The 20 best TV housekeepers

Mrs. Garrett is arguably one of the most beloved housekeepers to have graced the TV sitcom. She began as a character on the hit sitcom Diff’rent Strokes before she ended up anchoring a spinoff, The Facts of Life. In the latter series, she became a key source of support and structure for the young women under her care. Far from being merely a stereotype or a stock character, she was very much a fully fleshed-out individual, which helps to explain why she was so key to the show’s popularity.

The Gilded Age is vintage Julian Fellowes, with its focus on a society in the midst of great social change. Like Downton Abbey, it features characters from various backgrounds, and one of the more notable and spiteful characters is Mrs. Armstrong. She’s a particular nemesis for Peggy Scott, but, for all that she can often be negative and vicious, she also has a complicated backstory. As so often in Fellowes’ series, there’s far more to even the nastiest character than might seem to be the case at first glance.

As much as DuckTales mainly focuses on characters like Scrooge and his nephews, there’s no doubt it wouldn’t be nearly as charming without some of the secondary characters. Who, for example, could forget the beloved housekeeper, Mrs. Beakley? Though she is a more background character in the original series, she becomes a much more prominent presence in the reboot, up to and including several remarkable powers that were notably missing in her previous incarnation. In both cases, however, she has the best interests of the household and her granddaughter Webby at heart.

In addition to being a key member of the Taylor household, Aunt Bee from The Andy Griffith Show was, in many ways, the housekeeper. After all, she was the one who made sure that the house was clean, that there was food on the table, and that the house was basically kept from falling apart. It thus makes sense that she would become one of the most beloved parts of the show, particularly since she was so warmly and memorably portrayed by the late Frances Bavier.

Few fictional housekeepers are as beloved as Daphne Moon from Frasier. Jane Leeves brings a great deal of warmth and complexity to this character, making her something much more than a stereotype. She makes an excellent foil for both Frasier and Niles, both of whom are so pretentious that they can often get lost in their own sense of superiority. All the same, it’s also quite rewarding to see her relationship with Niles grow and flourish until they finally get married and start their life together.

The beloved sitcom Who’s the Boss?  turned the tables a bit with its take on the traditional figure of the sitcom housekeeper. Unlike other shows, which tend to make the housekeeper into a woman, this one instead chose to cast Tony Danza as Tony Micelli, a former baseball player who becomes a housekeeper. Much of the series’ humor stems from Tony’s clashes with his employer, Judith Light’s Angela Bower, and the show also deserves credit for being willing to subvert such a long-standing sitcom trope.

Frances Conroy gives one of her most memorable performances in the first season of American Horror Story, in which she plays the ghostly maid Moira (Alexandra Breckenridge plays her in her younger form). Unsurprisingly, given her own tragic life, Moira is quite destructive when it comes to men, but she is also remarkably generous toward many of the women she encounters. Like so many of the other characters of this season of American Horror Story, she is a reminder of the trauma and the way that it can blight a life and a death.

The reality series Flipping Out focuses mainly on the antics and oversized personality of real estate speculator Jeff Lewis, but it’s the secondary characters who really make this show sing. Of particular note is his housekeeper Zoila Chavez, who is one of the people who is willing to tell Jeff like it is and is not willing to put up with his nonsense. During her time on the show — she appeared in seasons one through ten — she managed to cement herself as a fan favorite, and it can be argued that she is actually more popular than Jeff himself.

Even though Marguerite only appears for one episode of The Golden Girls, she nevertheless remains one of the funniest of the many one-off characters who appeared during the series’ run. She’s clever, she has a wicked sense of humor, and she’s not afraid to exploit the assumptions that Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose have about a Black housekeeper. She is nothing short of hilarious and, even if she isn’t particularly good as a housekeeper — given that she spends a great deal of time studying for the bar — she is still a fun and welcome addition for the single episode in which she appears. 

Betty White was a true gem of television, and even later in her career, she created memorable characters who consistently stole the show. In Hot in Cleveland, for example, she played cantankerous Olga Ostrovsky, the caretaker for the cottage that the main character Melanie rents. While she has a sharp tongue and a biting sense of humor, Olga still manages to make a place for herself in the hearts of both the other main characters and the audience. When it came to playing sassy older ladies, no one could do it with quite the charm and panache of Betty White.

The Jetsons remains one of the most beloved and enduringly popular of the many cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera. One of the series’ most memorable characters is Rosie the Robot, who is essentially the typical sitcom housekeeper so familiar to TV audiences, just transplanted to the distant future. She’s one of the most enjoyable characters in the series, and even though she is a robot, she still manages to have her own personality and life, even going so far as to have a boyfriend of her own.

Downton Abbey skillfully balances its story between the Crawleys (wealthy, noble, and privileged) on the one hand and their staff (financially precarious, common, and definitely not privileged) on the other. Of the staff, one of the most beloved is the housekeeper Mrs. Hughes, whose Scottish burr and general demeanor make her a warm presence in Downton. At the same time, she also has a no-nonsense attitude to most things and is definitely not one to suffer fools. There’s no question that the household would never be able to run without her presence.

The late Conchata Ferrell gave an indelible performance as Berta in Two and a Half Men. It’s clear that she’s the real power in the household, able to bully Alan and Charlie into doing what she wants. She definitely doesn’t treat them as one would expect an employee to treat their boss, but that’s precisely the fun of watching her. Moreover, it’s just as clear that the entire house would fall apart if it weren’t for her presence, and she is as much a part of the show’s extraordinary longevity as any of the other characters.

When it comes to sassy housekeepers, none can really hold a candlestick to Florence of The Jeffersons. Florence may not be particularly good at her job, and she may not even enjoy it, but what she enjoys and what she excels at are constantly needling her boss, George Jefferson. It’s always a delight to see Marla Gibbs and Sherman Hemsley fully embodying their characters, and some of the series’ funniest moments involve these two characters and their various squabbles and disagreements. Florence, like so many other great housekeepers, definitely steals the show.

The late Shelley Morrison gives a remarkable performance as Rosario in Will & Grace. Rosario is employed by Karen Walker, but this doesn’t stop her from giving her boss the sharp side of her tongue whenever she thinks it’s necessary (which is often). At the same time, it’s clear that Karen would be absolutely lost without Rosario by her side, which makes their sparring all the more humorous. Like the very best housekeepers who have graced the small screen, Rosario excels at cutting her employer down to size, and their numerous shouting matches are always hilarious to watch.

The 1980s was a decade in which many shows explored the different forms families could take. In the series Gimme a Break!, for example, Nell Harper (portrayed by Nell Carter) becomes both a housekeeper and essentially a foster mother to the three kids of police chief Carl Kanisky. Carter’s innate warmth as an actress made her perfect for the role, and, as a whole, the series managed to be funny and, at times, touching while also addressing some serious issues.

Maude has the distinction of being a series with two different housekeepers. After Florida left to be in her own series, Maude hired Mrs. Naugatuck, hilariously portrayed by Hermione Baddeley. The relationship between Maude and Mrs. Naugatuck was, if anything, even more volatile than that between Maude and Florida. Mostly, this was due to their equally brash personalities since Mrs. Naugatuck was vulgar but also not afraid to speak her mind, and this is precisely what makes her so funny.

While Bea Arthur’s Maude might be the show's centerpiece that bears her name, she’s matched in her indomitable will by her housekeeper, Florida. Portrayed by Esther Rolle, Florida is the typical no-nonsense maid, which makes her a perfect foil for Maude, who is as outspoken as they come. Rolle has undeniable screen charisma, so it makes sense that Florida would end up getting her own spinoff in the form of Good Times, which gave her even more of an opportunity to show her acting talents. 

Given the chaos that so often envelops the Brady household, it would have been easy for the housekeeper to fall into the background. However, this was never going to happen with Alice, who Ann B. Davis memorably portrayed. While the parents and the kids of The Brady Bunch obviously were the center of the show, none of them would have been able to function without Alice and her steady presence in this very nontraditional household. She was as much a part of the family as anyone else, which makes her so special.

The 2020 iteration of All Creatures Great and Small — based on the novels by James Herriot — focuses on several vets working in the Yorkshire Dales. As important as the vets are, however, they would never be able to do their work without the steady presence of Mrs. Hall. Kind, empathetic, and warm, she is the spirit of Skeldale House. In addition to cooking and cleaning for everyone, she’s the person that everyone knows they can go to no matter what happens, and her kindness is utterly unflagging.