Actress Pat Crowley, Star of the 1960s Sitcom ‘Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,’ Dies at 91

The Golden Globe-winning actress died on Sunday of natural causes.

Actress Pat Crowley attends the AMPAS Centennial Celebration for Barbara Stanwyck in Los Angeles on May 16, 2007. Alberto E. Rodriguez/ Getty Images

Patricia “Pat” Crowley, a classic television mainstay known for her roles on the soap operas “Generations” and “Port Charles,” as well as the 1960s sitcom “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” has died at the age of 91.

The Golden Globe-winning actress died of natural causes on Sept. 14 at her home in Los Angeles, her son, Jon Hookstratten, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Crowley’s godson, actor Jeffrey Byron, also confirmed her passing in a moving tribute published online.

“My lovely godmother, the vivacious and charming actress, Patricia Crowley sadly passed away yesterday,” Byron wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. “Over many years I got to know Pat and there wasn’t a nicer human being. ... Heaven just got another Angel.”

Born in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, in 1933, Crowley modeled as a child before pursuing a career as an actress.

She got her start on Broadway while she was still in high school, playing the lead in the 1950 production of “Southern Exposure.” That same year, she performed on the anthology television programs “The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre,” “Kraft Theatre,” and “The Ford Theatre Hour.”

Crowley made her silver screen debut in 1953, starring in Irving Rapper’s comedy-drama “Forever Female” before appearing in the comedic musical “Money from Home” alongside Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In 1954, she took home the Golden Globe for “New Star of the Year” for her performances in the films.

Crowley secured more than 100 film and television roles throughout her decades-long career.

Some of her most memorable film credits include “Hollywood or Bust” (1956), “Key Witness” (1960), and “The Wheeler Dealers” (1963). She also appeared in television shows such as “Maverick,” “Bonanza,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Columbo,” “The Rockford Files,” “Happy Days,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Love Boat,” and “Murder, She Wrote.”

The prolific actress is perhaps best known for portraying newspaper columnist and mother of four Joan Nash on the NBC sitcom “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” which aired from 1965 to 1967. The show was based on playwright Jean Kerr’s 1957 best-selling collection of humorous essays, which inspired the 1960 Doris Day-led film of the same name.

In addition to her son, Crowley is survived by her second husband, Emmy-nominated film producer Andy Friendly, whom she married in 1986, her daughter, Ann Hookstratten Osher, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The actress was fondly remembered online by her fans, friends, and peers in the wake of her death.

Joseph Yakovetic, an award-winning set and costume designer, described Crowley as a “great and gracious lady working for a most worthy cause.”

“I was blessed to work with and become friends with Pat,” Yakovetic wrote on Facebook in part. “Pat, we will miss you. Our deepest condolences to Andy Friendly, her husband and to their family.”

“Very saddened to hear of the passing of Pat Crowley,” author Cary O’Dell wrote. “She was a friend for a long time. A wonderful person, actress, one of TV’s most under-sung TV moms and, as just so recently noted, the most breathtakingly beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in person.”