Vita da strega

Very few actresses could gulp, snivel and whine better than Alice Pearce. Her Gladys Kravitz' nasal voice resounded irritatingly over her husband George Tobias as Abner. "Abner! Abner!" made an entire television audience laugh as she ran back into the Kravitz home every week. Alice Pearce was a trouper until her death in 1966, and she never let us know she was ill. Sandra Gould took over the Gladys role, but I'll always recall the face, that gulp, that bug-eyed expression of Alice Pearce. So few actresses have become so identifiable by their voice in television, and fewer will ever be known for just one line like "Abner! Abner!". Applause to the late Alice Pearce, who deserved her Emmy Award!