Kaye Ballard (November 20, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, and singer.

Early life Ballard was born Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four children born to Italian immigrant parents, Lena (née Nacarato) and Vincenzo (later Vincent James) Balotta. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Calabria, a region of southern Italy.

Career Ballard established herself as a musical comedian in the 1940s, joining the Spike Jones touring revue of entertainers. Capable of playing broad physical comedy as well as stand-up dialogue routines, she became familiar in television and stage productions. Ballard made her television debut on Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt, a short-lived program hosted by Henry Morgan which first aired January 26, 1951. In 1954, she was the first person to record the song "Fly Me to the Moon."

In 1957, she and Alice Ghostley played the two wicked stepsisters in the live telecast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, starring Julie Andrews in the title role. During the 1961–1963 television seasons, Ballard was a regular on The Perry Como Show, as part of the Kraft Music Hall Players, along with Don Adams, Paul Lynde, and Sandy Stewart. In 1962, she released the LP Peanuts, on which she played Lucy van Pelt from the comic strip namesake of the album (with Arthur Siegel playing Charlie Brown), and dramatizing a series of vignettes drawn from the strip's archive. In 1964, she had a guest role on The Patty Duke Show (Season 1, Episode 25), playing a teacher for would-be models. From 1967 to 1969, she co-starred as Kaye Buell, a woman whose son marries her next door neighbor's daughter, in the sitcom The Mothers-in-Law, with Eve Arden playing her neighbor. From 1970 to 1972, she appeared as a regular on The Doris Day Show, playing restaurant owner Angie Pallucci. She made appearances on the game show Match Game. In 1977, she was a guest star on The Muppet Show. She also appeared on the television series Alice, in which she played a kleptomaniac and phony medium as well as Daddy Dearest, where she guest-starred opposite Richard Lewis and Don Rickles.Daddy Dearest Episode Guide. TV Guide. Retrieved September 14, 2025.

Ballard starred on Broadway as Helen in The Golden Apple (1954) introducing the song "Lazy Afternoon". She portrayed Ruth in Joseph Papp's The Pirates of Penzance, Rosalie in Carnival! and the title role in Molly, an unsuccessful musical adaptation of the popular radio serial The Goldbergs. She created the role of the Countess and closed out-of-town in Marc Blitzstein's Reuben, Reuben, and played Ruth Sherwood in Wonderful Town at New York City Center in 1963.

In Long Beach, California, she played Mama Morton in Chicago and fought with a vacuum cleaner as Pauline in No, No, Nanette. In 1998, she played Hattie Walker in the Paper Mill Playhouse's acclaimed revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. In 2005, she appeared in a road-company production of Nunsense, written by Dan Goggin. The following year, she completed her autobiography How I Lost 10 Pounds in 53 Years.

In 1995, she was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.

She appeared in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! as Madam A-Go-Go, a mysterious fortune teller who appears in the episode "Fortune Teller". She also performed with The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies at the Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, California.

In December 2010, she, Donna McKechnie and Liliane Montevecchi starred in a production of From Broadway with Love, staged at the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ballard was in the 2012 cabaret show Doin' It for Love, which premiered in Austin, Texas at the Paramount Theatre. Starring Ballard and Montevecchi, the cast included Broadway dancer Lee Roy Reams. (The Austin performance benefited the Texas Humane Legislation Network.) The show then went on to play in Los Angeles on March 8 and 10, 2012. Ballard announced her official retirement in 2015 at the age of 89.

Death Ballard died at her home in Rancho Mirage, California, on January 21, 2019, at the age of 93. The cause was kidney cancer, according to a friend.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1958Marge1964Sidonia1970Which Way to the Front?Senora Messina1976Vivian Proclo1976Freaky FridayCoach Betsy1980Falling in Love AgainMrs. Lewis1981IreneDotty BusmillTV movie1982PandemoniumGlenn's Mom1988Tiger WarsawAunt Thelma1990Modern LoveReceptionist1990EternitySabrina / Selma1990FateJudy1994Ava's Magical AdventureLeona1998Mrs. Grumpy Old Man1999Baby GeniusesMayor2000Mrs. Crabby2000Little InsectsQueen Palooma (voice)2003Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were ThereHerselfDocumentary2017Senior MomentMaria2019Kaye Ballard – The Show Goes OnHerself

Television Year Title Role Notes1951–1955The Arthur Murray PartyHerself2 episodes1954The Steve Allen ShowHerself1 episode1954–1955The Colgate Comedy HourHerself7 episodes1956–1963The Ed Sullivan ShowHerself4 episodes1957CinderellaPortiaTV special1957–1962Tonight Starring Jack PaarHerself27 episodes1958Make Me LaughHerself3 episodes1958–1960The Garry Moore ShowHerself3 episodes1960–1963The Perry Como ShowHerself52 episodes1962Play Your HunchHerself2 episodes1962The Tonight ShowHerself2 episodes1963Candid CameraHerself2 episodes1963–1975The Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonHerself55 episodes1963–1978The Merv Griffin ShowHerself10 episodes1963–1979The Mike Douglas ShowHerself34 episodes1964Mrs. Selby"The Perfect Teenager"1967–1968The Hollywood PalaceHerself2 episodes1967–1969Kaye BuellMain role: 56 episodes1967–1975Hollywood SquaresHerself168 episodes1968Rowan & Martin's Laugh-InGuest"1.5"1968–1969Kraft Music HallHerself2 episodes1968–1969The Jerry Lewis ShowHerself4 episodes1969The Red Skelton ShowDMV Clerk"Willie Lump Lump's Birthday"1969Storybook SquaresHerself1 episode1969DellaHerself2 episodes1969The Leslie Uggams ShowHerself2 episodes1969–1970Kraft Music HallHerself3 episodes1970All My ChildrenMrs. RemoTV series1970Love, American StyleSally"Love and the V.I.P. Restaurant"1970The Bob Hope SpecialsHerself1 episode1970–1971It's Your BetHerself2 episodes1970–1972Angie PallucciRecurring role: 10 episodes1971The Dick Cavett Show Herself1 episode1971Here's LucyDonna"Lucy and Harry's Italian Bombshell"1971Love, American StyleHelen"Love and the Dream Burglar"1972The David Frost ShowHerself1 episode1972–1973The Carol Burnett ShowHerself2 episodes1973–1974Match GameHerself10 episodes1973PyramidHerself5 episodes1974Celebrity SweepstakesHerself1 episode1974Celebrity BowlingHerself1 episode1974The Bob Braun ShowHerself1 episode1974–1976Dinah!Herself1 episode1975Filomena"Filomena's Visit"1976Police StoryNurse Ladue"Officer Dooly"1977AliceSeama"The Hex"1977The Muppet ShowGuest1 episode1978–1981The Love BoatCora Bass / Joan Redmond / Babe3 episodes1979Fantasy IslandElvira Wilson'Hit Man/The Swimmer"1980Esther KesslerTV miniseries1980Broadway on ShowtimeSalome"The Robber Bridegroom"1980The Steve Allen Comedy HourHerself3 episodes1980–1981Trapper John, M.D.Beulah Krakowsky / Mother2 episodes1981IreneDotty BusmillTV film1981Here's BoomerSophia"Make 'Em Laugh"1983Great PerformancesDuchess"Alice in Wonderland"1984Young People's SpecialsMrs. Deluca"That Funny Fat Kid"1985Doris Day's Best FriendsHerself1 episode1986The Lee Phillip ShowHerself1 episode1987Angela Calucci"Angela's Secret"1989Madame Agogo1 episode1989MonstersFaye Ingram"Rerun"1989–1991Mother Nature / Mother Earth"A-Camping We Will Go",one other episode1990–1991What a DummyMrs. Treva TravalonyMain role: 24 episodes1991Doris Day: A Sentimental JourneyHerselfTV documentary1993Daddy DearestMrs. Lento"Al vs. DMV"1994–1995Due SouthMrs. Vecchio3 episodes1996–1999The Rosie O'Donnell ShowHerself3 episodes1998–2001BiographyHerself2 episodes1999–2001Mysteries and ScandalsHerself4 episodes2002The Hollywood GreatsHerselfSeason 8, Episode 8: "Doris Day"

Stage work

Three to Make Ready (1946) That's the Ticket! (Phila. 1948) Touch and Go (London, 1950) Top Banana (1952) (replacement for Rose Marie) The Golden Apple (1954) Reuben, Reuben (1955) (closed on the road) Wonderful Town (1958; 1963) Carnival! (1961) Gypsy (Dallas, 1962) The Beast in Me (1963) Royal Flush (1964) (closed on the road) The Decline and Fall of the Entire World as Seen Through the Eyes of Cole Porter (1965, Off-Broadway) Minnie's Boys (1972) Molly (1973) Gypsy (1973) Sheba (1974) (closed on the road) Apartment 8 Strikes Back (1980) The Pirates of Penzance (1981) (replacement for Estelle Parsons) Pippin (1982) Hey, Ma ... Kaye Ballard (1984) High Spirits (1984) She stoops to conquer (1984, Off-Broadway) The Ladies Who Wrote the Lyrics (1985) Kaye Ballard: Working 42nd St. at Last! (1988, Off-Broadway) Nymph Errant (1989) Funny Girl (1991; 1997; 2002) Hey, Ma - Working Hollywood Blvd. at Last! (1991) Chicago (1992, Long Beach) No, No, Nanette (1994, Long Beach; 1997, Paper Mill Playhouse) Over the River and Through the Woods (1998, Off-Broadway) Follies (1998, Paper Mill Playhouse) The Full Monty (2001) Funny Girl (2002, New York in concert) Quartet (2002, 2006) Nunsense (2003)

Discography +YearAlbums / SinglesMaterialCo-singers1950Love Like Ours / Thinking of YouSingle1952OklahomaStudio Cast of the MusicalNelson Eddy1952RobertaStudio Cast of the MusicalNelson Eddy1953Gershwin Rarities Volume 1Compilation1954The Golden AppleOriginal Broadway CastAnna Maria Alberghetti1954In other Words / Lazy AfternoonSingle1954Triumph of Love / Where Were You Last NightSingle1955In Love And Out Again / Don't You Tell PaSingle1955Lyrics by LernerAlbum1956The Girl most likelyOriginal Movie CastJane Powell1957CinderellaOriginal TV Cast AlbumJulie Andrews1957The Parade Is Passing Me By / A Difference In AgeSingle1959Kaye Ballard swings!Live Album1959The Fanny Brice Story in SongsAlbum1960Hush Little Baby / Resta Cu'mme (Stay Here With Me)Single1961Boo Hoo Ha-HaAlbum1961CarnivalOriginal Broadway Cast1961Kaye Ballard Live?Album1962PeanutsAlbum (spoken word)Arthur Siegel1962Mr. PresidentStudio Cast of the MusicalPerry Como1963I'll Remember Him / Here And NowSingle1964Cole Porter RevisitedCompilation1964I Want You To Be The First To Know / Maybe This TimeSingle1965My Dog met your Dog / An Onion and YouSingle1966Ben Bagley's The Decline and Fall of the Entire World as Seen Through the Eyes of Cole PorterCompilation1972Unpublished Cole PorterCompilation1981So long, 174th Street Studio Cast of the Original MusicalRobert Morse1983Ben Bagley's Jerome Kern Revisited Vol. IICompilation1983Ben Bagley's Jerome Kern Revisited Vol. IIICompilation1985The Ladies who wrote the LyricsAlbum1985Contemporary Broadway RevisitedCompilation1986Mostly MercerCompilation1990Nymph ErrantLive Recording1992Hey, MaLive Recording of Show1995Then & AgainAlbum1995Long Time FriendsAlbumJaye P. Morgan1998FolliesPaper Mill Playhouse Cast2000Another Final Farewell AppearanceLive Recording of Show2001Kaye Ballard sings her favorite SongsAlbum

References

External links

Tinseltown Talks: Kaye Ballard at The News Herald