Sheila Margaret MacRae (née Stevens; 24 September 1921 – 6 March 2014) was an English-born American actress, singer, and dancer.
She was born in London on 24 September 1921. In 1939 her family left England for New York. They eventually settled in Long Island. Sheila finished high school when she was 15 and she began acting at a local playhouse.It was in 1941 that she married actor and singer Gordon MacRae. The two of them would become a team, performing on stage and on television in the Fifties and Sixties. Mrs McRae made her film debut in the film Backfire in 1950 under her maiden name Sheila Stephens. The same year she appeared in Caged (1950) and Pretty Baby (1950).She went onto appear in the film Katie Did It (1951). She made her television debut in an episode of
Hollywood Opening Night in 1953. In the Fifties she appeared on such shows as The Jackie Gleason Show, I Love Lucy (in the famous episode "Fashion Show"), Lux Video Theatre, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, The Garry Moore Show, and Here's Hollywood. She became a naturalized United States citizen on 20 March 1959, in California.
In the Sixties she assumed the role of Alice Kramden in the "Honeymooners" sketches on The Jackie Gleason Show. She also appeared on such shows as The Red Skelton Show, The Bell Telephone Hour, Tonight Starring Jack Paar, To Tell The Truth, The Jack Paar Programme, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Ed Sullivan Show, The Sammy Davis Jr. Show, The Dean Martin Comedy Hour, The Trials of O'Brien, and What's My Line. She appeared in the films Bikini Beach (1964) and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965). She appeared on Broadway in a revival of Guys and Dolls.
The MacRaes performed as a duo for nearly a decade in nightclubs, on television and in concerts across the country, and appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Feb. 23, 1964, the same night the Beatles made their third appearance on the show. The couple
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eventually separated in 1965 and divorced in 1967. During her husband’s troubles, Ms. MacRae wrote in her memoir, she rebuffed overtures from suitors including Henry Fonda, Peter Sellers and Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Ms. McCrae turned down a marriage proposal from Frank Sinatra, she said. She married Ronald Wayne in 1967 but they divorced in 1970.
In the Seventies Sheila MacRae had her own short lived show, The Sheila MacRae Show, alongside her daughters Heather and Meredith. She also appeared on such shows as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Mike Douglas Show, The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast, and The Love Boat. She appeared on Broadway in Absurd Person Singular.
MacRae, a devout Christian Scientist, died suddenly on 6 March 2014, in Englewood, New Jersey, aged 92, at the Lillian Booth Actor's Home. She had suffered from dementia, but was otherwise in good health and had been hospitalized for a minor surgical procedure, when her death came suddenly from natural causes, said her daughter, Heather.
(Edited from Wikipedia and A Shroud of Thoughts Blog)
This clip of“Vicki” from November 1992 includes a nice story from Sheila MacRae regarding the very first talk show on television way back when, in which both she and Zsa Zsa Gabor were guests. Zsa Zsa gives some motherly advice to women regarding engagement settlements! And Sheila's imitation of Zsa Zsa!