LOS ANGELES — Kaye Ballard, the boisterous comedian and singer who appeared in Broadway musicals and nightclubs from New York to Las Vegas and starred with Eve Arden in the 1960s TV sitcom “The Mothers-In-Law,” has died. She was 93.
Ballard died Monday night at her home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., after a fight with kidney cancer, her friend Marguerite Gordon said Tuesday.
“The Mothers-In-Law,” in which Ballard starred with Arden (of the 1950s sitcom “Our Miss Brooks”), aired from 1967 to 1969. It marked a high point in a career that began when Ballard was 12 and lasted into the 21st century.
She was on hand last week when a documentary on her life and career premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
“She was so excited to be able to tell her story,” said Dan Wingate, the film’s director. “She was really anxious for young people, especially, who are going into the arts to understand the full breadth of a life in the arts, the ups and downs.”
The audience’s response was gratifying for her, “to hear that applause and feel that love,” Wingate said, and she was thrilled when the documentary was singled out for festival honors.
Ballard made a mark in every form of show business except movies. She did appear as a secondary player in a few films, including 1958’s “The Girl Most Likely” starring Jane Powell and in 1964’s “A House Is Not a Home,” but her high-octane personality may have been too potent for the big screen of that era and its more restrictive portrayals of women.
Movie stardom was her first dream, as it was for others of her generation, filmmaker Wingate said, and he wanted the documentary to be seen on the big screen to help fulfill that goal.
But even falling short of a big film career, “she was able to reach and endear herself to so many people,” he said.
Ballard’s first real break came when she was singing in a Detroit nightclub, The Bowery. Comedy bandleader Spike Jones dropped in one night and quickly drafted the exuberant young singer into his musical contingent. For two years she toured with Jones’ troupe, singing, playing the flute and tuba and engaging in the band’s antics. She also sang with the bands of Vaughn Monroe and Stan Kenton.
In 1945 she moved to New York and sought work in theater, appearing on Broadway in a small part in the revue “Three to Make Ready.” She toured in summer stock and finally made a dent in New York as a madcap Helen of Troy in 1954’s “The Golden Apple,” drawing applause with her song “Lazy Afternoon.” One critic called her performance “a wonder of insinuation.”
She also won critical praise for her role as “The Incomparable Rosalie,” the magician’s assistant and mistress in 1961’s “Carnival!,” a musicalized version of the movie “Lili.” She sang “Always, Always You” while stretched out in a box the jealous magician was piercing with swords.
Ballard began working on TV in the early 1950s, becoming an in-demand performer on network variety programs including “The Mel Torme Show” and those of Ed Sullivan and Perry Como. She also became a favorite of talk show hosts, making repeat appearances with Jack Paar, Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson.
She was a regular on “The Doris Day Show” in the 1970s and the 1990s TV series “Due South.”
Her nightclub act played in first-class venues including the Blue Angel in New York, Mr. Kelly’s in Chicago, the Flamingo in Las Vegas and the hungry i in San Francisco.
