Lisa Seagram, actress in ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ and ‘Batman,’ dead at 82
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Actress Lisa Seagram passed away at age 82. (Courtesy of Chela Fiorini)
Lisa Seagram, the actress who appeared in hit TV shows including “Batman,” “The Beverly Hillbillies,” and "Bewitched,” has passed away at age 82, Fox News has learned.
Seagram’s daughter, Chela Fiorini, told Fox News on Wednesday that Seagram died on Feb. 1 at an assisted care facility in Burbank, Calif., after a nine-year battle with dementia.
"Lisa continues to inspire through our project Alznotes.com where we teach other family caregivers and professional dementia caregivers how to cope with this disease," said Fiorini, who also runs a "virtual dementia tour" on the site to help viewers understand how the illness, which has no cure, impacts patients.
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Fiorini also stressed that cannabis helped her mother cope with the symptoms associated with dementia and those whose loved ones were diagnosed with the disease should do as much research as possible for finding relief.
"Cannabis got my mom through the worst of her symptoms," said Fiorini. "Cannabis got her through the end as well… The thing that we really want to share is that cannabis helps dementia. And my mother would everyone to know that… Get the help you need for relief."
Lisa Seagram (left) portrayed Lila, the accomplice of Milton Berle's Louie the Lilac, on the third season of ABC's "Batman. " (YouTube)
Fiorini added Seagram inspired her to work on a film about a couple "running an illegal boarding care for stoners" after "mom is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and she can’t live alone after being thrown out of the nursing home for using marijuana."
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"It’s just starting to be read," she explained about the comedy. "... But it’s completed and it really is her… It’s a comedy about a really tough subject. Of course, we can make a documentary. That’s super easy. We have a lot of footage. But documentaries don’t get seen in the same way that comedies get seen. And really, when you’re dealing with such a difficult diagnosis, if you don’t find the joy and laughter, you’re just going to want to kill yourself. But we got through it with joy and laughter eventually. And at first, it’s devastating. Completely devastating."
CATWOMAN LEE MERIWETHER TELLS ALL
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Seagram, the daughter of a New York City police detective, was born Ruth Browser in Brooklyn on July 7, 1936. She worked as a graphic artist and as a model in New York City before studying acting. She first landed a small role in John Cassavetes’ “Shadows” in 1959.
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Determined to pursue acting, Seagram walked into the office of Paramount studio head Martin Rackin without an appointment. She left with a role as a college coed in 1961’s “Love in a Goldfish Bowl.” She then played Bob Hope’s French secretary in “Bachelor in Paradise” that same year and then a party guest in 1963’s “Come Blow Your Horn” alongside Frank Sinatra.
BEWITCHED - "It Takes One To Know One" - Airdate: November 26, 1964. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)DICK YORK;AGNES MOOREHEARD;ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY;LISA SEAGRAM (Getty)
Seagram’s career in Hollywood continued to blossom. In 1964, she attempted to seduce Darrin (Dick York) in “Bewitched.” From 1964 to 1965, she appeared on six episodes of “Burke’s Law.” Between 1965 to 1966, she appeared as Edythe Brewster, the bride of Frank Wilcox’s oil baron John Brewster — the man who made Jed (Buddy Ebsen) a millionaire — on “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Seagram then played Lila, the accomplice of Milton Berle’s Louie the Lilac on the third season of “Batman” in 1967.
In the 2007 book “Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood,” Seagram told author Tom Lisanti she had “great fun” appearing on “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
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“Donna Douglas as Elly Mae was throwing animals at me all the time,” she recalled. “I really conquered my Brooklyn accent on this because I had to be this haughty, high-class society woman. Buddy Ebsen and Irene Ryan were phenomenal. I had a ball working on this.”
Her last listed appearance was on the 1976 Italian comedy “La studentessa.”
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After her time in Hollywood, Seagram worked in commercial real estate in Los Angeles, as well as an acting teacher in Hawaii.
Seagram is survived by Fiorini, her other daughter Alisa, as well as her grandchildren Jessica and Michael.