Georgia Engel (Georgette Baxter) 1948-2019 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Zoneboy · 04-15-2019, 09:33 PM

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Georgia Engel, whose distinctive voice and pinpoint comic timing made her a memorable part of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” on which she played Georgette Franklin, girlfriend and eventually wife of the buffoonish TV newsman Ted Baxter, died on Friday in Princeton, N.J. She was 70.

John Quilty, her friend and executor, said the cause was undetermined because Ms. Engel, who was a Christian Scientist, did not consult doctors.

Ms. Engel was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on “Mary Tyler Moore,” which she joined in 1972, during the show’s third season.

“It was only going to be one episode,” she told The Toronto Star in 2007, “and I was just supposed to have a few lines in a party scene, but they kept giving me more and more to do.”

She had a high-pitched, innocent voice that, as one writer put it, “sounds like an angel has just sniffed some helium,” and she used it expertly to contrast with the blustery Baxter (played by Ted Knight) and the usually levelheaded Mary Richards, Ms. Moore’s character.

She brought the voice — her real voice — and the comedic skills to other sitcoms after “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” ended in 1977, most notably “Everybody Loves Raymond,” where she had a recurring role from 2003 to 2005. She was nominated for an Emmy for each season.

“She could get a laugh on literally every line you gave her,” Philip Rosenthal, the creator of “Raymond,” said in a telephone interview. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Ms. Engel’s castmates on “Mary Tyler Moore” included Betty White, with whom she would go on to work on “The Betty White Show” in the 1970s, and “Hot in Cleveland” this decade.

“Georgia was one of a kind and the absolute best,” Ms. White said on Monday through a spokeswoman.

Although she was best known from television, Ms. Engel began her career onstage, reaching Broadway in 1969 as a replacement player near the end of the run of “Hello, Dolly!” She enjoyed a late-career resurgence in the theater, including a leading role last year in “Half Time,” a musical staged at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey about 60-and-older dancers who perform at halftime of professional basketball games.

Ben Brantley, reviewing that show in The New York Times, noted the echoes of Ms. Engel’s “Mary Tyler Moore” breakthrough in her performance.

“Here she is, some 40 years later and 69 years old, deploying that same perplexed stare and breathy little-girl voice,” he wrote. “And she totally lights up the stage, while bringing bright new inflections to song and dance moves inspired by Biggie Smalls, Tupac Shakur and Run-DMC. I hadn’t been conscious that I was missing Ms. Engel, but evidently I was.”

Georgia Bright Engel was born on July 28, 1948, in Washington to Benjamin Engel, an officer in the Coast Guard, and Ruth (Hendron) Engel. Her sister Robin Engel said that Ms. Engel had played Ado Annie — the girl who “can’t say no” — in a school production of “Oklahoma!”

“There was a talent scout from the Washington School of Ballet,” Robin Engel said in a telephone interview, “and they offered her a scholarship.”

After graduating from the ballet school in 1967, she earned a theater degree at the University of Hawaii. She then landed a part in a Milos Forman movie, “Taking Off,” whose screenwriters included John Guare. Once “Dolly” ended its run in 1970, that connection proved auspicious.

“I was walking down the street one day after ‘Dolly’ closed to cash my unemployment check for $75,” Ms. Engel told The Toronto Star years later, “when I ran into John and he told me I had to be in his play ‘The House of Blue Leaves.’ I was so thrilled, until I got my first paycheck. I was making $74, one dollar less than unemployment.”

The payoff came when Ms. Moore and her husband, the producer Grant Tinker, saw Ms. Engel in that play in Los Angeles. The role of Georgette soon followed.

Ms. Engel also had recurring roles on “Jennifer Slept Here” in the 1980s and “Coach” in the 1990s, among other shows.

In the 1990s she toured with versions of the “Nunsense” musical theater franchise, and in 2003 she joined an all-star 20th-anniversary “Nunsense” touring production that also featured Kaye Ballard, Mimi Hines, Darlene Love and Lee Meriwether.

Ms. Engel was in the original Broadway cast of “The Drowsy Chaperone” in 2006, playing a dotty woman named Mrs. Tottendale. The role required her to aim repeated spit takes at her character’s butler. She ended up doing a lot of spitting: After originating the role on Broadway, she joined the tour and stayed with it for more than a year.

“At first, I was getting more on me than on the other person,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2008 of her spit-taking. “It was just dribbling right down me. You have to learn how to direct it. It works

The book for that show was by Bob Martin and Don McKellar. Mr. Martin also co-wrote the book for “Half Time,” which was based on “Gotta Dance,” a documentary about a real-life group of 60-and-up dancers. Dori Berinstein, who made that documentary and was a producer of the musical, noted that although Ms. Engel had a dance background, she had not done the kind of hip-hop moves the show required.

“She dove into training,” Ms. Berinstein said in a telephone interview. “She was determined to kill it.”

Ms. Engel’s other recent stage credits included the lead role in an Annie Baker play, “John,” at the Signature Center in New York in 2015.

In addition to her sister Robin, Ms. Engel is survived by another sister, Penny Lusk.

“I don’t consider myself any great shakes as an actor at all,” Ms. Engel told The Times in 2015, but Mr. Rosenthal would beg to differ. That her best-known roles had a certain airheadedness to them masked how good she was at her craft and how hard she worked to get things just right, he said.

He particularly recalled an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” called “Pat’s Secret” in which her character, Pat MacDougall, was revealed, against all expectations, to be a smoker. Ms. Engel was no smoker, but she sold the bit.

“The way she handled her lighter was like a Mafia boss,” he said.

“It’s not everybody who can get up there and get a laugh,” he added. “You pray for someone like her to come along.

Willbo · 04-16-2019, 07:43 AM

RIP Georgia Engel. Such great memories on MTM and Everybody Loves Raymond.

MA · 04-16-2019, 03:17 PM

Here's a nice tribute done by Pavan over on the blog:

http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2019/0...ary-tyler.html

scotsguy · 04-16-2019, 06:10 PM

So sad and such a shock,Georgette wS so funny,RIP.

80sTrivia · 04-16-2019, 07:00 PM

So sad to hear the news of Georgia's passing. I always loved her voice, and her character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show...

Ohio8 · 04-16-2019, 07:25 PM

Mr. Television · 04-16-2019, 07:29 PM

R.I.P. Georgia. Such a great character actress. Loved her as Georgette.

AB · 04-16-2019, 07:44 PM

Rest in peace Georgia/Georgette.

TMC · 04-16-2019, 07:52 PM

Georgia Engel remembered by Patricia Heaton, Betty White, Lin-Manuel Miranda and more

“I am in shock – Georgia was an absolute angel – so dear, so sweet, so talented. God bless you Georgia!” tweeted Patricia Heaton, who worked with the late Mary Tyler Moore Show star on Everybody Loves Raymond. “One of my favorite episodes was when Robert catches Pat smoking – she was just brilliant!” Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal also paid tribute, tweeting: “To our dear sweet friend, we’ll love and miss you and your brilliant talent always.” Betty White released a statement on her former Mary Tyler Moore co-star, whom she reunited with on Hot in Cleveland: “Georgia was one of a kind and the absolute best." Lin-Manuel Miranda added: "A light is out, and what can we do but be grateful for what she gave us."

Mr. Television · 04-16-2019, 08:19 PM

From Betty White.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwUx6lin...ource=ig_embed

Family Ties Forever! · 04-16-2019, 09:39 PM

RIP. When I hear her name I think of her Mary Tyler Moore character and how Georgette was married to Ted.
I'm sure it must be hard on Betty White losing Mary Tyler Moore in 2017 and Georgia this year.

TMC · 04-17-2019, 08:49 PM

I know that this has been probably addressed before, but it kind of blows my mind that Georgia Engel was still in her 20s (and they paired her with Ted Knight, who was roughly 25 years her senior) when she started working on MTM. I don't know if she was supposed to be playing somebody older than her actual age, but none the less, had a decidedly "mature" look (despite her baby voice) about her.

KatieAnn · 04-18-2019, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMC

I know that this has been probably addressed before, but it kind of blows my mind that Georgia Engel was still in her 20s (and they paired her with Ted Knight, who was roughly 25 years her senior) when she started working on MTM. I don't know if she was supposed to be playing somebody older than her actual age, but none the less, had a decidedly "mature" look (despite her baby voice) about her.

I don't think Georgia was supposed to be playing someone older - she seemed to be in her mid-20s. She definitely looked younger than Mary and Valerie and I think that the character's youth was used as the excuse for the way she accepted Ted sometimes treating her badly. She ended up having a quiet strength about her.

king of comedy · 04-25-2019, 05:03 PM

Rest in peace. She is now with Ted Knight as well as Mary. Ted and Georgette were a great couple.

PracTz · 04-28-2019, 11:05 AM

Miss Engel was so shy in Real Life that she WALKED over a mile to/from her apartment to the studio to play the part for roughly a year before someone noticed and insisted that she be given a ride. It had never occurred to her to ask anyone for a ride much less take a bus/ get a car despite the dangers of walking the LA streets solo at night! Anyway, she definitely seemed as though she'd have been nice to have known had one reason to know her RIP, Miss Engel.

04-15-2019, 09:33 PM	#1
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,381	Georgia Engel (Georgette Baxter) 1948-2019 Link Georgia Engel, whose distinctive voice and pinpoint comic timing made her a memorable part of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” on which she played Georgette Franklin, girlfriend and eventually wife of the buffoonish TV newsman Ted Baxter, died on Friday in Princeton, N.J. She was 70. John Quilty, her friend and executor, said the cause was undetermined because Ms. Engel, who was a Christian Scientist, did not consult doctors. Ms. Engel was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on “Mary Tyler Moore,” which she joined in 1972, during the show’s third season. “It was only going to be one episode,” she told The Toronto Star in 2007, “and I was just supposed to have a few lines in a party scene, but they kept giving me more and more to do.” She had a high-pitched, innocent voice that, as one writer put it, “sounds like an angel has just sniffed some helium,” and she used it expertly to contrast with the blustery Baxter (played by Ted Knight) and the usually levelheaded Mary Richards, Ms. Moore’s character. She brought the voice — her real voice — and the comedic skills to other sitcoms after “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” ended in 1977, most notably “Everybody Loves Raymond,” where she had a recurring role from 2003 to 2005. She was nominated for an Emmy for each season. “She could get a laugh on literally every line you gave her,” Philip Rosenthal, the creator of “Raymond,” said in a telephone interview. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Ms. Engel’s castmates on “Mary Tyler Moore” included Betty White, with whom she would go on to work on “The Betty White Show” in the 1970s, and “Hot in Cleveland” this decade. “Georgia was one of a kind and the absolute best,” Ms. White said on Monday through a spokeswoman. Although she was best known from television, Ms. Engel began her career onstage, reaching Broadway in 1969 as a replacement player near the end of the run of “Hello, Dolly!” She enjoyed a late-career resurgence in the theater, including a leading role last year in “Half Time,” a musical staged at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey about 60-and-older dancers who perform at halftime of professional basketball games. Ben Brantley, reviewing that show in The New York Times, noted the echoes of Ms. Engel’s “Mary Tyler Moore” breakthrough in her performance. “Here she is, some 40 years later and 69 years old, deploying that same perplexed stare and breathy little-girl voice,” he wrote. “And she totally lights up the stage, while bringing bright new inflections to song and dance moves inspired by Biggie Smalls, Tupac Shakur and Run-DMC. I hadn’t been conscious that I was missing Ms. Engel, but evidently I was.” Georgia Bright Engel was born on July 28, 1948, in Washington to Benjamin Engel, an officer in the Coast Guard, and Ruth (Hendron) Engel. Her sister Robin Engel said that Ms. Engel had played Ado Annie — the girl who “can’t say no” — in a school production of “Oklahoma!” “There was a talent scout from the Washington School of Ballet,” Robin Engel said in a telephone interview, “and they offered her a scholarship.” After graduating from the ballet school in 1967, she earned a theater degree at the University of Hawaii. She then landed a part in a Milos Forman movie, “Taking Off,” whose screenwriters included John Guare. Once “Dolly” ended its run in 1970, that connection proved auspicious. “I was walking down the street one day after ‘Dolly’ closed to cash my unemployment check for $75,” Ms. Engel told The Toronto Star years later, “when I ran into John and he told me I had to be in his play ‘The House of Blue Leaves.’ I was so thrilled, until I got my first paycheck. I was making $74, one dollar less than unemployment.” The payoff came when Ms. Moore and her husband, the producer Grant Tinker, saw Ms. Engel in that play in Los Angeles. The role of Georgette soon followed. Ms. Engel also had recurring roles on “Jennifer Slept Here” in the 1980s and “Coach” in the 1990s, among other shows. In the 1990s she toured with versions of the “Nunsense” musical theater franchise, and in 2003 she joined an all-star 20th-anniversary “Nunsense” touring production that also featured Kaye Ballard, Mimi Hines, Darlene Love and Lee Meriwether. Ms. Engel was in the original Broadway cast of “The Drowsy Chaperone” in 2006, playing a dotty woman named Mrs. Tottendale. The role required her to aim repeated spit takes at her character’s butler. She ended up doing a lot of spitting: After originating the role on Broadway, she joined the tour and stayed with it for more than a year. “At first, I was getting more on me than on the other person,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2008 of her spit-taking. “It was just dribbling right down me. You have to learn how to direct it. It works The book for that show was by Bob Martin and Don McKellar. Mr. Martin also co-wrote the book for “Half Time,” which was based on “Gotta Dance,” a documentary about a real-life group of 60-and-up dancers. Dori Berinstein, who made that documentary and was a producer of the musical, noted that although Ms. Engel had a dance background, she had not done the kind of hip-hop moves the show required. “She dove into training,” Ms. Berinstein said in a telephone interview. “She was determined to kill it.” Ms. Engel’s other recent stage credits included the lead role in an Annie Baker play, “John,” at the Signature Center in New York in 2015. In addition to her sister Robin, Ms. Engel is survived by another sister, Penny Lusk. “I don’t consider myself any great shakes as an actor at all,” Ms. Engel told The Times in 2015, but Mr. Rosenthal would beg to differ. That her best-known roles had a certain airheadedness to them masked how good she was at her craft and how hard she worked to get things just right, he said. He particularly recalled an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” called “Pat’s Secret” in which her character, Pat MacDougall, was revealed, against all expectations, to be a smoker. Ms. Engel was no smoker, but she sold the bit. “The way she handled her lighter was like a Mafia boss,” he said. “It’s not everybody who can get up there and get a laugh,” he added. “You pray for someone like her to come along.

04-16-2019, 03:17 PM	#3
MA Member Moderator Forum Idol Join Date: May 20, 2017 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 127,534	Here's a nice tribute done by Pavan over on the blog: http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2019/0...ary-tyler.html
	__________________ ~-Mikaela-~

04-16-2019, 07:00 PM	#5
80sTrivia Member Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 23, 2002 Posts: 21,715	So sad to hear the news of Georgia's passing. I always loved her voice, and her character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show...
	__________________ Perfect Gift Books for Pop Culture Fanatics: Thank You for Being a Friend: A Golden Girls Trivia Book The Bouquet Residence: A Keeping Up Appearances Trivia Book Cooking With the Golden Girls: Fun & Delicious Recipes from a Hilarious Miami Kitchen Love in the Afternoon: The Ultimate Soap Opera Trivia Book The Last Great Decade: The Ultimate 90s Trivia Book Betty White: A Celebration

04-16-2019, 07:25 PM	#6
Ohio8 Member Forum Star Join Date: Jul 29, 2003 Location: Wherever you aren't. Posts: 18,925	Attached Images

04-16-2019, 07:29 PM	#7
Mr. Television 23 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,133	R.I.P. Georgia. Such a great character actress. Loved her as Georgette.
	__________________ Sonny

04-16-2019, 07:43 AM	#2
Willbo Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 10, 2012 Location: Chattanooga, TN Posts: 862	RIP Georgia Engel. Such great memories on MTM and Everybody Loves Raymond.

04-16-2019, 06:10 PM	#4
scotsguy Member Forum Regular Join Date: Nov 25, 2002 Location: Edinburgh,Scotland Posts: 696	So sad and such a shock,Georgette wS so funny,RIP.

04-16-2019, 07:44 PM	#8
AB Member Eternal Member Forum Icon Join Date: Dec 26, 2006 Location: The South Posts: 59,429	Rest in peace Georgia/Georgette. Attached Images

04-16-2019, 07:52 PM	#9
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,096	Georgia Engel remembered by Patricia Heaton, Betty White, Lin-Manuel Miranda and more “I am in shock – Georgia was an absolute angel – so dear, so sweet, so talented. God bless you Georgia!” tweeted Patricia Heaton, who worked with the late Mary Tyler Moore Show star on Everybody Loves Raymond. “One of my favorite episodes was when Robert catches Pat smoking – she was just brilliant!” Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal also paid tribute, tweeting: “To our dear sweet friend, we’ll love and miss you and your brilliant talent always.” Betty White released a statement on her former Mary Tyler Moore co-star, whom she reunited with on Hot in Cleveland: “Georgia was one of a kind and the absolute best." Lin-Manuel Miranda added: "A light is out, and what can we do but be grateful for what she gave us."

04-16-2019, 08:19 PM	#10
Mr. Television 23 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,133	From Betty White. https://www.instagram.com/p/BwUx6lin...ource=ig_embed

04-16-2019, 09:39 PM	#11
Family Ties Forever! Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Apr 16, 2002 Location: Keaton residence Posts: 10,214	RIP. When I hear her name I think of her Mary Tyler Moore character and how Georgette was married to Ted. I'm sure it must be hard on Betty White losing Mary Tyler Moore in 2017 and Georgia this year.
	__________________ Jenny

04-17-2019, 08:49 PM	#12
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,096	I know that this has been probably addressed before, but it kind of blows my mind that Georgia Engel was still in her 20s (and they paired her with Ted Knight, who was roughly 25 years her senior) when she started working on MTM. I don't know if she was supposed to be playing somebody older than her actual age, but none the less, had a decidedly "mature" look (despite her baby voice) about her.

04-25-2019, 05:03 PM	#14
king of comedy Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Aug 31, 2012 Location: New Jersey Posts: 5,140	Rest in peace. She is now with Ted Knight as well as Mary. Ted and Georgette were a great couple.

04-28-2019, 11:05 AM	#15
PracTz Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2002 Location: United States of America [Happily Living in the 20th Century] Posts: 2,711	Miss Engel was so shy in Real Life that she WALKED over a mile to/from her apartment to the studio to play the part for roughly a year before someone noticed and insisted that she be given a ride. It had never occurred to her to ask anyone for a ride much less take a bus/ get a car despite the dangers of walking the LA streets solo at night! Anyway, she definitely seemed as though she'd have been nice to have known had one reason to know her RIP, Miss Engel.