Character Actress.  Madge Cummings Blake’s career started when she was fifty and was the epitome of what the perfect mother, sister or aunt should be both in physical appearance and demeanor.  She was short, plump, matronly with a warm smile and a sweet voice.  She was born in Kinsley, Kansas the daughter of a Methodist circuit rider.  Madge Blake came to Los Angles with her family after her father accepted a religious clerical position.  Nearby Hollywood enhanced her desire for a stage career, however, her father was stern in his discouragement and becoming  a movie star became only a dream.  During World War II, she joined millions of woman across the nation who filled the manpower shortage by working to help the war effort.  Both Madge and her husband worked for the government and their job necessitated top secret clearance as they worked in Utah during construction of the detonator for the atomic bomb.  With all her commitments completed and a grandmother, she pursued her dream and enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse and studied acting at age fifty.  She started performing in nearby Riverside appearing in stage productions where she was noticed by Fannie Brice who paved the way toward an acting career.  Madge made her film debut in 1949 with an uncredited appearance in ‘Adam’s Rib’ with Kathern Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.  A prolific twenty years of television and movie appearances followed.  Film credits:  ‘A Life of Her Own, Queen for a Day, Finders Keepers, an American in Paris, The Bad and the Beautiful, Singin in the Rain, The Long Trailer, Brigadoo, Sergeants 3, Follow Me, Boys and her final film was Batman.’  Television credits:  ‘The Real McCoys as Flora MacMichael, Leave it to Beaver as Mrs Mondello, The Joey Bishop Show as Mrs Barnes and Batman as Aunt Harriet.’  Madge made guest appearances on many television shows: ‘I Love Lucy, Mr Lucky, Lassie, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Addams Family and Bewitched.’  In a bit of trivia:  She was offered the role of Aunt Bee on the Andy Griffith Show but was unable to accept as she was under contract with the Leave it Beaver show, but was able to recommend her close friend Frances Bavier.  Death put an end to her cherished second career when she fell in her Pasadena home and sustained a fractured ankle.  She was admitted to Huntington Memorial Hospital where she passed away at age 69,  the result of a heart attack.  She was interred beside her mother in the family plot at Grand view Cemetery. (bio by: Donald Greyfield)  Family links:  Parents:  Albert W. Cummings (1865 – 1927)  Alice Frances Stone Cummings (1868 – 1931)Cause of death: Heart attack Inscription:Farewell To My HillsThey’ll Still Be ShiningForever Mine