Sara Seegar

Sara Seegar (born Sarah Wall Seegar, July 1, 1914; died August 12, 1990) was an American actress whose work spanned stage, film, radio, and television across several decades. Born in Greentown, Indiana, she was the youngest of five daughters of Frank and Carrie (née Wall) Seegar. Three of her sisters also pursued careers in performance: Dorothy Seegar (1897–1999) worked as an actress and singer, and Miriam Seegar (1907–2011) was likewise an actress. Seegar received her early schooling in London and Paris before graduating from Hollywood High School, where she took part in dramatic and musical productions. She subsequently earned a degree in drama from Los Angeles Junior College, participating in stage productions there as well.

Before establishing herself in the United States, Seegar launched her professional career on the London stage, beginning with Three Men on a Horse. She continued performing in London until the outbreak of World War II prompted her return to America. Beginning in 1940, she transitioned to Broadway, where she appeared in three productions over the course of the decade. Her first Broadway credit was Horse Fever (1940), in which she played Milly Flynn — the production in which she also met her future husband, Ezra Stone. She and Stone married on October 5, 1942, and had two children: a son, Josef Seegar Stone (1944–2010), and a daughter, Francine Lida Stone. Also in 1942, Seegar appeared in Vickie, serving in the dual capacity of playing Mrs. Corliss and working as assistant stage manager. Her final Broadway credit was At War with the Army (1949), in which she portrayed Mrs. Caldwell. In 1960, she played Lady Bracknell in the Off-Broadway production Ernest in Love.

Seegar's film work included several British productions from the late 1930s: The Last Curtain (1937), Smash and Grab (1937), Dead Men Tell No Tales (1938), and Mr. Reeder in Room 13 (1938). Her American film credits include an uncredited role as Mrs. Cory in The Shrike (1955) and the role of Mrs. Maud Dunlop in the 1962 film adaptation of The Music Man, alongside Robert Preston and Shirley Jones.

On television, Seegar built a substantial body of work throughout the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in character roles on programs including Suspense, Perry Mason, The Donna Reed Show, and The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1962). She is perhaps most closely associated with the 1962–63 season of Dennis the Menace, in which she played Eloise Wilson, wife of John Wilson. Her character was introduced after the death of actor Joseph Kearns, who had played George Wilson; with George and Martha Wilson written out of the series, Gale Gordon joined the cast as John Wilson, George's brother, and Seegar took on the role of his wife, effectively succeeding Sylvia Field, who had portrayed Martha Wilson from 1959 to 1962. Seegar also appeared in ten distinct roles across the run of Bewitched (1964–1972), playing characters including Cora Mae Franklin, Mrs. Prescott, Mrs. Meiklejohn, and others. Additional television credits include The Cara Williams Show (1965), The Brady Bunch (1972), and The Jeffersons (1978). She also performed on radio, including appearances on The Aldrich Family, and played Elsie on Room for One More.

Seegar died on August 12, 1990, of a cerebral hemorrhage at St. Mary's Hospital in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Her ashes, along with those of her husband, were interred at Washington Crossing National Cemetery in a ceremony held in 2013.