Florence Halop(1923-1986)

The daughter of Benjamin and Lucille (Halop) Cohen and sister of actor Billy Halop (with whom she appeared in "Junior G Men", a Dead End Kid/Little Tough Guy film from 1940), Florence Halop worked on radio from the age of four. She later found television to be her preferred medium, drawing laughs alone with her short stature, feisty demeanor and unmistakable rasp. She also continued her career on radio. On television, she appeared on episodes of Playhouse 90 (1956), Cavalcade of Stars (1949), The Jimmy Durante Show (1954), and, years later, Alice (1976) and Barney Miller (1975) (making numerous appearances in both 1970s series). She also was frequently seen in television commercials. At one point, she briefly worked as a Beverly Hills real estate agent. Late in life, in 1985, she replaced Selma Diamond as the deadpan bailiff on Night Court (1984). Diamond, a lifelong chain smoker, had died of lung cancer. In a grisly coincidence, Halop, also a heavy smoker, died less than a year later, also of cancer (breast and lung), after only one season on the show.