Florence MacMichael

Florence MacMichael (April 26, 1919 – May 28, 1999) was an American character actress of stage, film and television, best known for playing Winnie Kirkwood in the television series Mister Ed.

Early life and education
MacMichael was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, to Mary (née Wahl) and Roy A. MacMichael. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.

Career
MacMichael began her entertainment career on local radio and theatre and later on Broadway. A major role in the Broadway play Out of the Frying Pan led to her first film role in its 1943 adaptation, Young and Willing. Some of her subsequent film credits include Woman Obsessed (1959), The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1968) and Welcome Home, Soldier Boys (1972).

On television MacMichael was cast in a recurring role as Florence Pearson in the sitcom My Three Sons (1960–1961), as Winnie Kirkwood in Mister Ed (1963–1965), and as Barney Fife's girlfriend in two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. She also performed in several episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on The Twilight Zone  episode "Mr. Bevis", on the Western series The Tall Man in "Millionaire MacBean", as well as on other television series such Bachelor Father, Dennis the Menace, The Donna Reed Show, and Alcoa Premiere.

MacMichael was active in local theater as both an actress and director. She was the founder of the Sierra Madre Studio Players and worked too at the Pasadena Playhouse. By the late 1970s, she began teaching stage acting at the Pasadena Repertory Theatre inside The Hotel Carver. One of her more notable exercises in instructing method acting was to have her students perform like a slice of bacon frying on a hot skillet.

Personal life
MacMichael was married twice, first to Sebryn Myers and then to James McCoy. She had two children, a son and a daughter. In 1999, at age 80, she died in Cambria in San Luis Obispo County, California.