 19. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 "Curtain Going Up On Classic". Pasadena Independent. California, Pasadena. March 16, 1967. p. 39. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  11. ↑ Pike, Lori E. (December 26, 1988). "50 Years Ago, 'Mercury Theatre' Was the Talk of Radio". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  12. ↑ Ferris, Earle (August 24, 1939). "Right Out of the Air". Bernardsville News. New Jersey, Bernardsville. p. 6. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  13. ↑ Thompson, Edgar A. (February 21, 1938). "Visiting Ministers Taught Actress All Dialects". The Milwaukee Journal. p. 2. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  14. ↑ "(untitled brief)". The Evening News. Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. January 28, 1938. p. 22. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  15. ↑ "Studio Notes". The Evening News. Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. November 3, 1937. p. 18. Retrieved December 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  16. ↑ Thompson, Edgar A. (October 2, 1939). "Riding the Airwaves". The Milwaukee Journal. p. 2. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Olivier and Best in Radio Theater". Daily Republican. Belvidere. November 20, 1939. p. 5. Retrieved December 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  18. ↑ North, Alberta (November 8, 1941). "Feminine Forum" (PDF). Movie-Radio Guide. p. 42. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  19. 1 2 3 Dunning, John (1976). Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925–1976. Prentice-Hall, Inc. ISBN 0-13-932616-2. pp. 68, 69, 352, 652.
  20. 1 2 Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. pp. 119, 241, 584.
  21. ↑ "(photo caption)" (PDF). Radio Mirror. Vol. 6, no. 3. July 1936. p. 26. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  22. ↑ "(photo caption)" (PDF). Radio Mirror. Vol. 5, no. 4. February 1936. p. 42. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Short Shorts". Radio Mirror. Vol. 7, no. 1. November 1936. p. 87. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  24. ↑ "W-G-N Salutes WGNB as New FM Era Opens". Chicago Tribune. Illinois, Chicago. March 1, 1947. p. 19. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  25. ↑ "(photo caption)" (PDF). Radio Mirror. Vol. 5, no. 5. March 1936. p. 42. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Takes Over Town Hall". The Evening News. Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. July 2, 1937. p. 18. Retrieved December 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  27. ↑ "Money on Bushes?". Avalanche-Journal. Lubbock, TX. March 16, 1958. p. 62. Retrieved December 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  28. ↑ "(photo caption)". The Coaticook Observer. November 21, 1947. p. 3. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Mr. Fairfax Knows All" (PDF). Radio Guide. April 2, 1938. p. 44. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  30. ↑ Alicoate, Jack, Ed. The 1940 Radio Annual (PDF). Radio Daily Corp. p. 709.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ↑ Grunwald, Edgar A., Ed. (1938–1939). Variety Radio Directory (PDF). New York. p. 366. Retrieved December 27, 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ↑ Grunwald, Edgar A., Ed. (1939–1940). Variety Radio Directory (PDF). New York. p. 470. Retrieved December 27, 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ↑ Grunwald, Edgar A., Ed. (1940–1941). Variety Radio Directory (PDF). New York. pp. 322–323.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. ↑ Alicoate, Jack, Ed. (1947). The 1947 Radio Annual. Radio Daily Corp. p. 789.
  35. ↑ "D.A. Drama Starts As Racketeer Shot". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. Utah, Ogden. October 22, 1939. p. 13. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  36. ↑ "Johnny Presents". The Capital Times. Wisconsin, Madison. November 14, 1939. p. 8. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  37. ↑ "Radio Highlights". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York. July 7, 1954. p. 19. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  38. ↑ "What's on the Air". The Times Recorder. Zanesville, OH. May 12, 1958. p. 8. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  39. ↑ "(untitled brief)". Daily Republican. Belvidere, IL. September 5, 1939. p. 5. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  40. ↑ "From the Lobby of Listening Inn". Belvidere Daily Republican. Illinois, Belvidere. March 31, 1938. p. 3. Retrieved December 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  41. ↑ Thomas, Elsia (March 10, 1943). "Alice Frost Prefers Radio to Chautauqua". Bluefield Daily Telegraph. West Virginia, Bluefield. p. 9. Retrieved January 5, 2016 – via Newspaperarchive.com. Open access icon
  42. ↑ "At the Theaters". The Scranton Republican. Pennsylvania, Scranton. November 5, 1932. p. 5. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  43. ↑ "Alice Frost". Playbill Vault. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  44. ↑ "Little Patty Still Big in 'Bad Seed'" (PDF). Billboard. July 30, 1955. p. 18. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  45. ↑ "From the Lobby of Listening Inn". Belvidere Daily Republican. Illinois, Belvidere. April 7, 1938. p. 5. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  46. ↑ Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7. pp. 332, 464, 647.
  47. ↑ "(TV listing)". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. April 16, 1960. p. 14. Retrieved December 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  48. ↑ "(TV listing)". The Amarillo Globe-Times. Texas, Amarillo. May 28, 1959. p. 24. Retrieved December 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  49. ↑ "(TV listing)". Independent Press-Telegram. California, Long Beach. October 15, 1961. p. 104. Retrieved December 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  50. ↑ "The Stingiest Man in Town" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 31, 1956. p. 16. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  51. ↑ "Here's That Annual List of America's Best Dressed Women Again – 13 of 'em This Time". Delaware County Daily Times. Pennsylvania, Chester. March 26, 1941. p. 9. Retrieved December 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
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