McLeod was born in Santa Monica, California. Her schooling came in an Alhambra convent. She acted in a Los Angeles little theater and studied in the Bliss-Hayden drama workshop.[1] She worked in a movie theater in Reno and later became a chorus girl in musicals.[2]
On October 10, 1950, McLeod starred in "Criminal's Mark" on the TV version of Suspense.[3] She made two guest appearances on the television series Perry Mason: Lorraine Ferrell in "The Case of the Vagabond Vixen" (1957) and Nora Huxley in "The Case of the Glittering Goldfish" (1959). In both roles, she played the wife of the murder victim, but was neither the defendant nor actual murderer.
McLeod's greatest impact upon American consciousness by far, however, was as purveyor of one of the most ubiquitous catchphrases of its era when she portrayed the woman in the 1963 headache remedy Anacintelevision commercial, who plaintively but irritably said, "Mother, please! I'd rather do it myself!" The announcer's voiceover would then intone, "Sure you have a headache... tense, irritable.... but don't take it out on her."
Personal life
McLeod married San Francisco dental student Bill Gerds in 1947. They divorced in 1949. [5] McLeod's second husband was actor Don Keefer. They were married from May 7, 1950 until her death in 1997. They had three children.[6]
