Jo
Anne Worley
Jo Anne Worley (born on September 6, 1937) is an
American actress. Her work covers television, movies, theater, game shows, talk
shows, commercials, and cartoons. She is best known for her work on the
comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. She performed regularly on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" from 1968-1970.
Worley was born in Lowell, Indiana, the third of five children. In 1962, her
father remarried and his second union gave her two half-brothers and two
half-sisters. Always remembered for her loud voice, Worley once said that when
she attended church as a little girl, she never sang the hymns but would only
lip-synch them for fear that she would drown out everyone else. Before
graduating from high school, she was named the School Comedienne.
After graduating from high school in 1955, Worley moved to Bleauvelt, New York,
where she began her professional career as a member of the Pickwick Players.
This led to a drama scholarship to Midwestern University in Wichita Falls,
Texas. After studying at Midwestern for two years, she moved to Los Angeles to
study at the Los Angeles City College and the Pasadena Playhouse. She was soon
given her first musical role in a production of Wonderful Town. In 1961, she
received her first major break when she appeared in the musical revue Billy
Barnes People; this performance soon moved to Broadway.
In
1964, Worley was chosen to be a stand-in the original Broadway production of
Hello Dolly! One year later, she created her own nightclub act in Greenwich
Village, where she was discovered by talk-show host Merv Griffin in 1966.
Impressed by Worley's talents, Griffin allowed her to be one of his primary
guest stars on his show, where she made approximately 200 appearances. That same
year, she co-starred Off-Broadway in The Mad Show, a musical revue based on Mad
Magazine. In 1967, her stint on Griffin's show led to her discovery by George
Schlatter, who soon cast her in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
In 1970, she left Laugh-In to pursue other projects and has made guest
appearances on several TV shows, including Love, American Style, The Tonight
Show with Johnny Carson, The Andy Williams Show, and different game shows, such
as Hollywood Squares. She continued working in various movies, TV shows, and
theatrical performances (original productions and revivals alike) over the
years; and she also became known for her work as a voice provider for several
cartoons and animated movies (particularly Disney movies). In 1989, she returned
to Broadway to appear in the original performance of Prince of Central Park. Her
voice work includes the Disney movies Beauty and the Beast (1991), A Goofy Movie
(1995), and Belle's Magical World (1998).
Worley continues to perform today in several acting circuits in New York and Los
Angeles, and she has also been active at times in the lecture circuit. She also
serves on the Board of Directors for Actors and Others for Animals. Her most
recent role was playing the voice of the Wardrobe in Kingdom Hearts 2.
Ms. Worley's tv guest appearances include:
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch playing "Aunt Beulah" in episode: Good Will
Haunting in 1998.
Caroline in the City playing "Herself" in episode: Caroline and the
Sandwich.
Mad About You playing "Herself" in episode: Dream Weaver.
Family Feud playing "Contestant/Herself".
The Love Boat in episode: Stimulation of Stephanie, The/Next Step,
The/Life Begins at 40.
CHiPs playing "Herself" in episode: Roller Disco: Part 2.
Hawaii Five-O playing "Anna Jovanko" in episode: Blood Money is Hard
to Wash.
Adam-12 playing "Juju Perrin" in episode: Mary Hong Loves Tommy Chen.
The Hollywood Squares as a guest panelist 1968 - 1972.
Other Roles Include:
A Goofy Movie as Principle Miss Maples.
Beauty and the Beast as Wardrobe.
The Shaggy D.A. as Katrinka Muggelberg.
It Pays to Be Ignorant as a regular panelist.
The Feminist and the Fuzz as Dr. Debby Inglefinger.