Jane Rose

Jane Phin Rose (February 7, 1913 – June 29, 1979) was an American character actress, perhaps best remembered as Audrey Dexter, the gently befuddled mother-in-law of Cloris Leachman’s character (Phyllis Lindstrom) on the CBS sitcom Phyllis (1975–1977).

Rose was born in Spokane, Washington, the only child born to Dr. Charles L. Rose, a Spokane dentist, and Dr. Frances Eastman, a Spokane physician. Eastman had a daughter, Angeline Kearny Lockhart, by a previous marriage. In her early years, Jane Rose participated in little theater. She was educated at Lewis and Clark High School, the University of Washington, and Columbia University.

Rose appeared in the original Broadway productions of The Time of the Cuckoo (1952–53), Orpheus Descending (1957), and The Gazebo (1958–59), as well as a revival of Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House (1959–60), in which she played Nurse Guinness. She also performed for the New York Shakespeare Festival in such productions as All's Well That Ends Well, Richard III, and Measure for Measure."

Her films included David Lean's Summertime (1955), with Katharine Hepburn, Flipper (1963), and I Walk the Line (1970), with Gregory Peck and Tuesday Weld. Among her numerous TV credits were appearances on such shows as Robert Montgomery Presents, Car 54, Where Are You?, The Defenders, Route 66, All in the Family, Rhoda, Lou Grant, and Co-Ed Fever. In addition, she was featured on the daytime dramas Love of Life (in which she created the character of Sarah Dale), Dark Shadows, The Secret Storm, and Somerset.

In 1975, Rose was cast as Audrey Dexter, mother-in-law to Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman), on Phyllis (1975–77). In 2005 – almost thirty years after Phyllis was cancelled - Rose was nominated for a TV Land Award as "Favorite Mother-in-Law".

Rose's last seen performance was as Mrs. Bulfinch in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations (1979).

Rose also worked with the New York Association for the Blind (she served eleven years as the Association's Director of Recreation), also taught acting, and was a pioneer in the use of drama as therapy for the blind.

She died of cancer on June 29, 1979, at her home in Studio City, California. She was 66.