A Guide To I Love Lucy
Mary Jane Croft started off on I Love Lucy in various guest appearances. But in the latter half of the final season, she played a semi-regular role. In the last season, the Ricardos and Mertzes moved to Westport, Connecticut. And Mary Jane Croft played their next door neighbor, Betty Ramsey. She played this role in almost half of the "Connecticut" episodes.
Mary Jane Croft was born in Muncie, Indiana on February 15, 1916. She started out as a radio actress. She played roles on "Lux Radio Theatre", "One Man's Family", and "The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriett". Once she even guest starred on "My Favorite Husband" with Lucille Ball.
Then she moved into television. In 1952, she played Miss Daisy Enright in the series Our Miss Brooks for two years. Then from 1955 to 1958, she played the voice of Cleo the dog in a sitcom called The People's Choice. Then in 1956, she played the role of Clara Randolph on the long-running TV series The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriett. She played that role for ten years. During all this time, she made frequent appearances on Lucille Ball's shows. She made several guest appearances on I Love Lucy, and in the final season, played Betty Ramsey. (In 1957, she was one busy lady, playing roles on The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriett and I Love Lucy, and also providing the voice of Cleo in The People's Choice. She was a regular or semi-regular on three TV series at the same time!)
After I Love Lucy, she guest starred in some episodes of The Lucy Show, playing a character called Mary Jane Lewis. At the time, she was married to a man named Elliott Lewis in real life, but she continued to use her maiden name professionally.
Croft died on August 24, 1999.
Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Vivian Vance William Frawley Jerry Hausner
Elizabeth Patterson Doris Singleton Richard Keith Mary Jane Croft Frank Nelson