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Merie Earle

{{Short description|American actress (1889–1984)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Merie Earle

| image = Merie_Earle_in_The_Waltons_1974.jpg

| caption = Merie Earle in The Waltons 1974

| birth_name = Goldie Merie Ireland

| birth_date = {{birth date|1889|05|13|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Morrow, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1984|11|04|1889|05|13|mf=y}}

| death_place = Glendale, California, U.S.

| resting_place = Green Lawn Cemetery

| other_names = Merie Earls

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1967–1983

| spouse = {{marriage|Lawrence Nathan Earls|1909|1954|end=his death}}

| children = 1

| relatives =

}}

Merie Earle (born Goldie Merie Ireland; May 13, 1889 – November 4, 1984) was an American actress. She was best known for playing Maude Gormley on the television series The Waltons (1972–1979).{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/09/obituaries/merie-earle-actress-dies-maude-gormley-on-waltons.html| title=Merie Earle, Actress, Dies; Maude Gormley on 'Waltons'| newspaper=The New York Times| date=November 9, 1984| access-date=March 24, 2020| url-access=subscription}}

Early years

After Earle's father retired, her parents relocated to La Crescenta, California, to be closer to their daughter. She was discovered by an agent while performing in a play at a Methodist church.

Career

Beginning her professional career late in life, Earle's first jobs included ads for Polaroid.

In 1967 she made her feature film debut in Fitzwilly starring Dick Van Dyke. Her screen credits included Gaily, Gaily (1969); In Name Only; Dr. Max (1974); Crazy Mama (1975); Fatso (1980); and Going Ape (1981). She was a regular on the TV series The Jerry Reed When You're Hot You're Hot Hour in 1972 and The Waltons from 1972 to 1979 as Maude Gormley. Earle also appeared in the made-for-TV movie The Last of the Good Guys in 1978.

Scheduled to make her Broadway debut, at age 88, in a revival of Paul Zindel's Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds in 1978, Earle suffered a fractured hip during the show's initial run in La Jolla, California and withdrew from the production prior to its New York premiere.{{Citation needed |date=May 2024}} She guest starred on many notable television series including Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, Night Gallery, The Bob Newhart Show, All in the Family, Alice, Phyllis and Whiz Kids.

In her eighties, she was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Death

Earle died aged 95 on November 4, 1984, in Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale, California,{{cite news |last1=Folkart |first1=Burt A. |title='Call Your Mother' Star Merie Earle Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78325679/merie-earle/ |access-date=May 25, 2021 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 6, 1984 |page=34 |via=Newspapers.com}} of uremia poisoning following surgery for colon cancer, having outlived both her husband and her daughter.{{cite news| title= Merie Earle, who started in show business at the age of 77| url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/06/Merie-Earle-who-started-in-show-business-at-the/6137468565200/| date=November 6, 1984| website=United Press International| access-date=March 10, 2025| quote=She moved to Hollywood from Ohio in 1952 with her husband, a retired train engineer, to be near their daughter. Both have since died.}}

She was interred at Green Lawn Cemetery in her home town of Columbus, Ohio.{{sfn|Wilson|Mank|2016|page=216}}

Filmography

=Film=

=Television=

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References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

  • {{cite book| last1=Wilson| first1=Scott| last2=Mank| first2=Gregory W.| title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons| location=Jefferson, N.C.|publisher=McFarland & Co.| year=2016| isbn=978-0-7864-7992-4| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ}}

External links

  • {{IMDb name|0247338}}
  • {{Find a Grave|22999}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:1889 births

Category:1984 deaths

Category:American film actresses

Category:American television actresses

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:Actresses from Ohio

Category:Burials at Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio)