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Actor

1943-03-28 · Charleston, West Virginia, USA · Female

45 series in the catalog

Conchata Galen Ferrell (March 28, 1943 – October 12, 2020) was an American actress. She played Berta the housekeeper on the sitcom Two and a Half Men from 2003 to 2015, and she received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the role (in 2005 and 2007), as well as a TV Land Award in 2009. Ferrell had previously been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in L.A. Law (in 1992). A seasoned stage actress, Farrell's performance in the stage play The Sea Horse earned her an Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award and a Theatre World Award. Her big screen work included roles in such films as Network (1976), Where the River Runs Black (1986), For Keeps (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), True Romance (1993), Erin Brockovich (2000) and Krampus (2015). Farrell's turn in the 1979 frontier western saga Heartland earned her a Western Heritage Award.

Early life

Conchata Galen Ferrell was born March 28, 1943, in Loudendale, West Virginia, the first of two children, to Mescal Loraine (née George) and Luther Martin Ferrell. She was raised in Charleston, West Virginia. Her family later moved to Circleville, Ohio.

She attended West Virginia University for two years, dropped out, and after working several jobs, enrolled and graduated from Marshall University with a degree in history education. She made her first onstage performance at Marshall in 1969, in the second Barfenon Review, a skit comedy and musical production.

Career

Ferrell began her career on the stage as a member of the Circle Repertory Company. She appeared in the original off-Broadway cast of Lanford Wilson's The Hot l Baltimore and won the Drama Desk, Obie, and Theatre World Best Actress awards for her performance in the off-Broadway play The Sea Horse.

Acting on stage, television, and film for decades, she starred as the frontier wife in the 1979 feature film Heartland directed by Richard Pearce, and as the tough-talking owner of Mystic Pizza, co-starring alongside Lili Taylor, Annabeth Gish, and Julia Roberts, who portrayed pizza waitresses. She also played a tough, comical nurse on the short-lived 1980s TV sitcom E/R.

In 1992, she received her first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her recurring role as Attorney Susan Bloom on the sixth season of L.A. Law, but lost to Valerie Mahaffey for Northern Exposure. She had previously appeared in an episode of the show in 1988 as Lorna Landsberg, an entirely different character.

Ferrell's supporting roles in films include performances in Deadly Hero, Network, Edward Scissorhands, Erin Brockovich, Crime and Punishment in Suburbia, Mr. Deeds, and K-PAX, as well as a small part in True Romance. Her other television credits include Maude, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hot l Baltimore, Teen Angel, Matlock, B. J. and the Bear, Good Times, Hearts Afire, Townies, Night Court, The Love Boat, and Push, Nevada. She played Mrs. Werner in the episode of Quincy, M.E. titled "Into the Murdering Mind" (1982). She also made memorable appearances portraying blunt, authoritative judges (the "Jagged Sledge" episode of Sledge Hammer! in 1987, and on "The One with Joey's Porsche" episode of Friends in 1999).

She accepted a role in the off-Broadway play Love, Loss, and What I Wore for an April 27 through May 29, 2011, run with Minka Kelly, AnnaLynne McCord, Anne Meara, and B. Smith.

Ferrell portrayed Berta the housekeeper in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, appearing in a total of 212 episodes from 2003 to 2015. She had received two nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2005 and 2007, but lost to Doris Roberts for Everybody Loves Raymond and Jaime Pressly for My Name Is Earl.

In 2012, she voiced the role of Bob's Mom in Frankenweenie, which was directed by Tim Burton. She was slated to appear in the upcoming feature film Deported (2020), and had earlier acted in A Very Nutty Christmas (2018), a holiday-themed television film.

Personal life

Ferrell married Arnie Anderson around 1986. She had a daughter, Samantha (born in 1982), and two stepdaughters (born in 1976 and 1979).

Death

Ferrell died on October 12, 2020, from complications following cardiac arrest at the Sherman Oaks Hospital in Sherman Oaks, California. She was 77 years old.

Filmography

Source(s)

Conchata Ferrell at the Internet Broadway Database

Biography at CBS.com