Search movies and TV series
Acting
Hope Summers could portray a friendly neighbor or companion as she did for Frances Bavier's Aunt Bee character on many episodes of The Andy Griffith Show (1960) or a seemingly amiable Satanist in Rosemary's Baby (1968). Born in Mattoon, Illinois, she developed an early interest in the theater. Graduating from Northwestern School of Speech in Evanston, Illinois, she subsequently taught speech and diction there. This, in turn, led to her the head position in the Speech Department at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, teaching students privately on the side as well. In the 1930s Hope began to focus on acting. She found work in community and stock theaters in Illinois and earned some notice for putting on one-woman shows such as "Backstage of Broadway." She made use of her vocal eloquence by building up her resumé on radio, performing in scores of dramatic shows, including "Authors' Playhouse," "First Night," "Ma Perkins", and "Step-Mother". In 1950 Hope transferred her talents to the new medium of television and earned a regular role on the comedy series Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel (1950). By the age of 50 she was customarily called upon to play slightly older than she was, appearing in a number of minuscule matron roles in such films as Zero Hour! (1957), Hound-Dog Man (1959), Inherit the Wind (1960), Spencer's Mountain (1963), The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966), Charley Varrick (1973) and her last, Foul Play (1978). She never had any major stand-out roles in movies; TV would be a more prolific choice of medium. Her gently stern, old-fashioned looks allowed her to be a part of many small-town settings, including Dennis the Menace (1959) and Petticoat Junction (1963), and in various western locales such as Maverick (1957) and Wagon Train (1957). She played a rustic regular for many years on The Rifleman (1958). Usually assigned to play teachers, nurses and other helpful, nurturing types, her characters were also known to be inveterate gossips. Hope worked until close to the end of her life, passing away from heart failure in 1979.

Evil Town
as Alice Wylie (as Hope Summer)

Smokey and the Good Time Outlaws
as Marcie

Foul Play
as Ethel
Another Day

Snip
as Aunt Polly

Starsky & Hutch

Welcome Back, Kotter

Dr. Shagetz
as Alice Wylie

Death Sentence
as Emily Boylan

Chico and the Man

Little House on the Prairie
as Addie Bjornesen

Our Time
as Biology Teacher

Indict and Convict
as Mrs. Potter

Charley Varrick
as Mess Vesta

Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies
as Laura

M*A*S*H
as Nurse Meg Cratty

Where Does It Hurt?
as Nurse Throttle

Get to Know Your Rabbit
as Mrs. Beeman

Night Gallery

The Learning Tree
as Mrs. Kiner

Mayberry R.F.D.
as Clara Edwards

Adam-12
as Clara Fisher

Hawaii Five-O
as Minnie Leona Moroney

The Shakiest Gun in the West
as Celia

Rosemary's Baby
as Mrs. Gilmore

The Second Hundred Years
as Mrs. Hansen

Penelope
as Shop Lady (uncredited)

That Girl

Love on a Rooftop

The Pruitts of Southampton

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
as Susanna Blush

The Hallelujah Trail
as Mrs. Hasselrad

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Bewitched

One Man's Way
as Mrs. Elwood Thompson

The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
as Mrs. Rutledge
Glynis

Petticoat Junction
as Mabel Denton

Spencer's Mountain
as Mother Ida

The Beverly Hillbillies

The Couch
as Mrs. Quimby

The Children's Hour
as Agatha

The Dick Van Dyke Show

The New Breed
as Mrs. McCurtin

Dr. Kildare
as Madge

Claudelle Inglish
as Ernestine Peasley (uncredited)

Homicidal
as Martha Adrims (Uncredited)

Angel Baby
as Woman at Revival Meeting (uncredited)

Parrish
as Mary (uncredited)

The Andy Griffith Show
as Clara Edwards

My Three Sons

Inherit the Wind
as Mrs. Krebs - Righteous Townswoman

Hound-Dog Man
as Jewell Crouch

Edge of Eternity
as Motel Attendant

Dennis the Menace
as Mrs. Burns

The Third Man
as Irate woman

Law of the Plainsman
as Mrs. Dodge

I Want to Live!
as Ethel - Policewoman on Bus (uncredited)

The Rifleman

Peter Gunn