Minerva Urecal (born Florence Minerva Dunnuck; September 22, 1894 – February 26, 1966) was an American stage and radio performer as well as a character actress in Hollywood films and on various television series from the early 1950s to 1965.

Early years

Urecal was born Florence Minerva Dunnuck in Eureka, California in 1894. She later formed her stage name by combining letters from the names of her hometown and state.

Career

Urecal was originally a vaudeville performer before venturing into radio and stage, later making her film debut in 1933. She played largely uncredited roles such as secretaries, laundresses and frontierswomen. She began working in television in the 1950s, favoring Westerns. From 1932 to 1937, Urecal portrayed Mrs. Pasquale on the Sunday Night Hi-Jinks radio program. On television, she played Maw Bowie, mother of the title character, in The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956-1958). She guest-starred on CBS's My Friend Flicka, The Roy Rogers Show, The Lone Ranger, and the syndicated The Range Rider. She also had a recurring role in the 1953-1954 situation comedy Meet Mr. McNutley in the role of Josephine Bradley, the dean of a women's college. The program was broadcast on CBS radio and CBS-TV. She also played Billie the Barber in the 1950 episode of The Lone Ranger as "Billie the Great". In 1957, Urecal had her only starring television role on the syndicated The Adventures of Tugboat Annie, playing the title character originally performed by Marie Dressler in the film Tugboat Annie in 1933 and continued by Marjorie Rambeau and Jane Darwell in two movie sequels. Later, in 1957, Urecal appeared as a landlady in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Fan Dancer's Horse". In 1959, Urecal replaced actress Hope Emerson as nightclub owner "Mother" for season 2 of the private detective series Peter Gunn. Urecal appeared on the Walter Brennan ABC sitcom The Real McCoys in the series' 1960 episode "The Gigolo" and in the Western series Whispering Smith in the episode "Swift Justice". She was cast as a maid in the 1961 episode "Call Me Mother" of the CBS sitcom Angel, starring Annie Fargé. In 1965 she made her second appearance on Perry Mason, this time as Martha Glenhorn in "The Case of the Lover's Gamble", as well as appearing as Martha Winslow in the rural sitcom Petticoat Junction in an episode entitled 'A Tale of Two Dogs'. Her final television appearance was the following year, when she played Mrs. Griffin on an episode entitled 'Billie Jo's Independence Day' of Petticoat Junction.

Personal life and death

Urecal was married to Max Holtzer. Urecal died in 1966 from a heart attack in Glendale, California, aged 71. She was buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Selected filmography