Biographie

Benaderet became sick with cancer in 1967, which led to her leaving Petticoat Junction (1963) in what it was hoped would be a temporary retirement. Rosemary DeCamp was brought in to play the Bradley girls' Aunt Helen in the scripts that were obviously written for Benaderet's character, Kate Bradley. Benaderet only managed to return twice on the show after her departure. Following her death, June Lockhart was brought in as a surrogate mother figure and lady M.D. who sets up practice at the Shady Rest Hotel. However, Benaderet's anchoring presence was missed by the public and the show lasted only two more seasons (1968-1970).

Bea Benaderet was Lucille Ball's original choice for the role of Ethel Mertz on the sitcom I Love Lucy (1951).

A prolific dialectician, she was one of the few female voice artists associated with Warner Bros. studio in its early days (as Mel Blanc provided the majority of character voices at the time, even for the female characters). She never received screen credit due to Blanc's WB contract. She went on to play the character Granny from 1937 into the 1950s when June Foray took over the vocal role. She reunited with Blanc in the 1960s when he voiced Barney Rubble to her Betty Rubble.

Though rarely credited, Bea Benaderet was the voice of several female characters in many Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.

She died during the run of her television series Petticoat Junction (1963), and a stand-in, seen only from the back, and with no dialogue to speak, was used for the last episode in which she supposedly appeared.