After a tremendous outpouring of love for recently deceased funny lady Kaye Ballard, the family of the 93-year-old comedian will hold a memorial service Wednesday in her honor.
Ballard, who died Jan. 21 from kidney cancer, had previously asked that no funeral service be performed upon her death, but after numerous fans clamored to pay their respects, her family has scheduled one.
“Everyone has been calling, asking what’s going on?” Ballard’s housemate, Myvanwy Jenn told the Palm Springs Desert Sun.
Best known for her quick, brash humor for half a century on Broadway and TV, including sitcoms “The Mothers-in-Law” and “The Doris Day Show,” Ballard often stole scenes with her quick wit.
Born Catherine Balotta in 1925 Cleveland to Italian immigrants, Ballard hit Broadway with a bang in the 1950s appearing in “The Pirates of Penzance,” “Carnival” and the “The Iliad”-inspired “The Golden Apple.”
For the 1970s, she eased into supporting performances in film, accepting memorable roles in “Freaky Friday,” “Which Way to the Front?” and “The Ritz.”
Ballard, a member of the same acting class as Marilyn Monroe, recalled the budding star as modest and insecure.
“She was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! She had a perfect little body, not like the walking X-rays that walk around today. She was so modest and so insecure,” she told Aero Chug years ago. “In acting class, she got up, flailed her arms around and jiggled while singing ‘Look Down That Lonesome Road.’ The class was mesmerized — everything was bouncing up and down, left and right.”
Since the late 1960s, Ballard had been a resident of Rancho Mirage in California’s Coachella Valley.
