Katharine Elizabeth Garde (September 19, 1905 – December 25, 1989) was an American stage, radio, film and television actress.
Early years Born in Philadelphia, Garde was starring in productions of South Philadelphia's Broadway Players by age 15. She attended the University of Pennsylvania.
Stage On the stage since the early 1920s, Garde made her Broadway debut as Alma Borden in Easy Come, Easy Go (1925–1926) and played character roles in productions including The Social Register (1931–1932) and The Primrose Path (1939). A tall woman, standing 5'10", she was cast as Aunt Eller in the original 1943 Broadway production of Oklahoma! She also portrayed Mrs. Gordon in Agatha Sue, I Love You (1966).
Radio After joining CBS in 1933, Garde began to work extensively in radio, performing on some three dozen shows including Lorenzo Jones, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, The Big Story, The Eddie Cantor Show (on which she played "all the women roles"), Front Page Farrell, Maudie's Diary, Perry Mason, Theatre Guild on the Air and The Fat Man. In 1934 Garde worked with Orson Welles on the CBS Radio series The American School of the Air, and she later performed in Welles' radio series including Les Misérables, The Mercury Theatre on the Air, The Campbell Playhouse and Ceiling Unlimited.
Film Garde's first three credited Hollywood film roles are in the early "talkies" The Lady Lies (1929), Damaged Love (1930), and Queen High (1930)."Betty Garde", filmography, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Turner Broadcasting System, a subsidiary of Time Warner, New York, N.Y. Retrieved January 8, 2017. Among her more notable later performances are in the film noir productions Call Northside 777 (1948), in which she plays a prosecution witness whose testimony convicts an innocent man; in Cry of the City (1948) as Miss Pruett; and in Caged (1950), as a murderous prison inmate.
Television Her television credits include playing Belle Starr on the January 27, 1952 episode of The Gabby Hayes Show.Gabby Hayes Show to Tell Stories of Fabled Adventures, Sioux City Journal, January 20, 1952, page 25 Garde also made appearances on The Honeymooners as the Kramdens' maid, Thelma; on The Real McCoys as a farmer, Aggie Larkin; on The Untouchables, as a maid in an episode starring Elizabeth Montgomery ("The Rusty Heller Story"); and on two episodes of The Twilight Zone, including "The Midnight Sun", opposite Lois Nettleton.
Death Betty Garde died December 25, 1989, at the age of 84 in a hospital in Sherman Oaks, California. No cause was given and there were no immediate survivors.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1929 The Lady Lies Hilda Pearson 1930 Queen High Florence Cole1931 Damaged Love Madge Sloan The Girl Habit Hattie Henry1948 Call Northside 777 Wanda Skutnik Alternative title: Calling Northside 777 Cry of the City Miss Pruett 1950 Caged Kitty Stark 1951 The Prince Who Was a Thief Mirza 1955 One Desire Mrs. O'Dell 1962 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm Miss Bettenhausen Television Year Title Role Notes 1950 The Big Story Annie 1 episode 1950–1951 Suspense 3 episodes 1950 The Big Story Annie 1 episode 1950–1951 Suspense 3 episodes 1952 The Gabby Hayes Show Belle Starr 1 episode 1955 The Honeymooners Thelma 1 episode 1955–1959 The United States Steel Hour MomMrs. Flynn 2 episodes1956 General Electric Theater Annie 1 episode The Edge of Night Mattie Lane Grimsley Unknown episodes 1957 Decoy Landlady 1 episode 1957–1959 As the World Turns Miss Tyler Unknown episodes 1959 Mr. Lucky Maybelle Towers 1 episode1959–1960 The Real McCoys Aggie Larkin 2 episodes The Untouchables Norma GuzikAlice 2 episodes1960 The Chevy Mystery Show Mrs. Andrews 1 episode Adventures in Paradise Queen Atea 1 episode1961 The Islanders Mme. Arbedutian 1 episode Shirley Temple's Storybook The Flowerwoman 1 episode Checkmate Sara 1 episode Route 66 Lydia Sullivan 1 episode The Twilight Zone PassengerMrs. Bronson 2 episodes1962 Ben Casey Florabelle Hanks 1 episode Car 54, Where Are You? Ma Dearheart 1 episode 1971 All the Way Home Aunt Sadie Follet Television movie
References
External links
Betty Garde Digital Gallery at the University of Maryland Library Betty Garde papers at the University of Maryland Library