Minerva Urecal
Minerva Urecal was an American stage and radio performer as well as a character actress in Hollywood films and on various television series from the early 1950s to 1965.
Early years
Urecal was born Florence Minerva Dunnuck in Eureka, California in 1894. She later formed her stage name by combining letters from the names of her hometown and state.
Career
Urecal was originally a vaudeville performer before venturing into radio and stage, later making her film debut in 1933. She played largely uncredited roles such as secretaries, laundresses and frontierswomen. She began working in television in the 1950s, favoring Westerns.
From 1932 to 1937, Urecal portrayed Mrs. Pasquale on the Sunday Night Hi-Jinks radio program. On television, she played Maw Bowie, the mother of the title character, in The Adventures of Jim Bowie. She guest-starred on CBS's My Friend Flicka, The Roy Rogers Show, The Lone Ranger, and the syndicated The Range Rider. She also had a recurring role in the 1953-1954 situation comedy Meet Mr. McNutley in the role of Josephine Bradley, the dean of a women's college. The program was broadcast on CBS radio and CBS-TV. She also played Billie the Barber in the 1950 episode of The Lone Ranger as "Billie the Great".
In 1957, Urecal had her only starring television role on the syndicated The Adventures of Tugboat Annie, playing the title character originally performed by Marie Dressler in the film Tugboat Annie in 1933 and continued by Marjorie Rambeau and Jane Darwell in two movie sequels. Later, in 1957, Urecal appeared as a landlady in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Fan Dancer's Horse". In 1959, Urecal replaced actress Hope Emerson as nightclub owner "Mother" for season 2 of the private detective series Peter Gunn.
Urecal appeared on the Walter Brennan ABC sitcom The Real McCoys in the series 1960 episode "The Gigolo" and in the Western series Whispering Smith in the episode "Swift Justice". She was cast as a maid in the 1961 episode "Call Me Mother" of the CBS sitcom Angel, starring Annie Fargé. In 1965 she made her second appearance on Perry Mason, this time as Martha Glenhorn in "The Case of the Lover's Gamble", as well as appearing as Martha Winslow in the rural sitcom Petticoat Junction in an episode entitled 'A Tale of Two Dogs'. Her final television appearance was the following year when she played Mrs. Griffin on an episode entitled 'Billie Jo's Independence Day' of Petticoat Junction.
Urecal was married to Max Holtzer.
Urecal died in 1966 from a heart attack in Glendale, California, aged 71. She was buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Selected filmography
Her Bodyguard - Lingerie Clerk Bombshell - Autograph Seeker Meet the Baron - Downstairs Maid Sadie McKee - Brennan's Cook's Assistant Straight Is the Way - Woman Assisting the Clapmans Student Tour - Wife Biography of a Bachelor Girl - Ms. Bella 'Bell' Clark It Happened in New York - Spinster Man on the Flying Trapeze - Italian Woman in Ambulance Bonnie Scotland - Storekeeper Here Comes the Band - Italian Wife His Night Out - Wife Love on a Bet - Miss Jones - MacCreigh's Secretary Three Godfathers - Parishioner Fury - Fanny Bulldog Edition - Mrs. George Poppupoppalas God's Country and the Woman - Maisie Her Husband's Secretary - Miss BaldwinOh, Doctor - Death Watch Mary MackleforthMountain Justice - Ella Crippen Charlie Chan at the Olympics - Gang Member Posing as Olympics Matron The Go Getter - Cappy Ricks' SecretaryEver Since Eve - Bellden's Receptionist Love in a Bungalow - Mrs. KesterBehind the Mike - Mrs. ReillyLife Begins with Love - Mrs. MurphyShe Loved a Fireman - Nurse Purdy Exiled to Shanghai - ClaireParadise for Three - Hotel Guest Reading in Bed Prison Nurse - SutherlandStart Cheering - Miss GrimleyThe Lady in the Morgue - Mrs. Horn Air Devils - Margaret PriceThe Devil's Party - Maria - Jerry's Housekeeper Wives Under Suspicion - Lady in Courtroom City Streets - Mrs. Grimley Frontier Scout - HelenDramatic School - Rose - Boulin's Secretary Thanks for Everything - Hatchet-Faced Woman Four Girls in White - Miss Perch - a Nurse You Can't Cheat an Honest Man - Screaming Spinster at Circus Let Us Live - Charwoman at Theatre Hold-Up S.O.S. Tidal Wave - Unexpected Father - Neighbor Second Fiddle - Miss Bland, the School Principal Should Husbands Work? - Noisy Neighbor Golden Boy - Grocery Customer No Place to Go - Miss Rice Dancing Co-Ed - Woman on Radio Sabotage - Minor Role Little Accident - Woman Missing Evidence - Amy, Housewife Destry Rides Again - Mrs. DeWitt The Sagebrush Family Trails West - Widow GailYou Can't Fool Your Wife - Mrs. DoolittleBoys of the City - AgnesWildcat Bus - Old Maid No, No, Nanette - Woman in Airport The San Francisco Docks - Landlady Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga - Irate Woman The Wild Man of Borneo - Mother of Baby Arkansas Judge - Miranda WolfsonGolden Hoofs - Myrt The Trial of Mary Dugan - Landlady Murder Among Friends - Mrs. O'Heaney A Man Betrayed - Librarian The Cowboy and the Blonde - MurphyMurder by Invitation - Maxine DenhamAccent on Love - Teresa LombrosoBowery Blitzkrieg - 'Picklepuss' - Reform School Matron Dressed to Kill - Landlady Man at Large - Mrs. Jones, Nervous Man's WifeSailors on Leave - Crusty Woman Never Give a Sucker an Even Break - The Cleaning WomanMoon Over Her Shoulder - Mrs. Duggins - Scoutmistress They Died with Their Boots On - Nurse Skylark - Woman in Subway Car Marry the Boss's Daughter - Elevator Passenger Lady for a Night - Spinster in Audience A Tragedy at Midnight - Mattie - Housekeeper My Favorite Blonde - Stone-Faced Woman The Corpse Vanishes - FagahIn Old California - Mrs. Carson Henry and Dizzy - Mrs. Kilmer Beyond the Blue Horizon - Wife at Circus Sons of the Pioneers - Ellie BixbySweater Girl - MelindaThe Man in the Trunk - Peggy's Landlady Henry Aldrich, Editor - Miss Schwellenhorn Daring Young Man - Nurse Riding Through Nevada - Widow HumboltThat Other Woman - Mrs. MacReadyThe Living Ghost - Delia PhillipsQuiet Please, Murder - Cookbook-Seeking Library Patron Shadow of a Doubt - Mrs. Henderson The Powers Girl - Maggie Kid Dynamite - JudgeSomething to Shout About - Mrs. Starretton The Ape Man - Agatha BrewsterDixie Dugan - Mrs. Wilson Keep 'Em Slugging - Miss Billings White Savage - Native Woman A Stranger in Town - Lady Stepping Off Train Hit the Ice - Wife at Hospital Ghosts on the Loose - HildaWagon Tracks West - Landlady So This Is Washington - Mrs. Pomeroy Dangerous Blondes - Mrs. Swanson, Housekeeper My Kingdom for a Cook - Woman in Employment Office Klondike Kate - Sarah The Song of Bernadette - Woman Describing Baby's Recovery The Bridge of San Luis Rey - Uncle Pio's Servant Mr. Skeffington - Woman in Beauty Shop / Nightclub Patron Man from Frisco - Widow Allison Louisiana Hayride - Ma CrockerBlock Busters - Amelia RogietWhen Strangers Marry - Landlady Kismet - Retainer The Doughgirls - Hatchet-Faced Woman Moonlight and Cactus - AbigailMusic in Manhattan - Mrs. Smith, the Landlady The Mark of the Whistler - Woman Sweeping Front Stoop Irish Eyes Are Smiling - Militant Wife One Mysterious Night - Miss Wilkinson And Now Tomorrow - Patient Crazy Knights - Mrs. BensonThe Kid Sister - Mrs. WigginsSalty O'Rourke - Saleslady A Medal for Benny - Mrs. Chavez Wanderer of the Wasteland - Mama RaffertyA Bell for Adano - Italian Woman Mr. Muggs Rides Again - Nora 'Ma' BrownState Fair - Woman Congratulating Mrs. Metcalf Men in Her Diary - Mrs. BraunGeorge White's Scandals - Teacher Sensation Hunters - Edna RogersVoice of the Whistler - Georgie's Wife The Bells of St. Mary's - Landlady Who's Guilty? - Mrs. DillBreakfast in Hollywood - Miss Mullins Partners in Time - Miss Abernathy The Virginian - Christopher's Mother The Dark Corner - Client Wife The Bride Wore Boots - Minor Role Rainbow Over Texas - Mama LolitaThe Well-Groomed Bride - Woman Without Reservations - Sue Little Miss Big - Woman No Leave, No Love - Mrs. Hanlon's Friend Crime Doctor's Man Hunt - Second Landlady Sioux City Sue - Mrs. Abercrombie - Elite Hotel Manager The Trap - Miss Weebles, the HousekeeperWake Up and Dream - Mrs. Edna Lucash Ladies' Man - Mrs. Ryan California - Emma Apache Rose - FeliciaThe Devil Thumbs a Ride - Mrs. Barnaby Undercover Maisie - Delicatessen Woman Blaze of Noon - Woman in Church Saddle Pals - Cora Downey High Conquest - Miss Woodley - replaced by Mary Field Heartaches - Charwoman The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - Woman with Hat Cynthia - Agnes, Jannings' Cook Bowery Buckaroos - U.S. Marshal Kate T. BarlowThe Lost Moment - MariaSitting Pretty - Mrs. Maypole April Showers - Landlady The Noose Hangs High - Husky Woman Fury at Furnace Creek - Mrs. Crum Secret Service Investigator - Mrs. McGiven- LandladyMarshal of Amarillo - Mrs. Henry PettigrewNight Has a Thousand Eyes - Elderly Italian Woman Good Sam - Mrs. NelsonThe Strange Mrs. Crane - Nellie Carter - Juror The Snake Pit - Ward 33 Inmate Sundown in Santa Fe - Ella Mae WatsonJoan of Arc - Old Woman Family Honeymoon - Mrs. Webb Down to the Sea in Ships - Mother Big Jack - Mrs. Summers The Lovable Cheat - VirginieThe Doolins of Oklahoma - Train Passenger Take One False Step - Gas Station Attendant Outcasts of the Trail - Abbie RysenScene of the Crime - Woman at Crime Scene Holiday in Havana - Mama ValdezSong of Surrender - Bidder Master Minds - Mrs. HoskinsThe Traveling Saleswoman - Mrs. Owen Side Street - Garsell's Landlady Quicksand - LandladyThe Arizona Cowboy - Cactus Kate MillicanMy Blue Heaven - Mrs. 'Old Mule Face' Bates Mister 880 - Rosie The Milkman - Mrs. Dillon The Jackpot - Woman Trying on Hats Harvey - Nurse Dunphy Texans Never Cry - Mrs. Martha Carter Stop That Cab - Lucy's MotherThe Great Caruso - Carmelita Toscano Dear Brat - Woman Mask of the Avenger - Market Woman The Raging Tide - Johnnie Mae SwansonHarem Girl - AnisehOklahoma Annie - Mrs. Lottie FlingAaron Slick from Punkin Crick - Mrs. PeabodyAnything Can Happen - Bus Passenger wearing black Gobs and Gals - Mrs. PursellLost in Alaska - Mrs. McGillicuddyFearless Fagan - First Nurse Niagara - Mrs. McGrand, Landlady of McGrand's Boarding House She's Back on Broadway - Rick's Landlady Woman They Almost Lynched - Mrs. StuartBy the Light of the Silvery Moon - Toby Simmons Marty - Mrs. Rosari Double Jeopardy - Mrs. KreziA Man Alone - Mrs. Maule Sudden Danger - Mrs. KellyMiracle in the Rain - Mrs. CanelliCrashing Las Vegas - Woman Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Mrs. Bouton the BusybodyThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Miss Sarah Watson Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation - Brenda7 Faces of Dr. Lao - Kate LindquistThat Funny Feeling - Woman at Phone Booth