CINCINNATI

Merie Earls died in 1984 at the age of 95.  She was from Morrow, Ohio just a few miles north of the Queen City.  Her name before marriage was Goldie Merie Ireland.  She is the poster child for seniors who proclaim that "It's never too late."

Ms. Earls began her acting career at the age of 78.  (That's the part that gives me hope - I may have something big awaiting me.)  Anyway, Merie got her first acting job on The Waltons in 1972 as Maude Gormley - she was in 15 episodes.   She appeared with credit in a half-dozen movies and held spots on numerous TV shows; Bewitched, Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Bonanza, Green Acres, Happy Day and Love, American Style.  She was 'grandma everywhere' in the 70's.    You could find her in Dodge commercials depicting the hot-rodding "little old lady from Pasadena."  She always ended their ads by saying, "Put a Dodge in your garage, Honey!"  At the spry age of 88, she was scheduled to make her Broadway stage debut but missed when she broke her hip during the pre-Broadway run. 

She was a gem from our part of the world.