Doris Packer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Doris Packer

Born	Doris Edwards May 30, 1904 Menominee, Michigan, USA
Died	March 31, 1979 (aged 74) Glendale, California, USA
Spouse(s)	Rowland G. Edwards (1928-1953)

Doris Packer, real name Doris Edwards, (May 30, 1904 – March 31, 1979) was an American actress best known for her role as Mrs. Cornelia Rayburn, Theodore Cleaver's principal in Leave It to Beaver. She is also remembered for her role as the mother of millionaire playboy Chatsworth Osborne, Jr., (played by Steven Franken) in CBS's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. She used the epithet "you nasty, nasty boy" in reference to Chatsworth, a blueblood who supposedly spoke eighteen languages. Chatsworth, like an English gentleman, called her "Mumsey". Prior to playing Chatsworth's mother, she played Clarice Armitage, the mother of Milton Armitage, on Dobie Gillis.

The Packers moved to southern California while Doris was quite young. She became interested in acting while in high school. After studies at the University of California at Los Angeles, she moved to New York City to study under drama teacher Evelyn Thomas. She appeared in many Broadway shows, including Elizabeth the Queen, in which she played the title role.

She also had a role in the 1950s CBS sitcom The Burns and Allen Show, starring George Burns and Gracie Allen.

In the 1964–1965 season, Packer played another Cornelia in John McGiver's short-lived CBS sitcom Many Happy Returns set in the complaint division of a fictitious Los Angeles department store.

Packer was married to renowned stage director Rowland G. Edwards for twenty-five years — from 1928 until his death in 1953. She outlived her husband by twenty-six years and died at the age of seventy-four from natural causes in Glendale, California.