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Alice Backes

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Alice Backes
Backes in an episode of Medic (1955)
Born
Alice Mayrine Backes

(1923-05-17)May 17, 1923
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
DiedMarch 15, 2007(2007-03-15) (aged 83)
Years active1946–1997
Spouse
Milton Citron
(m. 1961; died 1983)

Alice Mayrine Backes (May 17, 1923 – March 15, 2007) was an American actress who performed on radio, television, and in films from the 1940s to the 1990s. Standing 5'9", she worked chiefly on television during her long career. She appeared in over 80 television series and made-for-television movies, specializing in character roles and dialects for scripts.[1]

Early life

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Alice Mayrine Backes was born in 1923 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the first daughter of Charles Cameron Backes and Lela Mayrine (née Maxwell) Backes, both natives of Montana.[2][3] According to the United States Census of 1940, 17-year-old Alice was still living that year with her parents in Salt Lake City, along with her two sisters, Lorraine and Virginia. The 1940 census further documents that her father was at that time a salesman of rock-wool insulation.[2]

In Salt Lake City, Backes also attended the University of Utah, where she distinguished herself as a gifted violinist, earning a position as "concert mistress" in the university's symphony orchestra.[1] After the attack on Pearl Harbor, she joined the WAVES, the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve. She served stateside at WAVES "shore stations" working primarily as a jeep driver in and around Chicago and then San Francisco.[1] She is pictured in the 1945 U. of Utah "Utonian" yearbook as a graduating senior.[4]

Career

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Following the war, Backes moved to Hollywood, where by the late 1940s, she began finding steady employment as an actor. In 1948, she performed in an uncredited role as a Swedish immigrant girl in the film Up in Central Park.[5] The bulk of her work, however, in this early stage of her career was as a voice-actor on radio. Between 1946 and 1950, she was a cast member on a variety of popular radio programs such as This is Your FBI, NBC University Theater, Dangerous Assignment, and Family Theater.[6]

Backes continued performing regularly on radio for at least another six years, even after her increasing work on television had become her principal focus. Some of the other radio programs on which she played a variety of characters were The Whistler, The Halls of Ivy, Dragnet, Suspense, and Romance.[6]

Television

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During the 1950s, Backes appeared in over 20 television series, both in dramatic and comedic supporting roles. She secured her first two credited roles on television in 1952, as an office secretary on the series Gang Busters, in an episode titled "The Dennis Case"; and as Nurse Lenihan in "The Big Jump" on the televised version of Dragnet. Other television series in which Backes performed later in the 1950s include Mr. and Mrs. North, Medic, Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Studio 57, Startime, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, The Real McCoys, in 13 episodes of Bachelor Father, on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Lux Video Theatre, M Squad, Hennesey, Law of the Plainsman, Leave It to Beaver, and Gunsmoke.[citation needed] In 1962, Backes appeared as Coralee Darby on the TV Western The Virginian in the episode titled "The Accomplice". [citation needed]

Backes' career continued through the 1970s. In those decades, she either appeared for the first time or returned to perform in more than 60 sitcoms, Westerns, detective, courtroom, and medical shows, anthology series, suspense programs, and made-for-television movies.[citation needed] In the 1963 episode of The Andy Griffith Show, "Ernest T. Joins the Army", she played Olive, the widowed waitress working at Mayberry's diner. In a memorable scene in that episode, Olive—after writing down Deputy Barney Fife's extensive breakfast order at the counter—clutches her notepad to her chest, beams with a motherly smile, and says to him, "It does my heart good to see a thin person eat."[citation needed]

While working as a notable "bit player" on some series in the 1960s and 1970s, Backes performed in more substantial roles as a supporting character in multiple episodes on other series such as The Rifleman (where her name was misspelled as Alice Backus), Wagon Train (S6E26’s “The Michael McGoo Story” as “Carrie”), The Detectives, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Hazel, Bewitched, Mayberry R.F.D., Here's Lucy, and Adam-12.[citation needed] In 1979, she also portrayed the character Kitty Rawlings in the NBC made-for-television movie The Best Place to Be, starring Donna Reed.[7]

By the 1980s, she began to curtail her acting commitments, although she still appeared on Barnaby Jones, Barney Miller, Knight Rider, Mr. Belvedere, and a few other popular series in that decade. Nine years after her 1988 appearance on Mr. Belvedere, she made her last credited performance on television as Harriet Jenkins in an episode of Columbo, titled "A Trace of Murder".[8]

Films

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She was cast in no fewer than a dozen feature films, continuing to display in those roles her ability to play a wide range of characters, such as a telephone operator, prison nurse, a farmer's wife, dentist, teacher, a newspaper gossip columnist, and women in other occupations. Her films include the science-fiction comedy The Twonky (1953), I Want to Live! (1958), It Started with a Kiss (1959), That Touch of Mink (1962), The Glory Guys (1965), The Third Day (1965), Snowball Express (1972), The Man from Independence (1974), Half a House (1975), Gable and Lombard (1976), and The Cat From Outer Space (1978).[9]

Charities and professional organizations

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Outside of her acting assignments, Backes contributed her time and money to various charities, advocacy groups for children and wildlife welfare, and to professional organizations. She promoted the work and served on boards and committees of the United Nation's International Children's Emergency Fund, Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press, Whidbey Animals' Improvement Foundation, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Theatre West, and Pioneer Broadcasters. Backes was also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and in 2008, the year after her death, SAG formally recognized her contributions to the industry at the guild's televised 14th annual awards ceremony.[citation needed]

Personal life and death

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Backes married only once, to Milton Citron, a native of New York, who was a Hollywood sound-effects specialist and editor for both film and television productions.[10] The couple married in 1961 and remained together for over 20 years, until Milton's death in April 1983. They had no children. After her retirement from acting in the late 1990s, Backes continued to devote her time to charities and to her lifelong passion for music, studying the works of the classical masters, as well as Broadway scores and early choral compositions.[1]

Backes remained in Los Angeles until 2006, when she relocated to Virginia Beach, Virginia, to be closer to family members. The following year, on March 15, Backes died in her sleep of natural causes at the age of 83.[1] In accordance with her wishes and under arrangements made with the Neptune Society, her body was cremated, and her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.[1]

Backes was a lifelong Mormon adherent.[11]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1948 Up in Central Park Swedish Immigrant Girl Uncredited
1952 Gang Busters Secretary TV series
1952 Dragnet Nurse Lenihan TV series
1953 The Twonky Offended Phone Operator #1
1954 Mr. & Mrs. North Claudia Blair TV series
1955 Medic Miss Harris TV series
1957 The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Woman in Drug Store TV series
1957 Date with the Angels Mrs. Fletcher TV series
1957 The Real McCoys Miss Small TV series
1957 Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal TV series
1957–1958 Bachelor Father Vickie TV series, 13 episodes
1958 Studio 57 TV series
1958 M Squad Switchboard Operator / Maid TV series, 2 episodes
1958 I Want to Live! Barbara, San Quentin Nurse
1959 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Jennifer Gifford Season 4 Episode 26: "Cheap Is Cheap"
1958–1959 Lux Playhouse Mrs. Dolman TV series, 2 episodes
1959 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Martha TV series
1959 It Started with a Kiss Sally Meriden
1959 The Ann Sothern Show Arlene TV series
1959 Law of the Plainsman Abbey Hollis TV series
1959–1960 Startime Aunt Pauline / Esther TV series, 2 episodes
1959–1962 Leave It to Beaver Miss Lawrence / Nurse TV series, 2 episodes
1959–1962 General Electric Theater different roles TV series, 5 episodes
1959–1966 The Donna Reed Show Mrs. McCracken / Mrs. Brandon TV series, 2 episodes
1959–1966 Gunsmoke Widow Folsome / Cora TV series, 2 episodes
1960 The Rifleman Isabel Dent TV series
1960 Goodyear Theatre Pauline /
Miss Williams
TV series
1960 Riverboat Mrs. Gaines, the Farmer's Wife
1960 Hennesey Miss Dobbs /
Ethel Peterson
TV series, 2 episodes
1960 Thriller Carolyn TV series
1960 The Tom Ewell Show Miss Finley TV series
1960–1962 The Detectives Different roles TV series, 4 episodes
1961 Bringing Up Buddy Secretary TV series
1961 Dr. Kildare Miss Ames TV series
1961 Ben Casey Mrs. Torrance TV series
1961–1966 Hazel Different roles TV series, 3 episodes
1962 Ichabod and Me Mrs. Hoskins TV series, 1 episode
1962 87th Precinct Jane TV series, 3 episodes
1962 Outlaws Mrs. Arbush TV series
1962 That Touch of Mink Miriam TV series, uncredited
1962 Disneyland Mrs. Cass TV series
1962 The Virginian Coralee Darby TV series
1962–1963 The Jack Benny Show Bride / Mother TV series, 2 episodes
1963 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Policewoman Season 1 Episode 23: "The Lonely Hours"
1963 Going My Way The Grand Dame TV series
1963 The Dick Powell Show TV series
1963 The Andy Griffith Show Olive, the waitress TV series
1963–1965 Wagon Train Different roles TV series, 3 episodes
1964 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Mrs. Tridden Season 2 Episode 17: "The Jar"
1964 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Martha Hinchley Season 2 Episode 29: "Bed of Roses"
1964 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Doctor Season 3 Episode 11: "Consider Her Ways"
1964 My Favorite Martian Miss Maxwell TV series
1964 Breaking Point Mrs. Carson TV series
1964–1965 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Maggie / Miss Reddy TV series, 2 episodes
1964–1966 Bewitched June Foster / Betty TV series, 3 episodes
1965 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Helen Fiske Season 3 Episode 27: "The Second Wife"
1965 The Rogues Watkins TV series
1965 Burke's Law Wife TV series
1965 The Munsters Miss Fairchild TV series
1965 The Glory Guys Mrs. Doris Poole
1965 The Third Day Nurse Uncredited
1965 Barney TV movie
1966 Katy Saleswoman TV series
1968 The Big Valley Housekeeper TV series
1968–1973 Here's Lucy Mrs. Barnes / Woman TV series, 2 episodes
1969 The Outsider Telephone Operator TV series
1969 The Ghost & Mrs. Muir Mrs. Peterson TV series
1969 Dragnet 1967 Bertha Johnson TV series
1970 Doris Day Show Agnes Albright TV series
1970 Bill Cosby Angela TV series
1970 Lancer Mrs. Stafford TV series
1970–1971 Mayberry R.F.D. Miss Pringle /
Miss Fawcett
TV series, 2 episodes
1972 Women in Chains Mrs. Foster TV movie
1972 Room 222 Mrs. Webster TV series
1972 Snowball Express Miss Ogelvie
1973 Mannix Mrs. Oliver TV series
1973 Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law Ida
1973–1974 Adam-12 Estelle Graybill / Woman TV series, 2 episodes
1974 Ironside Maggie Moreland TV series
1974 The Man from Independence Teacher TV movie
1974 Maude Woman TV series
1974 Kolchak: The Night Stalker Dr. Shropell /
Elena Muñoz
TV series, 2 episodes
1974–1997 Columbo Harriet Jenkins / Mrs. Moyland TV series, 2 episodes
1975 Winner Take All TV movie
1975 Half a House
1975 Fear on Trial TV movie
1976 Gable and Lombard
1976 Baretta Foley, Nurse
1977 Whatever Happened to Dobie Gillis? Mrs. Lazlo TV movie
1977 Welcome Back, Kotter Mrs. Hansen TV series
1977 James at 15 Middle-Aged Woman TV series
1978 Switch Librarian TV series
1978 Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid Farmer's Wife
1978 Project U.F.O. Nurse TV series
1979 Turnabout TV series
1979 The Best Place to Be Kitty Rawlings TV movie
1980 Barnaby Jones Lillian Bennoit TV series
1981 Barney Miller Miss Louise Shawcross TV series
1983 The Greatest American Hero Eleanor Pilburn TV series
1983 Amanda's TV series
1984 Knight Rider Judge TV series
1984 The Fisher Family TV series
1988 Mr. Belvedere Mrs. Meyers TV series

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Alice Backes Citron obituary, archives of the Los Angeles Times, March 27, 2007. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "The Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940", enumeration April 13, 1940, Salt Lake City, Utah. Bureau of the Census, United States Department of Commerce. Image of original census page, FamilySearch; retrieved May 29, 2017.
  3. ^ "Marriage Certificate" of Virginia Grace Backes (one of Alice Backes' younger sisters) to John Thomas Baxter, March 6, 1957, Los Angeles, California. FamilySearch; retrieved May 29, 2017.
  4. ^ https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=753296 Archived 2020-11-29 at the Wayback Machine [pg. 92]
  5. ^ "Up in Central Park (1948) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  6. ^ a b Old Time Radio Downloads (OTR), "Radio Stars"/"Alice Backes"; website listings of some of the radio series on which Backes performed in the late 1940s to mid-1950s; retrieved April 24, 2017.
  7. ^ "The Best Place to Be" Archived 2016-08-16 at the Wayback Machine, tcm.com; retrieved May 22, 2017.
  8. ^ Columbo: "A Trace of Murder" Archived 2018-11-14 at the Wayback Machine, tcm.com; retrieved May 23, 2017.
  9. ^ "Alice Backes" Archived 2019-01-24 at the Wayback Machine, filmography, American Film Institute (AFI), Los Angeles, California. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  10. ^ Milton Citron profile Archived 2017-05-04 at the Wayback Machine, AFI.com; retrieved May 16, 2017.
  11. ^ "Biographies: Latter-day Saint and/or Utah Film Personalities: B". www.ldsfilm.com. Archived from the original on 2024-01-03. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
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