Hillary Brooke

Hillary Brooke (September 8, 1914 – May 25, 1999) was an American film actress. Though American-born, she began cultivating a sophisticated English accent to get more film parts early in her career. It eventually became second nature to her, and she was cast as a British woman in most of her films, including one that was produced in the United Kingdom.

Career

A former model, the 5'6" blonde was born Beatrice Sofia Mathilda Peterson in Astoria, New York. She was a regular on several television series of the early 50s.

On My Little Margie, she was Roberta Townsend, girlfriend to Margie's dad.

On The Abbott and Costello Show, which was broadcast in the early 1950s but syndicated for decades afterwards, Brooke played the role of a straitlaced, classy tenant of the rooming house where the two main characters lived. She was treated with reverence by the duo and was not a target of pranks and slapstick. As the love interest of Lou Costello, he worshipped her and she always addressed him as "Louis". Like the other main characters, her character's name in the show was her real name. She also appeared in Africa Screams (1949) and Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) with the comedy team.