Aunt Clara from ‘Bewitched’ the life of Marion Lorne

I am enjoying many of my favorite television programs from the 60s and 70’s on streaming services and retro television networks. I recently watched quite a few back to back episodes of Bewitched where the talented Marion Lorne MacDougall was featured as Aunt Clara. Professionally she was known as Marion Lorne and as Aunt Clara was bumbling and fumbling and as a witch. Clara's spells almost always went wrong and she once caused a power outage in 12 Eastern states. She also conjured up the real Ben Franklin and created an actual spotted elephant for her great niece Tabitha when what she was trying to reproduce was a toy stuffed pakaderm.

Marion Lorne was born on August 12, 1883, and died on May 9, 1968. There are some records indicating the actress was born in 1885 ande 1888 and it is believed that she did this to appear younger than she reall was. The actress began her career in the theatre in New York and London, and made her film debut in 1951. After this she had small roles in television and movies for the remainder of her life and always gave memorable performances. Lorne’s recurring role as Aunt Clara in the Bewitched lasted from 1964 until she died in 1968. This character brought her widespread recognition, and she was posthumously awarded an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Bewitched.

Ms. Lorne began life in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, as the daughter of William Lorne MacDougall MD, and his wife, Jane Louise. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and made her Broadway debut in 1905. she appeared in several Vitaphone short films, including Success in 1931 starring, Her feature film debut came when in 1951 in Strangers on a Train when the actress was in her late 60s. From 1952-55, she portrayed a perpetually confused junior high school English teacher named Mrs. Gurney on Mister Peepers. This is probably what led to her role as the lovable but confused Aunt Clara.

Lorne was quoted as saying "I'm a coward when it comes to a live [television] show" yet she made several appearances to promote the movie The Girl Rush in the mid-1950s. She also appeared on the Garry Moore Show from 1958 and 1964. Her last role was her most popular which was as the lovable Aunt Clara in Bewitched. Samantha's aunt's powers shorting out were attributed to her age. Aunt Clara at times would fly in with an umbrella just like Mary Poppins and fall through the chimney instead of landing at the front door. She would look pitiful with black soot all over her face and clothing.

Aunt Clara appeared in 27 episodes of Betwitched and after her portrayer died of a heart attack she was never replaced. An 84 year old Lorne was found dead in her Manhattan appartment on May 8, 1968. This was shortly before season 5 of the sitcom was to be filmed. Clara had an unusual hobby of collecting doorknobs, and she often brought her collection with her when she visited Darin and Samantha. In real-time Marion Lorne had an extensive collection of hundreds of doorknobs and some of them were used as props in the series.

When Alice Pierce who portrayed neighbor Gladys Kravitz died from cancer, she was replaced by Sandra Gould. The Bewitched producers, however, decided that Lorne's Aunt Clara could not be replaced by another actress. The character was never mentioned again and actress Alice Ghostley was brought in to fill in the gap. Her character "Esmeralda", was also an older witch with unpredictable magic. Her spells just like Aunt Clara often went astray. Esmerelda had her own personality and was loved by the viewers. She came into her own and was never considered as replacing Lorne. In 1911, Marion Lorne married playwright Walter C. Hackett. The couple remained married until his death in 1944 but had no children.