Hope Summers
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jun 7, 1896
- Died
- Jun 22, 1979 (aged 83)
- Place of birth
- Mattoon, Illinois, USA
- Credits
- 74
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
Filmography
Evil Town
1987Movie
Alice Wylie (as Hope Summer)
Smokey and the Good Time Outlaws
1978Movie
Marcie
Foul Play
1978Movie
Ethel
Another Day
1978TV
Snip
1976TV
Aunt Polly
Starsky & Hutch
1975TV
Welcome Back, Kotter
1975TV
Dr. Shagetz
1975Movie
Alice Wylie
Death Sentence
1974Movie
Emily Boylan
Chico and the Man
1974TV
Little House on the Prairie
1974TV
Addie Bjornesen
Our Time
1974Movie
Biology Teacher
Indict and Convict
1974Movie
Mrs. Potter
Charley Varrick
1973Movie
Mess Vesta
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies
1973Movie
Laura
M*A*S*H
1972TV
Nurse Meg Cratty
Where Does It Hurt?
1972Movie
Nurse Throttle
Get to Know Your Rabbit
1972Movie
Mrs. Beeman
Night Gallery
1970TV
The Learning Tree
1969Movie
Mrs. Kiner
Hawaii Five-O
1969TV
Minnie Leona Moroney
Mayberry R.F.D.
1968TV
Clara Edwards, Clara
Adam-12
1968TV
Clara Fisher
5 Card Stud
1968Movie
Customer in General Store (uncredited)
The Shakiest Gun in the West
1968Movie
Celia
Rosemary's Baby
1968Movie
Mrs. Gilmore
The Second Hundred Years
1967TV
Mrs. Hansen
Penelope
1966Movie
Shop Lady (uncredited)
That Girl
1966TV
Love on a Rooftop
1966TV
The Pruitts of Southampton
1966TV
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
1966Movie
Susanna Blush
The Hallelujah Trail
1965Movie
Mrs. Hasselrad
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
1964TV
Bewitched
1964TV
One Man's Way
1964Movie
Mrs. Elwood Thompson
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
1963TV
Mrs. Rutledge
Glynis
1963TV
Petticoat Junction
1963TV
Mabel Denton
Spencer's Mountain
1963Movie
Mother Ida
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962TV
The Couch
1962Movie
Mrs. Quimby
The Children's Hour
1961Movie
Agatha
The Dick Van Dyke Show
1961TV
The New Breed
1961TV
Mrs. McCurtin
Dr. Kildare
1961TV
Madge
Claudelle Inglish
1961Movie
Ernestine Peasley (uncredited)
Homicidal
1961Movie
Martha Adrims (Uncredited)
Angel Baby
1961Movie
Woman at Revival Meeting (uncredited)
Parrish
1961Movie
Mary (uncredited)
The Andy Griffith Show
1960TV
Clara Edwards
My Three Sons
1960TV
Inherit the Wind
1960Movie
Mrs. Krebs - Righteous Townswoman
Hound-Dog Man
1959Movie
Jewell Crouch
Edge of Eternity
1959Movie
Motel Attendant
Dennis the Menace
1959TV
Mrs. Burns
The Third Man
1959TV
Irate woman
Law of the Plainsman
1959TV
Mrs. Dodge
I Want to Live!
1958Movie
Ethel - Policewoman on Bus (uncredited)
U.S. Marshall
1958TV
Mrs. Martin (uncredited)
The Rifleman
1958TV
Hattie Denton
Peter Gunn
1958TV
Zero Hour!
1957Movie
Older Woman
Maverick
1957TV
The Thin Man
1957TV
The Gale Storm Show
1956TV
Angie Kirkham
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955TV
Marie Tallendier, Maid
Gunsmoke
1955TV
Ellen Cade, Della, Jen
Son of Man
1954Movie
Miss Johnson
Letter to Loretta
1953TV
Nurse O'Brien
General Electric Theater
1953TV
Elizabeth, Mrs. Wagner, Aunt
Private Secretary
1953TV
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951TV
Old Lady
Better Use of Leisure Time
1950Movie
Mrs. Michaels (uncredited)