Fritzi Burr

Fritzi Burr (May 31, 1924 – January 17, 2003) was an American character actress who was notable for her television roles, including as Miss Collins on the sitcom What's Happening!!, and as various comedic foils to Fred Sanford on the sitcom Sanford and Son. She was the sister-in-law of Sanford and Son and What's Happening!! producer Saul Turteltaub.

Biography Burr was born Freda Berr in Philadelphia on May 31, 1924, to Pauline Berr (née Devore) and David Berr. Both of her parents were Russian Jews, and their families came from the same city, Berdichev. Her father's original last name, "Berdichevsky",

A few years later, her mother would remarry and have two more daughters, Shirley and Thelma, by her second husband, Benjamin Steinberg. In the late 1930s, the family moved from Philadelphia to Newark, New Jersey, where Freda spent her formative years in close proximity to the New York stage scene. Eventually, her stepfather formally adopted her, at which time she became officially known as Freda Steinberg, keeping a slightly modified "Burr" as her stage name.

Burr performed in small theaters and in skits with the vaudeville comedy team Smith and Dale. By the late 1950s, she was working on Broadway, appearing in I Can Get It for You Wholesale, the show in which Barbra Streisand first gained national attention. In the mid-1960s, Burr replaced Kaye Medford as the mother of Fanny Brice (played by Streisand) in Funny Girl.

Burr worked regularly in small theaters and dinner theaters, as well as in touring companies of musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof, in which she played, at different times, Yente and Tevye's long-suffering wife, Golde. After moving to Hollywood, she found steady work as a character actress in movies and on television.

Burr appeared in the movies How Do I Love Thee? (1970), Frasier, The Senusous Lion (1973), Chinatown (1974), The New, Original Wonder Woman (1975), Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night (1977) and 3 Ninjas (1992). Her television appearances include The Rockford Files (6 different roles in 6 episodes), What's Happening! (as high school teacher Miss Collins in 7 episodes), Starsky & Hutch, Quincy, M.E.,The Nanny, Melrose Place, Hunter, The Golden Girls, The Incredible Hulk, Sanford and Son, (10 episodes), Seinfeld, Friends age 78.

Filmography

Television 1967, N.Y.P.D. (1 episode) as Landlady 1970, That Girl (1 episode) as Laura 1973, A Touch of Grace (1 episode) as Mrs. Sherman 1973, The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1 episode) as Mrs. Davis 1973 – 1974, Love, American Style (2 episodes) as Mabel/The Moderator 1974 – 1975, The Odd Couple (2 episodes) as Angry Woman/Mrs. Perkins 1974 – 1977, Sanford and Son (10 episodes) as various 1975, The ABC Afternoon Playbreak (1 episode) as Florence Darwin 1975, Baretta (1 episode) as Mrs. Schwartz 1975, The Rookies (1 episode) as Apartment House Manager 1975, Wonder Woman (1 episode) as Saleslady 1975 – 1979, The Rockford Files (6 episodes) as various 1976, One Day at a Time (1 episode) as Ginny 1976, Harry O (1 episode) as Apartment Manager 1976, Starsky and Hutch (1 episode) as Mrs. Haberman 1976, Holmes & Yoyo (1 episode) as Mrs. Buchanan 1976, Police Woman (1 episode) as Landlady 1977, Sanford Arms (1 episode) as Secretary 1977 – 1979, What's Happening!! (7 episodes) as Miss Collins 1979, Delta House (1 episode) as Gretl Kemp 1979, Detective School (2 episodes) as Madame Duchamp 1979, The Incredible Hulk (2 episodes) as Rose Brown/Gladys 1979 – 1982, Quincy M.E. (3 episodes) as Dr. Finkel/Maybelle/Doreen 1980, One in a Million (1 episode) as Nurse 1981, Strike Force (1 episode) as Mrs. Greenstreet 1982, One of the Boys (1 episode) as The Bank Manager 1982, Maggie (1 episode) as Mrs. Spaulding 1983, The Facts of Life (1 episode) as Mrs. Waldman 1985, Crazy Like a Fox (1 episode) as Mabel 1985, Days of our Lives (4 episodes) as Beulah Boden 1986, Divorce Court (1 episode) as Marianne Walker 1986, You Again? (2 episodes) as Mabel 1987, Throb (1 episode) as Makler 1988, The Golden Girls (1 episode) as Ruth 1988, My Sister Sam (1 episode) as Checker 1989, Moonlighting (1 episode) as Lenora Viola 1989, Chicken Soup (1 episode) as Lillian 1991, Hunter (1 episode) as Ida Green 1991, Dream On (1 episode) as Waitress 1992, Sisters (1 episode) as Mrs. Visconti 1993, Seinfeld (1 episode) as Mah-Jongg Lady 1993, The Nanny (1 episode) as Woman at the Movie 1995, Platypus Man (1 episode) as Marjorie McAllister 1995 – 1996, Friends (3 episodes) as Mrs. Weinberg/Woman (uncredited)/Ms. Tedlock 1997, Mad About You (1 episode) as Klarik's Customer

Film How Do I Love Thee? (1970) as Mrs. Gromulka Chinatown (1974) as Mulwray's Secretary The New, Original Wonder Woman (1975) as Saleslady Cover Girls (1977) as Seamstress #1 Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night (1977) as Nancy West Like Normal People (1979) as Mrs. Peterson The Star Chamber (1983) as Judge Alice McCardle (uncredited) Trabbi Goes to Hollywood (1991) as Mrs. Peugeot 3 Ninjas (1992) as Babysitter