Kaye Ballard

Early life

Ballard was born Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four children born to Italian immigrant parents, Lena (née Nacarato) and Vincenzo (later Vincent James) Balotta. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Calabria, a region of southern Italy.

Career

Ballard established herself as a musical comedian in the 1940s, joining the Spike Jones touring revue of entertainers. Capable of playing broad physical comedy as well as stand-up dialogue routines, she became familiar in television and stage productions. Ballard made her television debut on Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt, a short-lived program hosted by Henry Morgan which first aired January 26, 1951. In 1954, she was the first person to record the song "Fly Me to the Moon."

In 1957, she and Alice Ghostley played the two wicked stepsisters in the live telecast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, starring Julie Andrews in the title role.

Ballard starred on Broadway as Helen in The Golden Apple (1954) introducing the song "Lazy Afternoon". She portrayed Ruth in Joseph Papp's The Pirates of Penzance, Rosalie in Carnival! and the title role in Molly, an unsuccessful musical adaptation of the popular radio serial The Goldbergs. She created the role of the Countess and closed out-of-town in Marc Blitzstein's Reuben, Reuben, and played Ruth Sherwood in Wonderful Town at New York City Center in 1963.

In Long Beach, California, she played Mama Morton in Chicago and fought with a vacuum cleaner as Pauline in No, No, Nanette. In 1998, she played Hattie Walker in the Paper Mill Playhouse's acclaimed revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. In 2005, she appeared in a road-company production of Nunsense, written by Dan Goggin. The following year, she completed her autobiography How I Lost 10 Pounds in 53 Years.

In 1995, she was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.

She appeared in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! as Madam A-Go-Go, a mysterious fortune teller who appears in the episode "Fortune Teller". She also performed with The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies at the Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, California.

In December 2010, she, Donna McKechnie and Liliane Montevecchi starred in a production of From Broadway with Love, staged at the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ballard was in the 2012 cabaret show Doin' It for Love, which premiered in Austin, Texas at the Paramount Theatre. Starring Ballard and Montevecchi, the cast included Broadway dancer Lee Roy Reams. (The Austin performance benefited the Texas Humane Legislation Network.) The show then went on to play in Los Angeles on March 8 and 10, 2012. Ballard announced her official retirement in 2015 at the age of 89.

Death

Ballard died at her home in Rancho Mirage, California, on January 21, 2019, at the age of 93. The cause was kidney cancer, according to a friend.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage work

• Three to Make Ready (1946)
• That's the Ticket! (Phila. 1948)
• Touch and Go (London, 1950)
• Top Banana (1952) (replacement for Rose Marie)
• The Golden Apple (1954)
• Reuben, Reuben (1955) (closed on the road)
• Wonderful Town (1958; 1963)
• Carnival! (1961)
• Gypsy (Dallas, 1962)
• The Beast in Me (1963)
• Royal Flush (1964) (closed on the road)
• The Decline and Fall of the Entire World as Seen Through the Eyes of Cole Porter (1965, Off-Broadway)
• Minnie's Boys (1972)
• Molly (1973)
• Gypsy (1973)
• Sheba (1974) (closed on the road)
• Apartment 8 Strikes Back (1980)
• The Pirates of Penzance (1981) (replacement for Estelle Parsons)
• Pippin (1982)
• Hey, Ma ... Kaye Ballard (1984)
• High Spirits (1984)
• She stoops to conquer (1984, Off-Broadway)
• The Ladies Who Wrote the Lyrics (1985)
• Kaye Ballard: Working 42nd St. at Last! (1988, Off-Broadway)
• Nymph Errant (1989)
• Funny Girl (1991; 1997; 2002)
• Hey, Ma - Working Hollywood Blvd. at Last! (1991)
• Chicago (1992, Long Beach)
• No, No, Nanette (1994, Long Beach; 1997, Paper Mill Playhouse)
• Over the River and Through the Woods (1998, Off-Broadway)
• Follies (1998, Paper Mill Playhouse)
• The Full Monty (2001)
• Funny Girl (2002, New York in concert)
• Quartet (2002, 2006)
• Nunsense (2003)

Discography

References

References

1. (22 January 2019). "Kaye Ballard, Indefatigable Comedian and Actress, Dies at 93". [[The New York Times]].
2. "Kaye Ballard".
3. (January 10, 2014). "Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010". McFarland & Company.
4. (2019-01-22). "Kaye Ballard Dead: 'Mothers-in-Law' Star Was 93".
5. (1954-05-08). "Reviews of New Pop Records".
6. During the 1961–1963 television seasons, Ballard was a regular on ''[[Perry Como. The Perry Como Show]]'', as part of the [[Kraft Music Hall]] Players, along with [[Don Adams]], [[Paul Lynde]], and [[Sandy Stewart (singer). Alice]]'', in which she played a [[kleptomania]]c and phony [[mediumship. medium]] as well as ''[[Daddy Dearest (American TV series). Daddy Dearest]]'', where she guest-starred opposite [[Richard Lewis (comedian). Richard Lewis]] and [[Don Rickles]].[http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/daddy-dearest/episodes/200769/ ''Daddy Dearest'' Episode Guide]. ''[[TV Guide]]''. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
7. "Wonderful Town: City Center Revival (1963)".
8. Ballard, Kaye. (2005). "How I Lost 10 Pounds in 53 Years". Back Stage Books.
9. "Past Honorees".
10. Mitchell, Gordon "Whitey". (2006). "Star Walk: A Guide to the Palm Springs Walk of Stars". Hall/Sloane.
11. Gans, Andrew. (September 1, 2010). "Kaye Ballard, Donna McKechnie and Liliane Montevecchi Set for From Broadway with Love". [[Playbill]].
12. Faires, Robert. "Special Kaye Vaudeville, Broadway, TV, film — Kaye Ballard has done it all". [[The Austin Chronicle]].
13. Thomas, Nick. (2015-11-10). "Tinseltown Talks: Kaye Ballard recalls a long, eventful career". [[The News Herald (North Carolina).
14. Elber, Lynn. (January 22, 2019). "Kaye Ballard, Boisterous Singer and Actress, Dies at 93".
15. Dagan, Carmel. (January 22, 2019). "Kaye Ballard, Star of 'The Mothers-in-Law,' Dies at 93".