LOS ANGELES | Kaye Ballard, the outspoken comedian and singer who appeared in Broadway musicals and nightclubs from New York to Las Vegas and starred with Eve Arden in the 1960s TV sitcom “The Mothers-In-Law,” has died. She was 93.
Ballard died Monday night at her home in Rancho Mirage, California, after a battle with kidney cancer, her friend Marguerite Gordon said Tuesday.
“The Mothers-In-Law,” in which Ballard starred with Arden (of the 1950s sitcom “Our Miss Brooks”), aired from 1967 to 1969. It marked an apex in a career that began when Ballard was 12 and lasted into the 21st century.
She was on hand last week when a documentary on her life and career premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
“She was so excited to be able to tell her story,” said Dan Wingate, the film’s director. “She was really anxious for young people, especially, who are going into the arts to understand the full breadth of a life in the arts, the ups and downs.”
The audience’s response was gratifying for her, “to hear that applause and feel that love,” Wingate said, and she was thrilled when the documentary was singled out for festival honors.
“The Mothers-In-Law” was set in a Los Angeles suburb and featured its stars as women who become thorns in their married children’s lives, with comedic results influenced by the screwball style of “I Love Lucy.”
Desi Arnaz, who starred with wife Lucille Ball in that classic sitcom, produced and directed 24 episodes of the Ballard-Arden show. The “I Love Lucy” team of Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Pugh Davis were the show’s creators and lead writers.
