Sammie Jacqueline “Jackie” Joseph is an American character actress, voice artist, and writer.
Early life
Sammie Jacqueline Joseph was born in Los Angeles on November 7, 1933. Her mother was 19 at the time of Joseph's birth, and her father had died three months earlier. She studied at Los Angeles' John Marshall High School and UCLA.
Acting career
Joseph began her career as a featured performer and singer in the Billy Barnes Review of 1958, with future husband and actor Ken Berry. She was married to Berry, with whom she adopted two children, from May 29, 1960, until June 1976. She has since remarried, to David Lawrence. Her son John died of brain cancer in 2016 at the age of 51. Joseph's roles on television programs included Miss Oglethorpe on Run, Buddy, Run, Jackie Parker on The Doris Day Show, Sandy on The All New Popeye Hour. She was also a regular on The Bob Newhart Show and The Magic Land of Allakazam. She is also known for portraying Audrey Fulquard in the original version of The Little Shop of Horrors, as well as Charlene Hensley in Hogan's Heroes, Sheila Futterman in Gremlins and ', Mrs Kirkland in ' and , and the voice of Melody in the animated series Josie and the Pussycats and Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space. She played the love interest of Willie in the film Who's Minding the Mint?. Her other film work includes roles in A Guide for the Married Man, With Six You Get Eggroll, The Split, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys, The Cheyenne Social Club, Get Crazy, and Small Soldiers. Joseph's other television credits include The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, That Girl, F Troop, Hogan's Heroes, McHale's Navy, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Petticoat Junction, CHiPs, Full House and Designing Women. She also appeared for a week on the game show Match Game '74. Although she appeared only once on the 1964 sitcom My Living Doll, as one of the few surviving actors to appear on the series she participated in a retrospective featurette included on the 2012 DVD release of the series.
Other activities
In 1977, Joseph became a fashion show producer, staging the Western Children's Brand Wagon show. An audience of 600 watched youngsters model one garment each from 85 companies. In the early 1980s, Joseph helped form an organization for celebrity wives overcoming divorce. The group, which included Lynn Landon, Patti Palmer Lewis, and Carol Lawrence, appeared on talk shows to discuss the foibles of celebrity split-ups. In recent years she has been heavily involved with the Screen Actors Guild as well as organizations providing care for stray animals. She has been a columnist for Toluca Lake's newspaper, The Tolucan Times, in which her signature sign off was "We'll talk."
