Kathryn Minner

Biography

Kathryn Elizabeth Minner (January 3, 1892 – May 26, 1969), sometimes credited as Katherine Minner, was an elderly grandmother and character actress who specialized in playing "little old ladies" in movies, on various television shows, and in a series of television commercials for Southern California Dodge dealers. Making her first acting appearance at the age of 65 in a 1957 episode of Dragnet, Minner was best known for her appearances in a series of ten television commercials for Chrysler Corporation's Dodge Division which aired in Southern California from 1964 to 1969, and as the red shawl wearing little old lady on the cover of the 1964 Jan and Dean album "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena". "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" In the spring of 1964, Minner came to the attention of the Kohner Agency in Hollywood after she answered a casting call wearing a red shawl, black gloves, and a pair of Keds sneakers. She was perfect for the part of the "little old lady", which would be featured in a series of upcoming television commercials for Southern California Dodge dealers, and was hired on the spot. The television commercials became one of the most memorable advertising campaigns of the 1960s. Her famous tag line in that Clio Award winning advertising campaign was "Put a Dodge in your garage, honey!". Minner became a Southern California celebrity for teens, parents, and even bikers. She even made an appearance on The Dating Game, which became their highest rated show ever. In addition to Dragnet, her numerous television appearances include My Favorite Martian, I Spy, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Family Affair, My Three Sons, Get Smart, Batman, Petticoat Junction, Gunsmoke, and Hey, Landlord. She also appeared in the films The Love Bug (1968), The Shakiest Gun In The West (1968), Blackbeard's Ghost (1968), and Angel in My Pocket (1969). Kathryn's husband of almost 53 years, Sam Minner, died in January 1967 at the age of 80, and a little more than two years later, on May 26, 1969, Kathryn died of a heart attack in Van Nuys, California at the age of 77. Kathryn was buried next to her husband at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in the Mission Hills community of Los Angeles, California.