The whereabouts of Mary Jo Catlett have garnered concern over the last few years largely because of her disappearance from the screen. Consequently, this has sparked several speculations including a death hoax. However, we can confirm that she is still alive.
As you would easily find, Mary has been active in the entertainment industry since the 1960s with several roles that cut across film, stage, and television. She is most famed for her role as Pearl Gillagher on Different Strokes and the voice behind the pufferfish Mrs. Puff in the animated series, SpongeBob SquarePants. Let’s find out what Mary has been up to lately.
Mary Jo Catlett is Still Alive and Semi-Retired From Acting
Over the years, Mary’s whereabouts have garnered questions like Where is she? Is she still alive? And the likes are often been asked. Well, for those wondering, Mary is still alive.
The reason you haven’t been seeing so much of her is because she is quite a private person. Also, she has been working behind the scenes as a voice actor and is most popular for her voice role on the Nickelodeon series SpongeBob SquarePants. Other voice roles she has done include The Smurfs, Rugrats and Bonkers, and Quack Pack.
Even though Mary has since switched to voice acting, she isn’t as active as her early years in the industry. According to an interview in 2021, she hinted that she’s semi-retired and her career in the industry is occasional. She said;
“I love my work, and i wish I could do it more, but I know that age happens.”
She Has Been in the Entertainment Industry for over 7 Decades
As you would easily find, Mary has been acting for over 6 decades. She got started at the Historic Elitch Theatre before her appearance in the 1960 show What Every Woman Knows. She later made her stage debut in the production of Along Came a Spider which was directed by Lee Tamahori and starred other actors like Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, Micheal Wincott, and Dylan Baker.
Following this, Mary earned other roles in the 80s TV and movies such as General Hospital, Different Strokes, The Bob Newhart Show, Hello, Dolly!, The Waltons, Fantasy Island, The Duke of Hazzard, and SpongeBob Squarepants earned her popularity. Her character in this series is a friendly pufferfish, Mrs. Puff. She is SpongeBob’s driving school teacher who is known for training other fish in underwater boat driving. Other iconic characters of the series are Tom Kenny,
Most recently, she has appeared in productions like That So Raven, Two Broke Girls, Desperate Housewives, Modern Family, Let’s Be Cops, and Benchwarmers.
Mary’s acting career has seen her share the screen with high-profile celebrities such as Rob Schneider, David Spade, Jake Johnson, Dolly Parton, and Damon Wayans, Jr. She has also received awards such as the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards in 1978 and 1980, a nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical at the Ovation Awards in 1995, an Annie Award nomination for Best Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Production and a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 1990.
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The SpongeBob SquarePants Voice Actor is a Native of Denver
Mary Joe Catlett was born on September 2, 1938, and she’s 85 years old at the moment. From the established records, she was raised in Denver, Colorado, USA alongside her sister Patricia Maria who is a nun with the Dominican Order.
Not so much is known about her early life and family background, however, she hinted that her parents Cornelia M. (née Callaghan) and Robert J. Catlett were very supportive of her career in the industry.
As for her education, she graduated from Loretto Heights College in Denver where she studied theatre.
Is Mary Jo Catlett Married?
Even though Mary has been in the entertainment industry for over half a century, she has managed to keep information regarding her personal life away from the media. As such, it is quite difficult to tell if she has ever been married or not.
There are no records of her lovelife or anyone she has been romantically associated with. While it’s been speculated in some quarters that she was previously married and divorced, we cannot authenticate this.
To the best of our knowledge, Mary does not have a husband and if all our findings are correct then she has never been married. Nonetheless, nothing erases the possibility that she may have had relationships in the past that never got to the public.