Conchata Ferrell - Two and a Half Men

 

"I don't trip all over my ego.  I don't mind being a second banana."

Conchata Galen Ferrell was born in Loudendale, West Virginia on March 28, 1943.  Her family later relocated to Circleville, Ohio, a quaint town in the Buckeye state where she is laid to rest today.

In the late 1960s, Ferrell graduated from West Virginia's Marshall University with a degree in history education.  The stage was her true calling however, and by 1969, she had relocated to New York City, where she joined the Circle Repertory Company.  Through this association, she'd earn a series of awards for her performance in the off-Broadway production The Sea Horse.

Then it was off to Hollywood, where she began a steady string of television appearances.  Her first credit was a 1974 episode of Maude.  She'd later appear in other classics such as Good Times, The Rockford Files and The Love Boat.  This blogger first noticed her as attorney Susan Bloom in the later seasons of L.A. Law.

In 2003, she was cast in the role for which she is most famously associated, that of housekeeper Berta on the CBS sit-com Two and a Half Men.  She was twice Emmy-nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her work on the sitcom (see Trivia below), which ended in 2015.

On October 12, 2020, Ferrell died of cardiac arrest in Sherman Oaks, California.  She was 77 years old.  She was returned to her home of Circleville, Ohio, where she was laid to rest at Forest Cemetery.

Location: Section 71
Inscription: Love and Laughter

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• Throughout the show's twelve-season run, Berta's last name was never revealed.
  
  
• Upon Ferrell's death, co-stars Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer both took to Twitter to offer their sympathies.  An unusually coherent Sheen would tweet "an absolute sweetheart, a consummate pro, a genuine friend, a shocking and painful loss.  Berta, your housekeeping was a tad suspect, your "people" keeping was perfect."
  
  
• As noted above, Ferrell was twice nominated as Best Supporting Actress for Two and a Half Men.  In 2005, she lost to Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond.  She lost again in 2007, this time to Jaime Pressly of My Name is Earl.  Really.
  
  
• Ferrell was no stranger to the silver screen either, with memorable roles in such films as Mystic Pizza, Erin Brockovich and Edward Scissorhands.
  
  
• Despite her age, Ferrell enjoyed role-playing video games, an interest she shared with her Two and a Half Men co-star Angus T. Jones.