Miriam Wolfe
Miriam Wolfe | |
|---|---|
 Miriam Wolfe, performing live on WOR during her first year as Old Nancy on The Witch's Tale (1935). | |
| Born | January 2, 1922 Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
| Died | September 29, 2000 (aged 78) Toronto, Canada |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, director, producer and writer |
Miriam Wolfe (born Miriam Wolff; January 2, 1922 – September 29, 2000) was an American actress, director, producer and writer, who worked in theatre, television and radio from the 1920s to the 1950s. She is mainly remembered for her character roles on radio's weekly Let's Pretend.
Early years
Wolfe was born in Brooklyn, New York. She made her professional acting debut at age four, reciting poems and reading stories on The Uncle Gee Bee Kiddie Hour on WGBS, one of New York's first radio stations.[1] When she was six years old, she was given the First Witch's part in a children's theater's production of Macbeth.[2]
Radio roles
Although she had appeared earlier on The Children's Hour,[3] Wolfe is best remembered for her diverse roles on Nila Mack's WCBS Saturday morning children's program, Let's Pretend.[1] She joined the repertory acting company in 1934 and remained with the program well into her adult years, playing spooky witches, wicked and wise queens, good and bad spirits, kind and cruel mothers and stepmothers.
At 12, Wolfe auditioned to succeed the 79-year-old Adelaide Fitz-Allen in the part of the ancient witch-narrator Old Nancy on Alonzo Deen Cole's The Witch's Tale (on the Mutual Broadcasting System). Cole, puzzled at first when he saw a young girl in a straw hat and Buster Brown haircut, hired her as soon as he heard the spine-chilling, cackling laugh which became her trademark. She played this part for five years, also doubling as other characters and leading women on the show.
Later, Wolfe was heard regularly from New York and Hollywood on
In the 1950s, Wolfe became a weekly regular on The Rayburn & Finch Comedy Hour and
CBC
In 1956, Wolfe moved to Canada and became active as a performer, writer and director with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). While at CBC she co-authored, produced, directed and played all the roles in the children's series, Miss Switch,[1] and adapted, directed and played all the roles in a one-woman radio version of Paul Bowles' You Are Not I. She was also featured on many CBC commercials, comedy hours and dramas. For Canadian television, she performed featured, leading and starring roles on Wayne and Shuster, Ford Star Time, General Motors Presents and several other well-regarded programs.
Films
During her career, Wolfe worked as a scriptwriter, dubbed more than 50 films and cartoons, appeared in films and made recordings. Notable stage performances include the Broadway production of Make Momma Happy with Molly Picon, a Hollywood production of Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo and a Toronto Crest Theatre production of Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! She was elected a member of the Board of the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Actors (ACTRA) in 1958–59.
In 1956, she married Canadian architect John Forrest Mackay Ross.[4] The couple had a child and moved to Paris, where they resided from 1961 to 1980 and where she conducted a series of improvisational workshops.[citation needed]
Upon her return to
On September 29, 2000, Wolfe died at her home in Toronto, of breast cancer.
Awards
In 1981, Wolfe received an award from Friends of Old Time Radio USA for her contribution to
Bibliography
- Anderson, Arthur: Let's Pretend: A History of Radio's Best Loved Children's Show by a Longtime Cast Member, McFarland & Company, 1994.
- Anderson, Arthur: Let's Pretend and the Golden Age of Radio, BearManor Media, 2004.
- Cole, Alonzo Deen, edited by David S. Siegel with introduction by Miriam Wolfe: The Witch's Tale: Stories of Gothic Horror from the Golden Age of Radio, Dunwich Press, 1998, ISBN 1-891379-01-1.
- Delong, Thomas A: Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960, McFarland & Company, 1996, ISBN 978-0-7864-0149-9.
- Hand, Richard J: Terror on the air!: horror radio in America, 1931–1952, McFarland & Company, 2006, ISBN 0-7864-2367-6.
- Maltin, Leonard: The Great American Broadcast: A Celebration of Radio's Golden Age, Dutton, 1997, ISBN 0-525-94183-5. [as Miriam Wolf]
References
- ^ ISBN 9780786401499.
- Newspapers.com.
- ISBN 9780810864221. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- Newspapers.com.
External links
- Obituary, The New York Times, October 5, 2000
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