Elizabeth Howland was born on May 28, 1939, in Brighton, Massachusetts., and lived until December 31, 2015.
Elizabeth Howland was an American actress. She worked on stage and television and was best known for playing waitress Vera Gorman in the sitcom Alice.
Howland originated the role of Amy in the original Broadway cast of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, where she introduced the pattern song “Getting Married Today”.
Howland at the age of 16, left home and followed a dancer friend to New York City. After a time of struggling, Howland made her Broadway debut in 1959 as Lady Beth in the musical Once Upon a Mattress, which transferred from off-Broadway.
She went on to have roles in the musicals Bye Bye Birdie, High Spirits, and Drat! The Cat! and Darling of the Day.
From 1961 to 1969, Howland was married to actor Michael J. Pollard, with whom she had a daughter.
In 2002, she wed actor Charles Kimbrough and remained married to him until her death in 2015. Kimbrough and Howland had appeared together in Company.
What did Beth Howland do after Alice?
She remained on Alice throughout its nine seasons. After the sitcom ended in 1985, Howland went into semi-retirement.
Howland acted sporadically after “Alice” went off the air. She had small guest roles on “Eight Is Enough,” “Little House on the Prairie,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” and “The Tick.” And starred in the ABC Afterschool Special, “Terrible Things My Mother Told Me”.