Alice Playten (née Plotkin; August 28, 1947 – June 25, 2011) was an American actress known for her high-pitched, child-like voice.

Life and career

Born in New York City, Playten began her career in 1959 at age 11, playing Marie's young son in the Metropolitan Opera's original production of Alban Berg's Wozzeck. Her Broadway credits included Gypsy, Oliver!, Henry, Sweet Henry, Hello, Dolly!, Rumors, Seussical, and Caroline, or Change. Her many off-Broadway credits include Promenade, The Last Sweet Days of Isaac, Up from Paradise, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, First Lady Suite, A Flea in Her Ear, National Lampoon's Lemmings, and Shlemiel the First. Playten's screen credits include Ladybug Ladybug (1963), Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name? (1971), California Dreaming (1979), Legend (1985), and I.Q. (1994). She wore heavy makeup and prosthetics in Legend to portray the character of Blix, a major minion of the Lord of Darkness; she also dubbed the voice of Gump. She did voice work in several animated features, including Felix the Cat (as Pearl), Really Rosie (as an alligator), Heavy Metal (as Gloria), Doug (as Beebe Bluff and Elmo), Doug's 1st Movie and My Little Pony: The Movie. She was a regular on the children's television series The Lost Saucer and That's Cat, appeared in National Lampoon's Disco Beaver from Outer Space during the early days of HBO, and had guest shots on Frasier, Law & Order, Third Watch, and As the World Turns, among others. Playten may have been best known for her role of the newlywed who makes a gigantic dumpling as the first meal she cooks for her husband (Terry Kiser) in two classic 1969–1970 Alka-Seltzer commercials.

Personal life and death

Playten was married to director Joshua White from no later than July 1982 until her death. Playten died on June 25, 2011, at Sloan-Kettering Hospital in Manhattan from heart failure after a lifetime of juvenile diabetes, complicated by pancreatic cancer.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and honors