'Pete And Gladys': The Cast Through The Years

Harry Morgan as “Pete Porter” — The main role and reason for the spin-off, Morgan was described as a candid and caring person. He made multiple appearances on television and radio, including ‘Dragnet’, ‘Hec Ramsey’, and ‘M*A*S*H’. He passed away in his sleep on 2011 at the age of 96. According to ‘The Washington Post’, Mike Farrell, who was on ‘M*A*S*H’ said, “[…] He was a treasure as a person, an imp at times, and always a true professional. He had worked with the greats and never saw himself as one of them. But he was. […]”

Cara Williams as “Gladys Porter” — Wife of “Pete Porter” and although she was the main character’s wife, Williams managed to earn an Emmy Award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy thanks to her performance on ‘Pete And Gladys’. She also won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘The Defiant Ones’. She passed away from a heart attack in 2021 at the age of 96.

Verna Felton as “Hilda Crocker” — Although she had an important role in both television series, Felton is also very well known for using her voice in Disney animations. She was ”Dumbo”’s mother in ‘Dumbo’, “The Fairy Godmother” in ‘Cinderella’, the “Queen of Hearts” in ‘Alice in Wonderland’, “Flora” (one of the fairies) in ‘Sleeping Beauty’, and other animations. She passed away from a stroke at the age of 76 on 1966.

Shirley Mitchell as “Janet Colton” — After appearing in ‘Pete And Gladys’, Mitchell got a role in ‘The Roman Holidays’ as “Laurie Holiday” ten years after her role as “Janet”. After that, she was the voice of various characters in ‘Scooby-Doo: The Headless Horseman of Halloween’, and had many other minor roles until 2012. She died a year later from heart failure at the age of 94.

Alvy Moore as “Howie” — Before appearing in ‘Pete And Gladys’, Moore co-starred in ‘Susan Slept Here’, and ‘5 Against the House’. However, he found success from 1965 to 1971 as “Hank Kimball” in ‘Green Acres’, appearing in 142 of the 170 total episodes. He passed away from heart failure on 1997 at the age of 76.

Barbara Stuart as “Alice” — Stuart had many smaller roles from 1957 to 1997, notably as “Bunny” in ‘Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.’ Although she is credited with a few films up to 1997, her career was TV-oriented and ran mostly from 1957 to 1983. Some of the most notable shows are ‘The Twilight Zone’, ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’, and ‘Batman’.

Gale Gordon as “Uncle Paul Porter” — Gordon made his big debut in 1952 with ‘Our Miss Brooks’ where he played as “Osgood Conklin” for 130 episodes. After the show ended in 1956, he appeared in 26 episodes of ‘The Brothers’, and nine in ‘Pete and Gladys’. He was far from done with his career, however, as he later appeared on multiple shows, including 111 episodes on ‘The Lucy Show’ in 1963 until the show’s end in 1968, where he had a role for 142 episodes until 1974 in ‘Here’s Lucy’.

Frances Rafferty as “Nancy” — Rafferty was part of the original cast of ‘December Bride’ appearing in 156 episodes as “Ruth Henshaw”, so when ‘Pete And Gladys’ was announced, she was cast again, although she only appeared in seven episodes. Rafferty began her career in movies before moving onto television, where she made multiple guest appearances.

Ernest Truex as “Pop” — Truex had an extensive career in entertainment. His firm film was ‘Caprice’ in 1913, which opened the doors to more than 70 films before starting a path in television. In television he was known for ‘Jamie’, ‘Mister Peepers’, ‘The Ann Sothern Show’, ‘The Twilight Zone’, and ‘Pete And Gladys’. He passed away on 1973 from a heart attack at the age of 83.

Whitney Blake as “Agatha Henderson” — Blake started out in a mix of movies and television series until landing a small role in ‘Pete And Gladys’ in 1960. The following year she scored her biggest role as “Dorothy Baxter” in ‘Hazel’, where she appeared in 122 episodes. Curiously enough, she married Tom Baxter in 1944. She passed away on 2002 from esophageal cancer at the age of 76.