Beulah Bondi

As she aged, Bondi grew into playing the types of parts in which she had often been cast. She played the grandmother of "On Borrowed Time" in three different media in two different decades: in the 1939 feature film and the 1953 Broadway revival and the 1957 NBC adaptation. She remained a frequent presence on the small screen, including a memorable series of commercials for Oxydol detergent, until her 1963 "retirement" following her appearance in "Tammy and the Doctor." Bondi was lured back before the cameras in the 1970s, though, first for the TV-movie "She Waits" (CBS, 1972), which reteamed her with "A Summer Place" co-star Dorothy McGuire, and later for an occasional guest role on the CBS family drama "The Waltons" from 1974 to 1976. For her latter appearance, the actress earned an Emmy award. She died from injuries sustained in a fall in her California home in January 1981.