Hope Summers

Hope Summers could portray a friendly neighbor or companion as she did for Frances Bavier's Aunt Bee character on many episodes of The Andy Griffith Show (1960) or a seemingly amiable Satanist in Rosemary's Baby (1968). Born in Mattoon, Illinois, she developed an early interest in the theater. Graduating from Northwestern School of Speech in Evanston, Illinois, she subsequently taught speech and diction there. This, in turn, led to her the head position in the Speech Department at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, teaching students privately on the side as well. In the 1930s Hope began to focus on acting. She found work in community and stock theaters in Illinois and earned some notice for putting on one-woman shows such as "Backstage of Broadway." She made use of her vocal eloquence by building up her resumé on radio, performing in scores of dramatic shows, including "Authors' Playhouse," "First Night," "Ma Perkins", and "Step-Mother". In 1950 Hope transferred her talents to the new medium of television and earned a regular role on the comedy series Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel (1950). By the age of 50 she was customarily called upon to play slightly older than she was, appearing in a number of minuscule matron roles in such films as Zero Hour! (1957), Hound-Dog Man (1959), Inherit the Wind (1960), Spencer's Mountain (1963), The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966), Charley Varrick (1973) and her last, Foul Play (1978). She never had any major stand-out roles in movies; TV would be a more prolific choice of medium. Her gently stern, old-fashioned looks allowed her to be a part of many small-town settings, including Dennis the Menace (1959) and Petticoat Junction (1963), and in various western locales such as Maverick (1957) and Wagon Train (1957). She played a rustic regular for many years on The Rifleman (1958). Usually assigned to play teachers, nurses and other helpful, nurturing types, her characters were also known to be inveterate gossips. Hope worked until close to the end of her life, passing away from heart failure in 1979.

Known For: Acting

Born: Mattoon, Illinois, USA, 1896-06-07

Died: 1979-06-22

Film

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1950	Better Use of Leisure Time	Mrs. Michaels (uncredited)	0
2	1957	Zero Hour!	Older Woman	66
3	1958	I Want to Live!	Ethel - Policewoman on Bus (uncredited)	69
4	1959	Edge of Eternity	Motel Attendant	66
5	1959	Hound-Dog Man	Jewell Crouch	44
6	1960	Inherit the Wind	Mrs. Krebs - Righteous Townswoman	77
7	1961	Parrish	Mary (uncredited)	54
8	1961	Angel Baby	Woman at Revival Meeting (uncredited)	60
9	1961	Homicidal	Martha Adrims (Uncredited)	65
10	1961	Claudelle Inglish	Ernestine Peasley (uncredited)	55
11	1961	The Children's Hour	Agatha	77
12	1962	The Couch	Mrs. Quimby	61
13	1963	Spencer's Mountain	Mother Ida	67
14	1964	One Man's Way	Mrs. Elwood Thompson	40
15	1965	The Hallelujah Trail	Mrs. Hasselrad	60
16	1966	The Ghost & Mr. Chicken	Susanna Blush	67
17	1966	Penelope	Shop Lady (uncredited)	56
18	1968	Rosemary's Baby	Mrs. Gilmore	78
19	1968	The Shakiest Gun in the West	Celia	62
20	1969	The Learning Tree	Mrs. Kiner	69
21	1972	Get to Know Your Rabbit	Mrs. Beeman	51
22	1972	Where Does It Hurt?	Nurse Throttle	51
23	1973	Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies	Laura	47
24	1973	Charley Varrick	Mess Vesta	74
25	1974	Indict and Convict	Mrs. Potter	0
26	1974	Our Time	Biology Teacher	75
27	1974	Death Sentence	Emily Boylan	57
28	1975	Dr. Shagetz	Alice Wylie	0
29	1978	Foul Play	Ethel	63
30	1978	Smokey and the Good Time Outlaws	Marcie	0
31	1987	Evil Town	Alice Wylie (as Hope Summer)	38

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1951	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars		73
2	1951	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Old Lady	73
3	1953	General Electric Theater	Elizabeth	63
4	1953	Private Secretary		50
5	1953	General Electric Theater	Mrs. Wagner	63
6	1953	General Electric Theater	Aunt	63
7	1953	Letter to Loretta	Nurse O'Brien	65
8	1955	Gunsmoke	Ellen Cade	66
9	1955	Gunsmoke	Della	66
10	1955	Gunsmoke	Jen	66
11	1955	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Marie Tallendier	77
12	1955	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Maid	77
13	1957	The Thin Man		76
14	1957	Maverick		68
15	1958	Peter Gunn		65
16	1958	The Rifleman		70
17	1959	Law of the Plainsman	Mrs. Dodge	60
18	1959	Dennis the Menace		65
19	1960	My Three Sons		65
20	1960	The Andy Griffith Show	Clara Edwards	76
21	1961	Dr. Kildare	Madge	55
22	1961	The Dick Van Dyke Show		75
23	1961	The New Breed	Mrs. McCurtin	70
24	1962	The Beverly Hillbillies		69
25	1963	Petticoat Junction	Mabel Denton	58
26	1963	Glynis		0
27	1963	The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters	Mrs. Rutledge	53
28	1964	Bewitched		79
29	1964	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.		71
30	1966	Love on a Rooftop		50
31	1966	The Pruitts of Southampton		53
32	1966	That Girl		63
33	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Minnie Leona Moroney	71
34	1968	Adam-12	Clara Fisher	70
35	1968	Mayberry R.F.D.	Clara Edwards	57
36	1968	Mayberry R.F.D.	Clara	57
37	1970	Night Gallery		78
38	1972	MAS*H	Nurse Meg Cratty	79
39	1974	Little House on the Prairie	Addie Bjornesen	79
40	1974	Chico and the Man		58
41	1975	Welcome Back, Kotter		72
42	1975	Starsky & Hutch		73
43	1976	Snip	Aunt Polly	0
44	1978	Another Day		0

No.

Year

Title

Role

Vote Average

1951