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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
June 7, 1896
Died
June 22, 1979
Place of Birth
Mattoon, Illinois, USA
Hope Summers
1.6 Popularity
Biography
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
Credits
Evil Town
as Alice Wylie (as Hope Summer)
1987
3.8
Smokey and the Good Time Outlaws
as Marcie
1978
0.0
Foul Play
as Ethel
1978
6.3
🎬
Another Day
1978
0.0
🎬
Snip
as Aunt Polly
1976
0.0
Starsky & Hutch
1975
7.3
Welcome Back, Kotter
1975
7.2
Dr. Shagetz
as Alice Wylie
1975
0.0
Death Sentence
as Emily Boylan
1974
5.3
Chico and the Man
1974
5.8
Little House on the Prairie
as Addie Bjornesen
1974
7.9
Our Time
as Biology Teacher
1974
7.5
Indict and Convict
as Mrs. Potter
1974
0.0
Charley Varrick
as Mess Vesta
1973
7.3
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies
as Laura
1973
4.7
M*A*S*H
as Nurse Meg Cratty
1972
7.9
Where Does It Hurt?
as Nurse Throttle
1972
5.1
Get to Know Your Rabbit
as Mrs. Beeman
1972
4.9
Night Gallery
1970
7.8
The Learning Tree
as Mrs. Kiner
1969
6.7
Mayberry R.F.D.
as Clara Edwards
1968
5.7
Mayberry R.F.D.
as Clara
1968
5.7
Adam-12
as Clara Fisher
1968
7.0
Hawaii Five-O
as Minnie Leona Moroney
1968
7.1
The Shakiest Gun in the West
as Celia
1968
6.3
Rosemary's Baby
as Mrs. Gilmore
1968
7.8
The Second Hundred Years
as Mrs. Hansen
1967
6.3
Penelope
as Shop Lady (uncredited)
1966
5.4
That Girl
1966
6.1
Love on a Rooftop
1966
5.0
The Pruitts of Southampton
1966
5.3
The Ghost & Mr. Chicken
as Susanna Blush
1966
6.7
The Hallelujah Trail
as Mrs. Hasselrad
1965
6.1
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
1964
7.0
Bewitched
1964
7.9
One Man's Way
as Mrs. Elwood Thompson
1964
3.3
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
as Mrs. Rutledge
1963
5.3
🎬
Glynis
1963
0.0
Petticoat Junction
as Mabel Denton
1963
5.7
Spencer's Mountain
as Mother Ida
1963
6.7
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
6.9
The Couch
as Mrs. Quimby
1962
6.1
The Children's Hour
as Agatha
1961
7.7
The Dick Van Dyke Show
1961
7.5
The New Breed
as Mrs. McCurtin
1961
7.0
Dr. Kildare
as Madge
1961
5.5
Claudelle Inglish
as Ernestine Peasley (uncredited)
1961
4.6
Homicidal
as Martha Adrims (Uncredited)
1961
6.4
Angel Baby
as Woman at Revival Meeting (uncredited)
1961
6.0
Parrish
as Mary (uncredited)
1961
5.0
The Andy Griffith Show
as Clara Edwards
1960
7.6
My Three Sons
1960
6.5
Inherit the Wind
as Mrs. Krebs - Righteous Townswoman
1960
7.7
Hound-Dog Man
as Jewell Crouch
1959
4.4
Edge of Eternity
as Motel Attendant
1959
6.6
Dennis the Menace
1959
6.5
The Third Man
as Irate woman
1959
7.1
Law of the Plainsman
as Mrs. Dodge
1959
6.0
I Want to Live!
as Ethel - Policewoman on Bus (uncredited)
1958
6.9
The Rifleman
1958
7.1
The Rifleman
as Hattie Denton
1958
7.1
Peter Gunn
1958
6.4
Zero Hour!
as Older Woman
1957
6.6
Maverick
1957
6.9
The Thin Man
1957
7.5
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Marie Tallendier
1955
7.8
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Maid
1955
7.8
Gunsmoke
as Ellen Cade
1955
6.6
Gunsmoke
as Della
1955
6.6
Gunsmoke
as Jen
1955
6.6
Son of Man
as Miss Johnson
1954
0.0
Letter to Loretta
as Nurse O'Brien
1953
6.5
Private Secretary
1953
5.0
General Electric Theater
as Elizabeth
1953
6.4
General Electric Theater
as Mrs. Wagner
1953
6.4
General Electric Theater
as Aunt
1953
6.4
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
7.2
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
as Old Lady
1951
7.2
Better Use of Leisure Time
as Mrs. Michaels (uncredited)
1950
0.0