Florida Friebus
Florida Friebus (October 10, 1909 – May 27, 1988) was an American writer and actress of stage, film, and television. Friebus's best-known roles were Winifred "Winnie" Gillis, the sympathetic mother of Dwayne Hickman's character Dobie Gillis on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis", and Mrs. Lillian Bakerman on "The Bob Newhart Show". Early years. Born in Auburndale, Massachusetts to Theodore Friebus and Beatrice Flagg Mosier, Friebus hailed from an East Coast theatrical family that included her father, a leading stage actor with Boston's Castle Square Players in the early 1900s and a minor silent-film  actor, and her maternal grandmother, Georgine Flagg, who scandalized her own family in the late 19th century by venturing onstage as a player with Augustin Daly's stock company in Manhattan. Friebus was known to make it clear to curious people that she was named after her mother's favorite aunt — not after the state of Florida. Her paternal grandmother was named Florida as well. Personal life. Friebus married actor Richard Waring, in 1934. They had one child who died in infancy. The couple divorced in 1952. Friebus never remarried. Career. Friebus first acted professionally in 1929 in New York  City, appearing in "The Cradle Song" with the Civic Repertory Theater. She appeared on television in such programs as "The Ford Theatre Hour", "Perry Mason", "Bachelor Father", "Father Knows Best", "The Rookies", "Peyton Place", "Ironside", "Gunsmoke", "Sanford and Son", "Ben Casey", "The Doris Day Show", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Room 222", "The Partridge Family", "Chico and the Man", "Barnaby Jones", "Alice", and "Rhoda". She also read stories to children on "Look and Listen" on KNXT in Los Angeles, California. As a writer, Friebus collaborated with Eva Le Gallienne to dramatize "Alice in Wonderland". The play was presented on Broadway  and later on the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" on television. Actors' Equity. Friebus spent more than 16 years on the board of Actors' Equity Association. She was presented the Phil Loeb Award "for extraordinary service to her profession." Death. Friebus died of cancer in 1988 in Laguna Niguel, California, aged 78. Papers. Friebus' papers are housed at the New York Public Library.