Sara Seegar

"One of the things I've enjoyed about the role as Mrs. Wilson is that she could be me. Of course, basically, she's sweeter, but I've been pretty much myself."
-Sara Seegar

Sara Seegar was a versatile actress whose credits range from the London and Broadway stage, to television, radio and film. She handled character work and comedy as well as more serious drama. She played the lead in the hard-hitting The Little Foxes and later worked on the comic television series Bewitched. She is perhaps most remembered for her portrayal of Mrs. Wilson in the television series Dennis the Menace. After attending schools in Paris and London, Sara Seegar graduated from Hollywood High School, and the Los Angeles City College with honors in drama. She returned to London to perform in Three Men on a Horse and several films before moving to New York, coinciding with the onset of World War II. Her radio shows included The Aldrich Family.

Seegar made her Broadway debut in Horse Fever in 1940, which starred her future husband, Ezra Stone. Though the show was not a hit, their marriage was. They worked artistically together throughout the years. The couple raised two children in Bucks County where Seegar performed for fourteen seasons at the Bucks County Playhouse.

Education and Training
Los Angeles City College for Drama, Los Angeles, California, c. 1932-1936

Connection to Bucks County
Sara Seegar and her actor-director husband, Ezra Stone, came to Bucks County following World War II. They first leased Buckstone Farm at Washington Crossing in Yardley, while Seegar performed at the Yardley Playhouse. In 1947, the Stones bought their own farm on Route 413 across from the George School. They named it Stone Meadows Farm. They became active with the Bucks County Playhouse, where Sara performed for fourteen seasons. She worked as Trustee and Treasurer for the David Library of the American Revolution in Washington Crossing, founded by Mr. Stone's father, Sol Feinstone. She helped found the Newtown Friends School and served on the school committee. In 1982, the couple gave up their other residence in California to live solely in Bucks County. In 1983, they co-produced, staged and appeared in Sweet Land, a tri-centennial celebration of Newtown that involved more than 500 friends and neighbors. After her death, the family established the Sara Seegar Stone Scholarship Fund for the Newtown Friends School and the "gymnatorium" (Seegar had thought up the name for the room) was dedicated to her memory.

Colleagues and Affiliations
Friends and colleagues included Nelson and Nondas Case, Moss and Kitty (Carlisle) Hart, Philip and Frances (Reid) Bourneuf, the Budd Schulbergs, Pearl S. Buck, Kenyon Nicholson, John and Maggie (Mullen) Root, Dee and Robert Rosenwald, St. John (Sinjin) Terrell, Theron and Phyllis Bamberger, Mike Ellis, James Michener, Thornton Wilder, the Don Walkers, and Bill and Shirley (Booth) Baker

Major Theater Performances
Three Men on a Horse, London, England, 1936
Broadway:
Horse Fever with Ezra Stone, her Broadway debut, 1940
At War With The Army, directed by Ezra Stone
The Admiral Takes a Wife, with Jose Ferrer, 1942
School for Scandal with Patricia Neal, 1953
Ernest in Love, 1960
Bucks County Playhouse:
Good-bye Again
Count Your Blessings
Seasons of the Sun
The Dark Set
A Visit to a Small Planet
The Heiress, 1949
Half in Earnest, 1957
Middle of the Night, with Haila Stoddard and special guest star performance by Ezra Stone, 1958

Major Films
The Music Man

Major Television Performances
Sid Caesar Show
Dennis the Menace as Mrs. Wilson
Bewitched

Radio
Featured on The Aldrich Family

Teaching and Professional Appointments
Judge, Lecturer, and Workshop Leader, American College Theatre Festival, Founded by Sol Feinstone, 1967-1990
Music Theatre Department, US Army, 1967-1990
Trustee and Treasurer, David Library of the American Revolution

Major Awards
Invited by Freedom's Foundation to present Posthumous Award to Anwar Sadat at the White House
Portion of bike and footpath gifted to Upper Makefield Township by the David Library is dedicated and named for Sara Seegar Stone, 1991
Newtown Friends School Gymnatorium, dedicated in memory of Sara Seegar Stone.