Bettie Endrizzi

1950 — I Remember Mama

Written by John Van Druten. Bettie’s first appearance on the Allenberry stage, in the role of Aunt Jenny. Starring David Brubaker and Arriminta Gully.

1952 — Lo and Behold (Also in 1958)

Written by John Patrick. Bettie in the role of Minnetonka Smallflower seen here with Reginald Rowland, Jr., Katherine Lucker, William McKereghan, Jake Martin, and Joyce Madrick.

1954 — Death of a Salesman

Written by Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller calls his prize winning drama “certain private conversations in two acts and a requiem.” Endrizzi in the role of Linda Loman, opposite David Brubaker, with John Hallow and Jack McCarrell.

1955 — Come Back Little Sheba

Written by William Inge. One of three William Inge hits on Broadway. Bettie plays the role of Lola, with Christian Flanders and Sally Kemp.

1956 — Anastasia

Written by Marcelle Maurette. Adapted by Guy Bolton. Cast includes Sefton Darr and John Hallow who left Allenberry Playhouse in 1954 to join the Broadway cast of Anastasia which ran for 18 months. Bettie commands in the role of the Dowager Empress.

1965 — Victoria Regina

Written by Laurence Housman. The play spans 63 years of Queen Victoria’s reign. As Victoria, Bettie plays her 160th role on the Allenberry stage over 17 years as resident actress.

1981 — On Golden Pond

Written by Ernest Thompson. Bettie played opposite J. Robert Deitz as Ethel and Norman Thayer, Jr.

1981 — The Gin Game

Written by D.L. Coburn. Bettie in the role of Fonsia Dorsey opposite Jim Lockhart’s Weller Martin.

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“He’s [Gage] allowed me to do all kinds of things. I think my favorite role is the empress in “Anastasia” —that or the wife in “Death of a Salesman.”
... I hated doing the Elaine Stritch role in “Bus Stop” —and then someone told me it was the best thing I ever did...”

Bettie Endrizzi is lauded as the First Lady of the Allenberry Playhouse. She was honored for her over 350 roles on the Allenberry stage at the opening celebration of their 40th anniversary season in 1988.

Bettie’s love of theatre began at the young age of nine as she sat in the second balcony to watch productions at the old Majestic Theatre in Harrisburg. Stage struck from the start, she never considered any other career. Studying with Miss Helen Mowery, Bettie progressed through children’s shows, radio, high school drama, the West Shore Players, the Green Room Club at Franklin and Marshall University and Harrisburg Community Theatre, before she came to the Allenberry Playhouse in 1950.

Bettie’s versatility as an actress was showered upon Allenberry audiences from 1950 through 1987. She spent nearly all of her life in the theatre – happily, giving pleasure to the audiences who loved her and never seemed to tire of her.

After her appearances in 1952 in The Twentieth Century, someone said that Bettie Endrizzi can be more people than anyone. She had the ability to understand a character so thoroughly and the skill to convey it with so many shades and impulses that were accurate, revealing and true. She was equally at ease as a comedienne or as the dramatic lead.

Over the years she filled a wide range of demanding roles including performances that chronicle a character’s entire life – flashbacks, where she initially portrayed an old woman and worked back and, conversely, roles where she aged as the play progressed. Some of her favorite roles included the empress in Anastasia, the wife in Death of a Salesman, Eleanor in Lion in Winter and the wife in On Golden Pond.

Bettie thought that the glamour of the theatre came from the chance to be someone you otherwise might not be and from the audience – their appreciation, their recognition and their thanks for the pleasure you have given them.

Although Bettie appeared Off-Broadway, at Trinity Square Repertory in Providence, the New State Theatre in Mississippi, Hayloft Dinner Theatre in Virginia, the Lambertville Music Tent and Totem Pole Playhouse, her home and her heart remained at Allenberry.

Throughout the years, Bettie was involved in every aspect of theatrical production from acting to directing to casting to box office to business manager to a member of the Board of Directors.

But it was being an actress that was her passion. Bettie’s approach to a role was pure common sense. “We all work with a method you know. Mine is reading a play, trying to understand what the playwright is saying, finding his characters and then sensing their relationship to each other. An actor would never allow his emotions to control him. He should be in control of the actor playing the character.”

“Acting,” Bettie said, “was always hard, hard work.”

Highly respected among her peers, she was a consummate craftsman. Generous, kind and professional, she was a teacher and a role model to others. Theatre was her life and when asked what else she might have pursued, she answered, “I never considered any other career.” And how very fortunate for those of us who saw her on the stage. A truly gifted actress, she has left a rich legacy.