Madge Blake (née Cummings; May 31, 1899 – February 19, 1969) was an American character actress best remembered for her role as Larry Mondello's mother, Margaret Mondello, on the CBS/ABC sitcom Leave It to Beaver, as Flora MacMichael on the ABC/CBS sitcom The Real McCoys, and as Aunt Harriet Cooper in 96 episodes of ABC's Batman. Gene Kelly had a special affection for her and included her in each of his films following her role in An American in Paris.
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Early life
During World War II, Madge Blake and her husband, James Lincoln Blake, worked in Utah helping construct detonators for the atomic bomb and testing equipment used in the Manhattan Project. In recognition of their contributions, the U.S. government awarded the couple a citation.
Blake was a first cousin of actor Milburn Stone, who played the role of Doc Adams on Gunsmoke Western series.
Acting career
She did not begin to study acting until she was 50 years old, when she enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse and took advantage of whatever influence or contacts Milburn Stone had to land acting roles.
Blake portrayed gushy gossip columnist Dora Bailey in Singin' in the Rain (1952). In the mid-1950s, she appeared on Rod Cameron's City Detective and in Ray Milland's sitcom Meet Mr. McNutley, renamed in the second season as The Ray Milland Show. Blake appeared in four episodes of the NBC sitcom It's a Great Life (1954–1956) and twice on CBS's December Bride, with Spring Byington. In 1958, she appeared in "The Fountain of Youth", a Peabody Award-winning episode of the NBC anthology series Colgate Theatre. She also was a model for one of the fairies (Fauna) in Walt Disney's animated version film Sleeping Beauty (1959).
