Florida Friebus

Florida Friebus
200px Friebus in 1968
Born	(1909-10-10)October 10, 1909 Auburndale, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	Laguna Niguel, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Cancer
Other names	Florida Freebus Florida Freibus
Occupation	Actress, screenwriter
Years active	1929-1978

Florida Friebus (October 10, 1909 – May 27, 1988) was an American writer and actress of stage, film, and television. Friebus's best-known roles were Winifred "Winnie" Gillis, the sympathetic mother of Dwayne Hickman's character Dobie Gillis on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, and as Mrs. Lillian Bakerman on The Bob Newhart Show.

Early years

Born in Auburndale, Massachusetts, Friebus hailed from an East Coast theatrical family that included her father, Theodore Friebus, a leading stage actor with Boston's Castle Square Players in the early 1900s and a minor silent-film actor, and her maternal grandmother, Georgine Flagg, who scandalized her own family in the late 19th century by venturing onstage as a player with Augustin Daly's stock company in Manhattan. She married actor Richard Waring, in 1934. The couple divorced in 1952. Friebus never remarried.

Career

She appeared on television in such programs as The Joseph Cotten Show, The Ford Theatre Hour, Perry Mason, Bachelor Father, Father Knows Best, Peyton Place, Ironside, Gunsmoke, Sanford and Son, Ben Casey, The Doris Day Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Room 222, The Partridge Family, Chico and the Man, Barnaby Jones, Alice, The Bob Newhart Show, and Rhoda.

Death

Friebus died of cancer in 1988 in Laguna Niguel, California, aged 78.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1958	High School Confidential!	Mrs. Staples	Uncredited
1978	Jennifer	Miss Tooker
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	Lights Out		1 episode
	Escape		1 episode
	Pulitzer Prize Playhouse		1 episode
1950–1951	The Philco Television Playhouse		2 episodes
1950–1953	Kraft Television Theatre		3 episodes
1953	Goodyear Television Playhouse		1 episode
1954	Lamp Unto My Feet		1 episode
1956	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Karoline	1 episode
	The Alcoa Hour	Mrs. Franklin	1 episode
1957	The Joseph Cotten Show	Helen Fogarty	1 episode
1957–1958	Bachelor Father	Mrs. Banks Mrs. Marquand	3 episodes
1958	Father Knows Best		1 episode
1959	Playhouse 90		1 episode
	The Donna Reed Show	Helen Brooks	1 episode
1959–1963	The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis	Winifred Gillis	87 episodes
1960	The Chevy Mystery Show	Lois Halsey	1 episode
1963	Perry Mason	Marian Lamont	1 episode
1964	The New Phil Silvers Show	Mrs. Bradshaw	1 episode
	Peyton Place	Maggie Riggs	Unknown episodes
1965	My Mother the Car	Miss McFee	1 episode
1966	This Is the Life		1 episode
	Ben Casey		1 episode
1968	Ironside	Middle-Aged Woman	1 episode
1971–1972	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Mrs. Marshall Nun	2 episodes
1972	Sanford and Son	Woman	1 episode
	Ghost Story	Mrs. Prescott	1 episode
	The Doris Day Show	Miss Peabody	1 episode
	Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law		1 episode
1972–1978	The Bob Newhart Show	Mrs. Lillian Bakerman	17 episodes
1973	Room 222		1 episode
	Cannon	Julie McElroy	1 episode
	Gunsmoke	Mrs. Tavers	1 episode
	The Partridge Family	Mrs. Hendleman	1 episode
	The Rookies	Sister Elizabeth	1 episode
1973–1977	Barnaby Jones	Molly McMurty Connie Graham	2 episodes
1974–1978	Rhoda	Various roles	3 episodes
1975	Chico and the Man	Althea Nelson	1 episode
	Miles to Go Before I Sleep	Ruth	Television movie
	Love Nest	Jenny	Television movie
	Kate McShane		1 episode
1976	Amelia Earhart	Miss Perkins	Television movie
	Switch	Fiona	2 episodes
1978	Kaz		1 episode
	ABC Weekend Special	Miss Kelly	1 episode

External links

• Florida Friebus at the Internet Broadway Database
• Florida Friebus at Find a Grave