Sara Berner

Sara Berner
Born Lillian Ann Herdan
(1912-01-12)January 12, 1912
Albany, New York, U.S.
Died December 19, 1969(1969-12-19) (aged 57)
Van Nuys, California, United States
Resting place Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles, California
Occupation Actress/Voice actress
Years active 1936–1969
Spouse(s)
Milton Rosner
(m. 1951; div. 1958)

Children 1

Sara Berner (January 12, 1912 – December 19, 1969) was an American actress and voice artist. Noted for her expertise in dialect and characterization, she began her show-business career in vaudeville before becoming a voice actress for radio and animated shorts. She starred in her own 1950 radio show, Sara's Private Caper, and was known for her role as telephone operator Mabel Flapsaddle on The Jack Benny Program.

Columnist Erskine Johnson described Berner in 1944 as "the most famous voice in Hollywood."[1]

Early life and career

Born Lillian Ann Herdan in 1912 in Albany, New York, she adopted her stage name by combining her mother's first name (Sarah) and her maiden name of Berner.[2] She was the oldest of four children,[3] and her family relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma when she was a teenager.[2] She became interested in performing after watching silent movies and vaudeville shows at a theater and then imitating scenes in front of the women's restroom attendant.[3]

Berner performed in an adaptation of Abie's Irish Rose after graduation,[3] and she studied drama for two years at the University of Tulsa.[4] She and her family then moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she worked in a department store until she was fired for mimicking a customer.[3] Berner hosted her own fifteen-minute program (written by Arthur Q. Bryan) thereafter on a local radio station,[3] then returned to New York in hopes of pursuing a show-business career. She worked in a Broadway millinery in the meantime,[3] and studied dialect by observing customers' Brooklyn accents.[5] She sneaked out during a shift to audition for Major Edward Bowes' amateur hour, and was hired by Bowes the next day.[5] Beginning in 1937, Berner toured the country as part of Bowes' sixteen-member "all-girl unit" of vaudeville acts over the next four years,[4] and created a gimmick of a fired saleslady who performed imitations of celebrities such as Katharine Hepburn.[6][7]

Career

Radio

After the Major Bowes tour ended, Berner transitioned to network radio in Hollywood, with recurring roles on Fibber McGee & Molly and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. On The Jack Benny Program, she played various one-time parts[8] before joining the principal cast as the recurring characters of Jack Benny's girlfriend Gladys Zybisco, and wisecracking telephone operator Mabel Flapsaddle,[9] who gossiped about Benny with her cohort Gertrude Gearshift (Bea Benaderet), while Benny waited impatiently on the other end of the line for them to complete his call.[10][11][12] Intended as a one-time appearance, the pair became a recurring role starting in the 1945-46 season, and in early 1947, Berner and Benaderet momentarily took over the actual NBC switchboards in Hollywood for publicity photos.[10] Other radio work included waitress Dreamboat Mulvany on Arthur's Place;[13] Mrs. Horowitz on Life with Luigi; Helen Wilson on Amos 'n' Andy; and an Italian housekeeper on The Jimmy Durante Show.[9] She was cast alongside Rudy Vallée on his show The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour; however, she sued Vallée in 1945 for $19,500 in damages over claims he reneged on an "oral agreement" that he would hire her for 39 appearances on his show at $500 weekly.[14]

As a result of her radio successes,[15] Berner was given her own series on NBC, Sara's Private Caper, in which she starred as a police department stenographer who moonlighted as an amateur sleuth to solve crimes.[16] Billed as "a satire on private detective stories" that claimed to feature Berner's actual voice,[16] the show premiered on June 15, 1950 but was canceled after just eleven weeks, with its final broadcast on August 24.[17] It had been hampered by multiple title changes prior to its debut,[17][18] as well as confusion over whether to market the program as a mystery, comedy, or drama.[2] Berner returned to supporting roles, but was temporarily removed from The Jack Benny Program between 1954 and 1955 due to an undisclosed dispute with Benny, and was substituted by Shirley Mitchell as Mabel Flapsaddle in that duration.[19]

Animation

Berner was active in voice characterization for animated cartoons, working with several studios from the late 1930s through the 1940s. She was initially utilized for her imitations of Hollywood film actresses,[7][9][20] such as Katharine Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Martha Raye.[21] This led to her being cast in celebrity-ensemble shorts such as Disney's Academy Award-winning Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938)[22] and The Autograph Hound (1939); Walter Lantz Productions' Hollywood Bowl (1938); and Warner Bros.' Hollywood Steps Out (1941).

Her mimicking of Hepburn led to her being hired by Lantz as the debut voice of Andy Panda,[23] in the 1939 short Life Begins for Andy Panda.[6] She focused on voicing animals thereafter,[6] with her work for Warner Bros. ranging from Mama Buzzard in The Bashful Buzzard and in Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid; to A. Flea in the 1943 short An Itch in Time; and as part of an ensemble of voices in 1946's Book Revue. For MGM, Berner portrayed minor characters in the shorts The Zoot Cat and Baby Puss (both 1943), and The Mouse Comes to Dinner (1945). In the 1945 MGM film Anchors Aweigh, she voiced the otherwise silent Jerry Mouse for an animated dance sequence with star Gene Kelly.[24][25]

In August 1953, Berner provided the debut voice of another Walter Lantz character, the anthropomorphic penguin Chilly Willy.[26] Though she received onscreen credit for her work,[27] her duties consisted only of her singing the cartoon's opening theme, as the character himself was mute until his speaking voice was developed by Daws Butler in the 1960s.[28]

Film and television

Berner with Frank Cady in Rear Window (1954)

Berner filmed supporting roles in motion pictures from 1942 to 1957, including Anchors Aweigh and voicing a camel named Mabel for Road to Morocco (1942),[29] In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954), she and Frank Cady portrayed a married couple living in a Greenwich Village apartment complex inhabited by the film's main character (played by James Stewart).[30]

Aside from playing Mabel Flapsaddle in four episodes of The Jack Benny Program, Berner appeared on television mainly on variety shows and anthology series through the 1950s. She was the guest of honor on a December 10, 1952 episode of Ralph Edwards' reality documentary series This is Your Life,[31] which media critic John Crosby negatively reviewed: "[The] customers want pathos and Mr. Edwards, I suppose, has to manufacture it."[32] However, Berner worked little in the 1960s, aside from performing at the 1961 Grammy Awards in a comic-relief role alongside Mort Sahl,[33] and appearing as a guest on Gypsy Rose Lee's daytime talk show in November 1966.[34] Her final acting role was on an episode of CBS Playhouse that aired on January 29, 1967.[35]

Personal life

Berner married her theatrical agent, Milton Rosner, in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 11, 1951, and they had one daughter, Eugenie. Though they separated in March 1954, Rosner remained Berner's agent, until she filed for divorce in May 1958, citing "extreme" verbal cruelty.[36] Berner was awarded custody of their daughter, but was arrested in December 1959 on a misdemeanor charge of child endangerment.[19]

In November 1950, Berner was photographed outside a mobile X-ray unit as part of an awareness campaign by the Los Angeles County X-ray Survey Foundation that encouraged screenings to help combat the spread of tuberculosis.[37]

Death

Berner died at age 57 on December 19, 1969 and was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, but her death was not made public until her family placed a memorial in the Van Nuys News in November 1970.[38] She had been recovering from major surgery at a Culver City convalescent home two months before her death.[39] Berner's personal property was sold at auction in Van Nuys in November 1971.[19]

Acting style and reception

"Dialects are a natural part of American speech. And the sooner people stop being on the defensive about them the sooner we can wipe out all that silly prejudice. ... You have to do them sympathetically. Otherwise you can cause trouble."

—Berner in 1950, on performing ethnic dialects[15]

Berner's range of dialects[7][16] included French, Spanish, Italian, Southern American, and New York English, which she learned by interacting extensively with people who spoke in such accents.[7][20] She briefly came under controversy for her radio voicework after a columnist described it as "being in bad taste".[17] This in turn led to radio producers ordering her to not use foreign accents to get laughs, a ruling which Berner successfully overturned: "I know I haven't offended anybody because in all the years I’ve been doing [accents] I’ve never, not even once, got a nasty letter."[15]

During production of Road to Morocco, a casting director introduced Berner to Paramount Pictures executive Buddy DeSylva as "Mrs. Camel", which DeSylva addressed Berner as thereafter.[1] She gained notoriety for her brief role as Mabel the camel in the film, which she disdained: "[Everybody] called me Mrs. Camel. It was Mrs. Camel this and Mrs. Camel that. Nobody even mentioned my name."[1] Berner was an in-demand entertainer for American servicemen during World War II, giving over 300 performances at Army bases in addition to 84 appearances at the Hollywood Canteen and one on the Saratoga in 1944.[20][40]

Selected filmography

Shorts

Warner Bros.

MGM

Walter Lantz Productions

Walt Disney Productions

Radio

Film

Year Film Role Notes
1942 Road to Morocco Mabel the Camel Voice, Uncredited
1945 Anchors Aweigh Jerry Mouse Voice, Uncredited
1947 Backlash Dorothy the maid
1948 The Gay Intruders Ethel
1949 City Across the River Selma
1949 The Story of Molly X Amy
1952 Carrie Mrs. Oransky
1954 Rear Window Wife living above the Thorwalds
1955 The Naked Street Millie Swadke
1957 Spring Reunion Paula Kratz

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1949 Oboler Comedy Theater Unknown Episode: "Ostrich in Bed"
1952-1953,
1955		 The Jack Benny Program Mabel Flapsaddle
Slim-Finger Sara		 4 episodes
1 episode
1952 This Is Your Life Herself 1 episode; guest of honor
1953 Four Star Revue Guest Comedic Actress
1955 The Red Skelton Show Woman Episode: "The Cop and the Anthem"
1959 Hour of Stars Woman Shopper Episode: "The Miracle on 34th Street"
1959 Border Patrol Landlady Episode: "In a Deadly Fashion"
1959 Playhouse 90 Receptionist Episode: "A Marriage of Strangers"
1967 CBS Playhouse Shuffler Woman Episode: "The Final War of Olly Winter"

References

  1. 1 2 3 Johnson, Erskine (March 21, 1944). "In Hollywood". The News (Frederick, Maryland). Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Rise of Sara Berner". tralfaz.blogspot.com. May 23, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Staff (April 1949). "Mable Flapsaddle - Alias Sara Berner" (PDF). Radio Mirror. p. 34. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Bowes Unit Will Come Next Week". The Oregon Statesman. February 26, 1937. p. 2. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Handsaker, Gene (March 22, 1949). "Hollywood". Associated Press; reprinted on tralfaz.blogspot.com. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Hartzog, Hazel (December 31, 1944). "Versatile Sara: Camel One Day, Hippo the Next". UPI (reprinted on tralfaz.blogspot.com). Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Buchanan, Joan (March 20, 1944). "Her Alter Egos" (PDF). Radio Life. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  8. ↑ Staff (October 22, 1944). "The Ear Inspires the Pen" (PDF). Radio Life. p. 2. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 Elman, Terry (May 26, 1950). "What's Cooking?". The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. p. 10. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Maguire, Judy (November 9, 1947). "Benny's Switchboard Sweeties" (PDF). Radio Life. p. 7. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  11. ↑ Busch, Noel F. (February 3, 1947). "Jack Benny, Inc.: Comedian mixes a fiddle, a feud and stock characters in formula which has paid off for 15 years". Life, p. 85. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  12. ↑ Kalb, Bob (January 21, 1949). "Transradio Star Gazer". source unknown; reprinted on tralfaz.blogspot.com. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Dream Girl". Williamsburg Journal-Tribune. September 11, 1947. p. 7. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  14. ↑ Staff (October 29, 1945). "Vallee Sued" (PDF). Broadcasting. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  15. 1 2 3 McPherson, Virginia (June 15, 1950). "13 'Voices' Put Sara Berner in Demand for Show Parts". UPI (reposted on tralfaz.blogspot.com). Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  16. 1 2 3 "Radio-Television". Altoona Tribune. June 27, 1950. p. 19. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 "Sara Berner and the 'R' Word". tralfaz.blogspot.com. December 16, 2011. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  18. ↑ Staff (March 4, 1950). "NBC Auditions Berner for 'Private Eye'". The Billboard, p. 7. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  19. 1 2 3 Erskine Johnson (June 22, 1955). "Untitled". Newspaper Enterprise Association; reprinted on tralfaz.blogspot.com. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  20. 1 2 3 Gordon, Shirley (May 7, 1944). "Johnny Doughboy's Delight" (PDF). Radio Life. p. 6, 30. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  21. ↑ Hahn, Matthew (2017). The Animated Marx Brothers. Bear Manor Media. p. 25-30. ISBN 1629332259.
  22. ↑ Hartzog, Hazel (December 31, 1944). "You've Never Seen Her Face..." The Salt Lake Tribune. p. 35. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  23. ↑ Staff (January 7, 1945). "A New Item From Stalinland is Roudenko". Des Moines Register. p. 37. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  24. ↑ Horvath, Suzanne V. (October 13, 1946). "Look Who's Talking!". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 117. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  25. ↑ Ehrbar, Greg (June 30, 2015). "Gene Kelly and Jerry Mouse, 'The Worry Song'". Cartoon Research. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Drama". Los Angeles Times. August 5, 1953. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  27. ↑ Paul J. Smith (director) (1953). Chilly Willy. Walter Lantz Productions (Animated film).
  28. ↑ Lawson, Tim; Persons, Alisa (2004). The Magic Behind the Voices: A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors. University Press of Mississippi. p. 82. ISBN 1578066964.
  29. ↑ Staff (July 16, 1944). "Camel Talk" (PDF). Radio Life. p. 25. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  30. ↑ Chandler, Charlotte (2006). It's Only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock: A Personal Biography. Simon & Schuster. p. 215-16. ISBN 0743492293.
  31. ↑ Staff. "Whose Line Was It Anyway?". Ancestry Magazine, May/June 2006 (p. 41). Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  32. ↑ Crosby, John (December 15, 1952). "The 'Laugh, Clown, Laugh' Girl". New York Herald-Tribune (reprinted on tralfaz.blogspot.com). Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  33. ↑ Parsons, Louella (April 17, 1961). "Singers, Friends Make Big Noise Over Presentation of 'Grammys'". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  34. ↑ "Television Log". Long Beach Independent. November 8, 1966. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  35. ↑ "Weekly TV Log". Daily Independent (San Rafael, CA). January 28, 1967. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  36. ↑ "Awards Divorce to Sara Berner, Actress on Radio". Valley News. May 4, 1958. p. 15. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  37. ↑ "Sara Points the Way". Van Nuys News. November 16, 1950. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  38. ↑ "Vital Record: In Memoriam". Van Nuys News (November 26, 1970), p. 84. Retrieved December 26, 2017. ("In Loving Memory of my dear daughter SARA BERNER. A great artist of stage, radio and television. Also missed by her brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. 1912-1969.")
  39. ↑ Morse, Alice (October 14, 1969). "Sara's Mabel Flapsaddle Bedded by Own Phone". Valley News (reprinted on tralfaz.blogspot.com). Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  40. ↑ Staff (March 11, 1945). "Honored Guest" (PDF). Radio Life. p. 9, 23. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
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