Born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, she began performing in Bay Area theatre and radio before embarking on a Hollywood career that spanned over three decades.

Benaderet was then a prominent figure on television in situation comedies, first with The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show from 1950 to 1958, for which she earned two Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

[4][6][7] Her mother, Margaret (née O'Keefe), was Irish American,[8][9] and her father, Samuel David Benaderet,[10] a Sephardic Jewish emigrant from what is now Turkey,[11] was a tobacconist who relocated the family from New York City to San Francisco in 1915 after his participation in the Panama–Pacific International Exposition.

[19][20][21] In 1926, Benaderet joined the staff of San Francisco radio station KFRC, which was under the new ownership of Don Lee and where her duties included acting, singing, writing, and producing.

[22][23] Initially seeking work as a dramatic actress, she switched to comedy and performed on multiple programs, in particular the Blue Monday Jamboree variety show,[22] where her castmates included Meredith Willson, Elvia Allman, and future I Love Lucy producer Jess Oppenheimer.

[30][31][32] Intended as a one-time appearance, the pair became a recurring role starting in the 1945–46 season, and in early 1947, Benaderet and Berner momentarily took over the NBC switchboards in Hollywood for publicity photos.

[30] She performed in as many as five shows daily,[33] causing her rehearsal dates to conflict with those of The Jack Benny Program and resulting in her reading live as Gertrude from a marked script she was handed upon entering the studio.

[33] Other recurring characters Benaderet portrayed were Blanche Morton on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show; school principal Eve Goodwin on The Great Gildersleeve; Millicent Carstairs on Fibber McGee & Molly; maid Gloria on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet;[34][35] and Iris Atterbury on the Lucille Ball vehicle My Favorite Husband, opposite Gale Gordon.

[37] Beginning in 1943, Benaderet became Warner Bros.' primary voice of adult female supporting characters for their Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes animated shorts, initially sharing duties with Sara Berner.

[29] Her characterizations included an obnoxious teenaged bobbysox version of Little Red Riding Hood in Little Red Riding Rabbit (1944);[38] Witch Hazel in Bewitched Bunny (1954);[39] the spinster hen Miss Prissy in several Foghorn Leghorn cartoons;[40] Tweety's owner "Granny" including the Academy Award-winning Tweetie Pie (1947);[16] and Mama Bear in a series of Three Bears shorts, which animator Chuck Jones called one of his favorite portrayals.

[41] Benaderet did not receive onscreen credit for her work because she was employed by Warner Bros. as a freelance actor[note 2] who voiced peripheral characters, and unlike Mel Blanc, was not under contract with the studio.

[45] She was the only secondary cast member who appeared in every episode[16] and the first six shows were shot live in New York, resulting in Benaderet commuting to Los Angeles, where she was working several radio assignments at the time.

[47] Benaderet and Gracie Allen regularly shopped for their own on-set wardrobe[48] and she developed a high-pitched laugh for Blanche that became a staple of the character and was used for comic effect: "When we had a scene with some silent spots in it, George would say to me, 'Laugh there, Bea.

Benaderet auditioned with past radio coworker Jean Vander Pyl for Betty and Wilma Flintstone by exchanging dialogue before the show's co-creator Joseph Barbera, who asked afterward what part they preferred.

[66] Impressed with her performance while screening the pilot to potential sponsors,[16] Henning made Cousin Pearl a recurring character in the 1962–63 first season as she moved into the Clampetts' Beverly Hills mansion, feuded with Granny, and pursued oil tycoon Mr. Brewster (Frank Wilcox) as a love interest.

"[50][note 3] Henning had long admired Benaderet's talents and strove to create a starring vehicle for her, as he felt she was worthy of headlining her own series after years of supporting parts.

[64] When CBS granted him an open time slot after the massive success of Beverly Hillbillies, he crafted the 1963 rural sitcom Petticoat Junction around Benaderet, starring as Kate Bradley, the widowed proprietor of the Shady Rest Hotel.

She was chosen from 200 actresses for the part of a government file clerk in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946) and completed filming in half an hour, but her scenes were cut from the final print.

[75] Her first onscreen appearance, also uncredited, was in the film On the Town (1949), as one of two women whom the main characters (played by Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra) encounter while riding the subway.

[76] In 1945, Benaderet and fellow voice actresses Janet Waldo and Cathy Lewis were to appear on a televised fashion show on her former KFRC employer Don Lee's W6XAO network before the project fell through.

[80] However, Bannon's heavy filming and touring schedule required for his portrayal of fictional cowboy hero Red Ryder took a toll on their marriage and she filed for divorce in September 1950.

Her son Jack became an actor, making his television debut in bit parts on Petticoat Junction (and working on the show as a dialogue coach), later appearing in Lou Grant.

[79] In 1961, Benaderet dressed in a Flintstones-inspired leopard-print costume to collect donations for City of Hope and March of Dimes[82] and worked with Welcome Wagon in the San Fernando Valley.

[29] On February 5, 1964, she was named an honorary sheriff of Calabasas, California, with her daughter Maggie accepting a badge on her behalf that was presented by her Petticoat Junction co-star Edgar Buchanan in a public ceremony.

[87][88] Benaderet returned for the March 30 fifth-season finale "Kate's Homecoming",[89] but five months later, after shooting the first three episodes of the sixth season, she took leave from the series due to being too ill to continue.

"[98] Benaderet often discussed facets of the acting profession in promotional interviews for the show,[95][99][100][101] and believed that leading a series required a "feeling of responsibility", including her being more observant of on-set activity and her costars' performances, while continuously evolving her character.

"[98] Benaderet credited George Burns with mentoring her in comedy acting,[113] but claimed that television scriptwriters focused more on her voice and delivery than her characters, which she believed stunted opportunities for her to play more dramatic roles.