# Jane Rose

Jane Phin Rose (February 7, 1913 – June 29, 1979) was an American character actress, perhaps best remembered as Audrey Dexter, the gently befuddled mother-in-law of Cloris Leachman’s character (Phyllis Lindstrom) on the CBS sitcom Phyllis (1975–1977).

## Early life

Rose was born in Spokane, Washington, the only child born to Dr. Charles L. Rose, a Spokane dentist, and Dr. Frances Eastman, a Spokane physician. Eastman had a daughter, Angeline Kearny Lockhart, by a previous marriage. In her early years, Jane Rose participated in little theater. She was educated at Lewis and Clark High School, the University of Washington, and Columbia University.

## Career

Rose appeared in the original Broadway productions of The Time of the Cuckoo (1952–53), Orpheus Descending (1957), and The Gazebo (1958–59), as well as a revival of Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House (1959–60), in which she played Nurse Guinness. She also performed for the New York Shakespeare Festival in such productions as All's Well That Ends Well, Richard III, and Measure for Measure."
Her films included David Lean's Summertime (1955), with Katharine Hepburn, Flipper (1963), and I Walk the Line (1970), with Gregory Peck and Tuesday Weld. Among her numerous TV credits were appearances on such shows as Robert Montgomery Presents, Car 54, Where Are You?, The Defenders, Route 66, All in the Family, Rhoda, Lou Grant, and Co-Ed Fever. In addition, she was featured on the daytime dramas Love of Life (in which she created the character of Sarah Dale), Dark Shadows, The Secret Storm, and Somerset.
In 1975, Rose was cast as Audrey Dexter, mother-in-law to Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman), on Phyllis (1975–77). In 2005 – almost thirty years after Phyllis was cancelled - Rose was nominated for a TV Land Award as "Favorite Mother-in-Law".
Rose's last seen performance was as Mrs. Bulfinch in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations (1979).
Rose also worked with the New York Association for the Blind (she served eleven years as the Association's Director of Recreation), also taught acting, and was a pioneer in the use of drama as therapy for the blind.

## Death

She died of cancer on June 29, 1979, at her home in Studio City, California. She was 66.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Studio | Notes |
| 1954 | Garden of Eden | Latimore's Housekeeper | Excelsior Pictures | |
| 1955 | Summertime | Mrs. McIlhenny | United Artists | |
| 1956 | The Monte Carlo Story | Mrs. Edith Freeman | United Artists | |
| 1961 | One Plus One | Mrs. Kingsley | Selected Films | ("Average Man" segment) |
| 1963 | Flipper | Hettie White | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | |
| 1970 | I Walk the Line | Elsie | Columbia Pictures | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1951–1960 | Love of Life | Sarah Dale | Unknown episodes |
| 1951 | Goodyear Television Playhouse | | Episode - "October Story" |
| 1952 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Old Woman | Episode - "Autumn in New York" |
| 1953 | The Web | | Episode - "Encore" |
| 1953 | Wonderful John Acton | Aunt Bessie | 13 episodes |
| 1953 | Robert Montgomery Presents | Mama | Episode - "Really the Blues" |
| 1954 | The United States Steel Hour | | Episode - "The Rise of Carthage" |
| 1954 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | First Witch | Episode - "Macbeth" |
| 1954 | Look Up and Live | Anna | Episode - "Tobias and the Angel: Part 3" |
| 1955 | Studio One | Mable | Episode - "Strange Companion" |
| 1955 | Mr. Citizen | | Episode - "For My Brother" |
| 1957 | Decoy | Matron | Episode - "Deadly Corridor" |
| 1958 | Suspicion | Mrs. Russell | Episode - "The Woman Turned to Salt" |
| 1958 | Kraft Television Theatre | Edna | Episode - "Web of Guilt" |
| 1958 | Little Women | | TV movie |
| 1959 | Armstrong Circle Theatre | | Episode - "The Zone of Silence" |
| 1960 | Dillinger | Anna Sage | TV movie |
| 1960 | True Story | Nellie Smith | Episode - "Episode dated June 4, 1960" |
| 1960 | Shirley Temple's Storybook | Gypsy Mother | Episode - "Madeline" |
| 1962 | Car 54, Where Are You? | Boarding House Maid / Woman with Stroller | Episodes - "Toody Undercover" and "Pretzel Mary" |
| 1963 | The Defenders | Juror #5 | Episode - "Judgment Eve" |
| 1963 | Route 66 | Mrs. School | Episode - "What a Shining Young Man Was Our Gallant Lieutenant" |
| 1964–1965 | The Doctors and the Nurses | Miss Pritchard / Mrs. Briand | Episodes - "Where Park Runs into Vreeland", "Night of the Witch" |
| 1966 | Dark Shadows | Mrs. Mitchell | Episode - "Episode #1.1" |
| 1966 | ABC Stage 67 | | Episode - "The Love Song of Barney Kempinski" |
| 1966 | Hawk | Mrs. Colson | Episode - "The Hands of Corbin Claybrooke" |
| 1970–1971 | The Secret Storm | Aggie "Aunt Aggie" Parsons | Unknown episodes |
| 1974 | Great Performances | Agrafena | Episode - "Enemies" |
| 1974–1975 | Somerset | Becky Winkle | Unknown episodes |
| 1975 | All in the Family | Aunt Clara | Episode - "Edith's Friend" |
| 1975–1977 | Phyllis | Audrey Dexter | 48 episodes |
| 1977 | Halloween with the New Addams Family | Grandmama Addams | TV movie |
| 1978 | The Tony Randall Show | Mrs. Tilden | Episode - "Eyes of the Law" |
| 1978 | Rhoda | Mary | Episode - "In Search of Martin" |
| 1978 | Lou Grant | Mrs. Walker | Episode - "Murder" |
| 1979 | Co-Ed Fever | Mrs. Selby | 8 episodes, (final appearance) |
| 1979 | Roots: The Next Generations | Mrs. Bulfinch | TV miniseries - "Part VII" |