Blossom Rock


Edith Marie Blossom MacDonald, also known as Blossom Rock, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage, film and television. During her career she was also billed as Marie Blake or Blossom MacDonald. Her younger sister was screen actress and singer Jeanette MacDonald. Rock is best known for her role as "Grandmama" on the 1960s macabre/black comedy sitcom The Addams Family.

Personal life

Blossom Rock was born on August 21, 1895, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the second of three daughters born to Anna May and Daniel McDonald. The family later changed the spelling of their last name to MacDonald. As a youth, Blossom first performed in vaudeville with her younger sister, Jeanette. She had an elder sister, Elsie Wallace MacDonald, who had also been a vaudeville performer and then operated a dance school until 1962.
She married actor Clarence Warren Rock, on September 26, 1926, in Manhattan, and they performed as a vaudeville act titled "Rock and Blossom" from 1925 to 1929. Clarence Rock died in 1960, and the couple had no children.

Career

Rock adopted the name Marie Blake for her film career, beginning as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in 1937 with an uncredited appearance in My Dear Miss Aldrich. Her first credited major part was Love Finds Andy Hardy, and she then played her most notable onscreen role as Sally, the hospital switchboard operator, in the nine films that comprised MGM's popular Dr. Kildare series from 1938 to 1942. She once had the same agent as Irene Ryan, whose similar career later caused Rock to fire him.
Rock returned to using her real name in the 1950s, and later gained her biggest fame by playing "Grandmama" on the ABC sitcom The Addams Family, which was originally broadcast from 1964 to 1966. In October 1964, she made a public appearance in character at a haunted house at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

Illness and death

Rock suffered a stroke in December 1967 that affected her speech and prevented her from reuniting with fellow castmates for the 1977 television film Halloween with the New Addams Family. However, she reportedly watched the film from the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital. She died at age 82 on January 14, 1978, in Los Angeles, and was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale

Selected filmography

  • My Dear Miss Aldrich as Telephone Operator
  • Thoroughbreds Don't Cry as Hospital Telephone Operator
  • Mannequin as Mrs. Schwartz
  • Love Is a Headache as Hillier's Secretary
  • Woman Against Woman as Miss Van Horn — Ellen's New Nursemaid
  • Love Finds Andy Hardy as Augusta
  • Rich Man, Poor Girl as Mrs. Gussler
  • Three Loves Has Nancy as Second Woman Getting Autograph
  • Vacation from Love as Bill's Receptionist
  • Young Dr. Kildare as Miss Sally Green
  • Dramatic School as Annette
  • The Ice Follies of 1939 as Effie Lane — Tolliver's Secretary
  • Blind Alley as Harriet
  • Calling Dr. Kildare as Sally
  • The Women as Stockroom Girl
  • The Secret of Dr. Kildare as Sally — Telephone Operator
  • Day-Time Wife as Singing Telegram Operator
  • A Child Is Born as Ethel — Reception Nurse
  • Judge Hardy and Son as Augusta McBride
  • Alfalfa's Aunt as Aunt Penelope
  • The Man Who Wouldn't Talk as
  • Dr. Kildare's Strange Case as Sally, Hospital Switchboard Operator
  • Sailor's Lady as Beauty Operator
  • They Drive by Night as Waitress
  • Dr. Kildare Goes Home as Sally
  • They Knew What They Wanted as Waitress
  • Li'l Abner as Miss Lulubell
  • Gallant Sons as Woman Helping to Look For Ring
  • Dr. Kildare's Crisis as Sally, Hospital Receptionist
  • Jennie as Minor Role
  • You're the One as Beauty Shop Operator
  • Here Comes Happiness as Clara
  • The People vs. Dr. Kildare as Sally
  • Caught in the Draft as Nurse with Castor Oil
  • Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day as Sally
  • Remember the Day as Miss Cartwright
  • Blue, White and Perfect as Ethel
  • Dr. Kildare's Victory as Sally
  • The Wife Takes a Flyer as Frieda
  • A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen as Motel Landlady
  • Small Town Deb as Beauty Operator
  • Calling Dr. Gillespie as Sally, Receptionist
  • Give Out, Sisters as Biandina Waverly
  • I Married a Witch as Purity Sykes
  • Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant as Sally
  • Good Morning, Judge as Nicky Clark
  • Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case as Sally
  • All by Myself as Miss Ryan
  • Campus Rhythm as Susie Smith — Hartman's Secretary
  • Whispering Footsteps as Sally Lukens, boarder
  • Make Your Own Bed as Woman Jerry Mistakes for Susan
  • South of Dixie as Ruby
  • Sensations of 1945 as Miss Grear
  • Gildersleeve's Ghost as Harriet Morgan
  • The Unwritten Code as Nurse
  • Roughly Speaking as Nurse
  • Keep Your Powder Dry as WAC Supply Corporal
  • Between Two Women as Sally
  • Pillow to Post as Wilbur's Mother
  • Christmas in Connecticut as Mrs. Wright
  • Abbott and Costello in Hollywood as Royce's Secretary
  • Gentleman Joe Palooka as Maid
  • Fun on a Weekend as Mr. Prigee's Secretary
  • Dark Delusion as Sally
  • Christmas Eve as Reporter
  • Mourning Becomes Electra as Minnie Ames
  • The Gangster as House Mistress
  • An Innocent Affair as Hilda — the Maid
  • The Girl from Manhattan as Committeewoman
  • The Snake Pit as Patient Awaiting Staff
  • Bad Boy as Miss Worth
  • Alimony as Mrs. Nesbitt
  • Angels in Disguise as Millie
  • Chicago Deadline as Telephone Operataor
  • Sons of New Mexico as Hannah Dobbs
  • Paid in Full as Tired Woman Patient
  • A Woman of Distinction as Wax Operator
  • Joe Palooka in the Squared Circle as Prunella, Humphrey's Sister
  • Love Nest as Mrs. Quigg
  • F.B.I. Girl as Landlady
  • Gobs and Gals as Bertram's Mother
  • The Star as Annie, Stones' Maid
  • Small Town Girl as Customer
  • Phantom of the Rue Morgue as Marie
  • The Human Jungle as Mrs. Ashton
  • Hilda Crane as Clara — Mrs. Crane's Housekeeper
  • The Desperados Are in Town as Mrs. Green
  • She Devil as Hannah — the Housekeeper
  • The Way to the Gold as Mrs. Lattimer
  • From the Terrace as Nellie
  • Swingin' Along as Woman in Apartment No. 1
  • Snow White and the Three Stooges as Servant
  • The Second Time Around as Mrs. Vera Collins
  • The New Phil Silvers Show as Mother Gilhooley
  • The Best Man as Cleaning Woman
  • The Addams Family as Grandmama