Mary Jane Croft facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mary Jane Croft
Born	(1916-02-15)February 15, 1916 Muncie, Indiana, US
Died	August 24, 1999(1999-08-24) (aged 83) Century City, California, US
Other names	Mary Jane Croft Lewis
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1935–1979
Spouse(s)	Jack Zoller (m. 19??; div. 19??) Elliott Lewis ​ ​ (m. 1959; died 1990)​
Children	1

Mary Jane Croft (born February 15, 1916 – died August 24, 1999) was a talented American actress. She was famous for her roles in many popular TV shows and radio programs. You might know her as Betty Ramsey from I Love Lucy, Miss Daisy Enright from Our Miss Brooks, or Mary Jane Lewis from The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy. She also played Clara Randolph on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

Early Acting Days

Mary Jane Croft began her acting journey at just 17 years old. She had just finished high school and loved the stage. Her first performances were at the Muncie Civic Theatre. Soon after, she joined a new acting group called the Guild Theatre company in Cincinnati.

From there, she moved to radio station WLW. Mary Jane said that from 1935 to 1939, she played all sorts of characters. She voiced children, babies, older women, and many other types of people. This helped her become a very versatile actress.

Radio Work

Mary Jane Croft's first radio appearance was in a show called Sherlock Holmes. She worked a lot in radio, lending her voice to many different programs. Some of these included Life with Luigi, Blondie, and Suspense.

She also appeared often as a guest star on Lucille Ball's radio show, My Favorite Husband. This was the start of a long and important friendship and working relationship between the two actresses.

In 1950, Mary Jane Croft co-starred with Hal March in a summer radio show called Too Many Cooks. This comedy was about a family named the Cooks who had 10 children!

Television Roles

Mary Jane Croft was a frequent guest star on many television shows. She worked a lot with Lucille Ball, but also appeared on other programs. For example, she was in an episode of Howard Duff's adventure show Dante in 1960.

She was also a regular on two other popular series. She played Clara Randolph, a lively neighbor with a loud voice, on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Her character was married to Joe Randolph, played by Lyle Talbot. On Our Miss Brooks on CBS, she played Miss Daisy Enright. This was the same role she had played on the radio version of the show. Mary Jane also provided the voice for Cleo, a basset hound, in Jackie Cooper's NBC series The People’s Choice from 1955 to 1958.

Later in the original I Love Lucy series, the main characters moved to Connecticut. There, Lucy Ricardo became friends with a new neighbor, Betty Ramsey. Mary Jane Croft played Betty Ramsey. Betty was very involved in social activities and often got Lucy into new adventures. Before this, Croft had appeared as other characters on I Love Lucy. She played Lucy's wealthy schoolmate Cynthia Harcourt and Evelyn Bigsby, an airline passenger.

When Vivian Vance, who played Ethel Mertz, left The Lucy Show after the 1964–1965 season, Mary Jane Croft became Lucy's new best friend. Her character was named Mary Jane Lewis. Croft had already played another recurring role, Audrey Simmons, in earlier seasons of the show. Mary Jane Lewis was actually Croft's legal name at the time. She was married to actor and producer Elliott Lewis. He had produced The Lucy Show during its first two seasons.

The character of Mary Jane Lewis continued when The Lucy Show changed into Lucille Ball's third sitcom, Here's Lucy. Mary Jane Croft stayed on the show until Lucille Ball decided to end Here's Lucy in 1974.

Mary Jane Croft also made a TV pilot called The Two of Us. A pilot is a test episode for a new show. This show was about an illustrator who drew pictures for children's books. The pilot was made by Desilu.

Later Years

Mary Jane Croft continued acting in television for several years after Here's Lucy ended. She even reunited with Lucille Ball in 1977 for a TV special called Lucy Calls the President. She also returned to radio for some episodes of Sears Radio Theater in 1979.

Mary Jane Croft passed away in Century City, California.

Film and TV Appearances