Doris Grau

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title: "Doris Grau" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1924-births", "1995-deaths", "actresses-from-los-angeles", "american-film-actresses", "american-script-supervisors", "american-television-actresses", "american-voice-actresses", "deaths-from-respiratory-failure-in-the-united-states", "respiratory-disease-deaths-in-california", "actresses-from-brooklyn", "20th-century-american-actresses"] description: "American actress (1924-1995)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Grau" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actress (1924-1995) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Doris Grau
image	Cropped_Photo_of_Doris_Grau.jpeg
birth_name
birth_date
birth_place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
occupation
::

| name = Doris Grau | image = Cropped_Photo_of_Doris_Grau.jpeg | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = | years_active = Doris Grau (October 12, 1924 – December 30, 1995) was an American actress and script supervisor from Brooklyn. After moving to Hollywood in 1940, she began her career supervising film and television scripts. She continued to do this until the 1990s and worked on films such as Point Blank and King Kong and television shows such as Cheers and The Tracey Ullman Show. Grau did some acting in her later years, playing live-action and animated roles. On the sitcom The Simpsons, she worked as a script supervisor and provided the voice of Lunchlady Doris and other minor characters.

Early life

Grau was born on October 12, 1924, in Brooklyn, New York. She moved to the Hollywood district in Los Angeles, California, as a teenager in 1940.

Career

Grau supervised the script of the 1967 crime film Point Blank, which revolves around a man named Walker (played by Lee Marvin) who sets out to find his friend who betrayed him during a robbery that they performed together and left with all the money for himself. Grau was also the script supervisor of the 1976 remake of King Kong. She then supervised the scripts of the films The Champ (1979), The Frisco Kid (1979), The Hunter (1980), The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper (1981), Caveman (1981), Clue (1985), Marie (1985), and No Way Out (1987). In the 1980s, she also supervised scripts of the television show Coward of the County (1982) and the television films The Shadow Riders (1983), Missing Children: A Mother's Story (1983), Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1984), Velvet (1984), and My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn (1985).

In 1986, Grau played a role in the television series All Is Forgiven. Grau worked as a script supervisor on Fox Broadcasting Company's The Tracey Ullman Show (1987–1990), a variety show that featured among many things the first appearance of the fictional animated Simpson family. Grau also voiced some characters in The Simpsons. She is best known for lending her voice to Lunchlady Doris, who speaks with a "gruff voice" according to The Journal Gazette editor Dean Robinson.

In 1992, Grau appeared in the supporting role of Hattie Rifkin in the film The Distinguished Gentleman. According to Philip Wuntch, film critic for The Dallas Morning News, Grau "has only a few lines as a senior citizen with old-time political savvy, but she makes every vocal inflection count." The Patriot-News Sharon Johnson called her "a delight as the feisty senior citizens' lobbyist who first recognizes Johnson as a winner."

Grau worked as a script supervisor on the sitcom Good Advice in 1993, and played characters in the sitcoms Phenom and The George Carlin Show in 1994.

Death

On December 30, 1995, aged 71, Grau died from respiratory failure at a hospital in Hollywood. "Team Homer", an episode of the seventh season of The Simpsons that aired on January 7, 1996, was dedicated to her memory. Because some episodes of The Simpsons are produced long before they air, Grau's last appearance on the show was in the season 9 episode "Lisa's Sax" (an episode originally produced for season 7) that aired on October 19, 1997. Her character, Lunchlady Doris on The Simpsons was retired out of respect (similar to the retirement of Phil Hartman's characters). However, the character returned to the show after a decade-long absence in 2006 (voiced by Tress MacNeille and renamed Lunchlady Dora.)

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	The Distinguished Gentleman	Hattie Rifkin
1995	Coldblooded	Rose
1995	Babe	Country Woman (voice)	Final role
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986-1987	Cheers	Corinne	3 episodes
1988-1990	DuckTales	Additional Voices (voice)	15 episodes
1991-1997	The Simpsons	Lunchlady Doris, Various (voice)	22 episodes
1994	The George Carlin Show	Mom	Episode: "George Loses His Thermos"
1994-1995	The Critic	Doris Grossman (voice)	23 episodes
1994	Phenom	Mrs. Mackie	Episode: "It's a Wonderful Mid-Life Crisis"
1994	Monty	Elsa	Episode: "Eggheads"
::

References

References

1. (1996-01-08). "Voice of 'Simpson' character dies". [[Daily Breeze]].
2. (1971). "The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1961-1970". [[University of California Press]].
3. Morton, Ray. (2005). "King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson". [[Hal Leonard Corporation]].
4. (2012). "Doris Grau - Filmography". [[The New York Times]].
5. Bjorklund, Dennis A.. (1997). "Toasting Cheers". Praetorian Publishing.
6. Cuprisin, Tim. (1996-01-09). "'Gold rush' victory - Packers score big ratings for WITI Nielsen ratings show that much of the region was tuned in". [[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]].
7. Willistein, Paul. (1994-08-14). "'The Critic' moves to Fox". [[The Morning Call]].
8. Richmond, Ray. (1995-03-05). "Television - Jones tall in the saddle with 'Good Old Boys'". [[Daily News of Los Angeles]].
9. Cameron-Wilson, James. (1993). "Film Review". [[St. Martin's Press]].
10. Wuntch, Philip. (1992-12-04). "The Distinguished Gentleman - Not quite distinguished, but quite likable". [[The Dallas Morning News]].
11. Johnson, Sharon. (1992-12-04). "The Distinguished Gentleman". [[The Patriot-News]].
12. Lentz, Harris M.. (1996). "Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 1995". [[McFarland & Co.]].
13. Robinson, Dean. (1996-01-08). "TBS premieres 'Survivors of the Holocaust'". [[The Journal Gazette]].
14. "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer".

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