Howland died on December 31 after a battle with lung cancer, Kimbrough told The New York Times.
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Howland originated the role of Amy in the original Broadway cast of Stephen Sondheim’s COMPANY, in which she introduced the patter song “Getting Married Today”.
Actress Beth Howland, best known for her role as waitress Vera on the long-running CBS show Alice, has died. He said there had been no announcement, funeral or memorial service because that’s how she wanted it.
From left, actresses Polly Holliday, Ms. Howland and Linda Lavin in “Alice”. Howland told the Associated Press in 1979 that she saw a lot of Vera in herself.
“I’m a little naive sometimes but not as much as Vera”, she remarked in one of her final interviews.
“It was the Boston side of her personality coming out”, Kimbrough said. “I guess I’m really a cynic”, she said. She went on to have roles in the musicals Bye Bye Birdie, High Spirits,Drat!
Prior to Alice, which would run for nine seasons, Howland’s TV credits included appearances on The Mary Tyler More Show, Love, American Style and The Rookies.
After “Alice” ended, Ms. Howland largely disappeared from television acting, aside from small parts on series including “Murder, She Wrote” and “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”.
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Howland is survived by Kimbrough and a daughter from a previous marriage to actor Michael J. Pollard (“Scrooged”, “Tango & Cash”). She and actress Jennifer Warren also earned an Academy Award in 1989 as executive producers of the documentary You Don’t Have to Die, about a 6-year-old boy’s successful battle against cancer.
