Reta Shaw: Character Actress of Television’s Golden Age
Reta Shaw (September 13, 1912 – January 8, 1982) was an American character actress known for playing strong, hard-edged, working women in film and on many of the most popular television programs of the 1960s and 1970s. She is best remembered as the housekeeper Martha Grant on the television series The Ghost & Mrs. Muir and as the cook Mrs. Brill in the 1964 film Mary Poppins.
Early Life and Education
Reta Marguerite Shaw was born in South Paris, Maine, on September 13, 1912, to Howard Shaw, an orchestra leader. Her younger sister was actress Marguerite Shaw. The daughter and granddaughter of women who believed in spiritualism, Shaw reportedly once told a newspaper interviewer that she had been “brought up on a ouija board.”
Shaw graduated from Paris High School in 1929, receiving the Alumni Prize and a varsity letter for her role as manager of the girls track team. She sang at the South Paris Congregational Church and participated in amateur theatricals before studying acting at the Leland Powers School of the Theater in Boston, Massachusetts.
Career and Achievements
After graduating from Leland Powers School, Shaw pursued professional theater as a performer, accompanist, music director, and teacher. She taught at the Bishop Lee School in Boston and performed in summer stock in Malden Bridge, New York. In 1936–1937, she served as vocal coach and acting teacher for children at the Studio Theater School in Buffalo, New York, where she performed in plays including “Spring Dance” by Philip Barry and directed the one-act play “So’s Your Old Antique” by Clare Kummer. She also performed on local radio in Buffalo and worked comedy in night clubs before joining the Red Cross Entertainment Unit during World War II, serving for three years mostly overseas, including 18 months in Iceland.
Shaw’s first credited Broadway appearance was in 1947’s It Takes Two. She subsequently appeared in Virginia Reel and took a comedic role as Mabel in the original 1954 production of The Pajama Game, followed by roles in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Picnic, and Annie Get Your Gun on tour with Mary Martin. Her film work included Picnic, The Pajama Game, Mary Poppins, Pollyanna, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, Bachelor in Paradise, and Escape to Witch Mountain.
Notable Events and Milestones
Shaw’s television career spanned the late 1950s through the 1970s. She appeared in the first season (1958–1959) of The Ann Sothern Show as Flora Macauley and in Pollyanna in 1960 as Tillie Langerlof. During the 1960–1961 season, she played housekeeper Thelma on The Tab Hunter Show, followed by roles in Ichabod and Me (1961–1962) and Oh! Those Bells (1962).
Throughout the 1960s, Shaw appeared on numerous popular series. She guest-starred on The Lucy Show, The Andy Griffith Show (twice, as escaped convict Big Maude Tyler and as voice teacher Eleanora Poultice), Lost in Space, The Dick Van Dyke Show, My Three Sons, That Girl, I Spy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and I Dream of Jeannie. She had a recurring role as the witch Bertha/Hagatha on Bewitched and appeared as Mrs. Burkhardt on The Cara Williams Show during the 1964–1965 season. In 1973, she played country nurse Ozella Peterson in the Emergency! episode “Snakebite” and appeared in Barnaby Jones and The Odd Couple.
Shaw co-starred on the sitcom The Ghost & Mrs. Muir as housekeeper Martha Grant, set in the fictional fishing village of Schooner Bay, Maine. This role became one of her most recognizable television performances.
Additional Resources
Reta Shaw’s extensive work in television and film during Hollywood’s mid-century era is documented in greater detail through Wikipedia and other biographical archives. Viewers interested in her performances can explore her filmography and television appearances through streaming services and classic television databases that preserve her work from the 1960s and 1970s.
Observer Voice is the one stop site for National, International news, Sports, Editor’s Choice, Art/culture contents, Quotes and much more. We also cover historical contents. Historical contents includes World History, Indian History, and what happened today. The website also covers Entertainment across the India and World.
Follow Us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, & LinkedIn
