Eleanor Audley

Statuesque and slightly imposing, actress Eleanor Audley was a popular radio, television, and film actress of the 1940s and '50s. She began her career in radio as the mother-in-law, Mrs. Cooper, on "My Favorite Husband" and in a supporting role on "Father Knows Best." Often cast as imposing, icy, and aristocratic female authority figures, Audley did her most distinctive work in the Walt Disney animated classics "Cinderella" as the evil stepmother Lady Tremaine, and as the wicked fairy Maleficent in "Sleeping Beauty." Disney animators also drew Audley's characters in her likeness, making both her voice and her face recognizable in the roles. She appeared in scores of television shows over the course of her career, including "Perry Mason," "The Joey Bishop Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," a role as Mother Eunice Douglas on "Green Acres" with Eddie Arnold, and as Mrs. Vincent on "My Three Sons." Audley retired in 1970 and died 21 years later of respiratory failure in Los Angeles.