- Born
- Died
- Reta Shaw is best known to television audiences as Hope Lange's housekeeper in the TV series The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1968). Disney fans will remember her as one of the singing domestics in the Oscar-winning masterpiece Mary Poppins (1964). While she never achieved stardom as a leading lady, she earned her place as a solid supporting player in a variety of popular, much-loved cinematic classics. She created the comic part of Mabel when the musical "The Pajama Game" opened on Broadway in 1954, a role she repeated in the film version.- IMDb mini biography by: A. Nonymous
- SpouseWilliam A. Forester(August 20, 1952 - 1962) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenKathryn Anne Forester
- ParentsHoward Walker ShawEdna May Easson
- RelativesMarguerite Morse Shaw(Sibling)
- Strong New England accent
- Heavyset.
- In The Odd Couple episode, "Maid for Each Other," Oscar, upset with Claire Frost, the nanny Felix hired, says that he imagined a nanny being "a nice, sweet little lady, with red cheeks, and an umbrella," a reference to Julie Andrew's character, Mary Poppins. Oscar then sings his own version of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," another allusion to the film Mary Poppins. Interestingly, Reta Shaw, who plays Frost, also plays cook Mrs. Brill in the movie Mary Poppins.
- Father: Howard Walker Shaw; Mother: Edna May Easson.
- She appeared with Elizabeth Montgomery in several episodes of the popular television series Bewitched (1964).
- She made her Broadway debut in the 1947 production of It Takes Two and went on to appear in her first television series, Mister Peepers (1952), in 1952.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content