Eleanor Audley

Eleanor Zellman, better known as Eleanor Audley, was an American voice, radio, and television actress, known for voicing Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty and Lady Tremaine, the evil stepmother in Cinderella, the two famous villains in Disney animated films. She also voiced Madame Leota in the Disneyland attraction "The Haunted Mansion."

Eleanor Audley was born on November 19th, 1905 as Eleanor Zellman. She grew up in New Jersey, and at about 12 years old her family moved to New York City. It was the perfect location to launch her career in entertainment, where she began on Broadway. Her first ever role was the “Guest of the Hotel” in Howdy, King in December 1926. That show ran for a month and had 40 performances. She continued on Broadway all the way through to 1944, starring in shows such as On Call, Pigeons and People, Thunder on the Left, Kill that Story, Ladies’ Money, Susan and God, and In Bed We Cry. Her longest running role was Charlotte Marley in Susan and God.

After Eleanor’s career on Broadway, she began making appearances on radio shows. This is where her recognizable voice really started to become synonymous to her. One of her most famous roles was on a radio sitcom called My Favorite Husband that starred Lucille Ball and Richard Denning. The radio show ran from 1948 to 1951, with Eleanor starring as the mother-in-law, Mrs. Cooper, in a few episodes. She also starred in Father Knows Best, another radio sitcom that aired on NBC every Thursday night in the 1950s. She played the neighbor, Mrs. Smith.

Eleanor soon after began her work in film, with her first role in The Story of Molly X in 1949. She had already begun to make a name for herself in the industry, and was soon casted to be the evil stepmother in Disney’s newest animated film, Cinderella, in 1950. Disney animator Andreas Deja speaks about how she was the perfect fit for the role in the documentary From Rags to Riches: The Making of Cinderella.

Eleanor not only served as the voice of Lady Tremaine, but was also the live action reference model for her as well. In certain photos of Audley you can see the great similarities the 2 have. Frank Thomas was the supervising animator for the character of the Step-Mother, Lady Tremaine, in Cinderella. He recalls their time working together on the project, as he modelled the majority of the look of the character after Audley. The look and the voice together just made sense.

After her successful time at Disney working on Cinderella, she was then cast as the villain again in Disney’s next princess film, Sleeping Beauty. According to the 1997 VHS documentary of the making of Sleeping Beauty, it is said that Walt personally suggested Eleanor for the role. It’s been said that she initially turned down the role due to having tuberculosis at the time of the offer, but luckily was able to recover before having to record. The lead animator for Maleficent, Disney Legend Marc Davis, worked closely with Eleanor as he wanted to model the facial features after her as well, similarly to Lady Tremaine. He got the idea for the cape and horns from different historical religious texts he studied.

Her experience on radio sitcoms and films then translated into her getting roles on television sitcoms through the 1950s to the 1970s. Her first television appearance was on The Mickey Rooney Show as Bessie, which was actually the pilot episode of the series in 1954. She continued to play supporting characters on other successful TV shows such as I Love Lucy (1957), The Millionaire (1958), The Twilight Zone (1960), The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961), and Green Acres (1965). Audley continued to appear on television shows all the way up until 1970, her last series being My Three Sons.

She appeared in both versions of Father Knows Best, on radio (in the recurring role of neighbor Mrs. Elizabeth Smith), and in other roles.

She also participated in Romance, Escape, Suspense, Lux Radio Theatre, The Story of Dr. Kildare, The Railroad Hour, and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. She appeared as Mrs. Humphrey in All That Heaven Allows.

She also appeared in two episodes of the television series The Beverly Hillbillies as Millicent Schuyler-Potts, the strict headmistress of Potts School, where Jethro Bodine enters the 5th grade.

Other television appearances included Carlton Murdock in the series Honey West, starring Anne Francis and John Ericson, and Agnes Wilton in the television series Richard Diamond, starring David Janssen.

He died on November 25, 1991, due to respiratory failure, at age 86.