Merle Jeeter, Fernwood's slightly devious mayor and Jimmy Joe's father. Marian Mercer as Wanda Rittenhouse Jeeter, a widow of a city commissioner and a former sanitarium mate of Mary's, who became Jeeter's second wife while also carrying on a bisexual relationship with their maid, Lila. Gloria DeHaven as CB radio aficionado Annie "Tippy-toes" Wylie, a bisexual who also had an affair with Tom Hartman. Orson Bean as Reverend Brim, one of Fernwood's clergymen, mainly in Forever Fernwood. George Furth as Reverend Harold Standfast, who helped Mary through the Davey Jessup hostage crisis. He had to swear on a stack of Bibles to have Mary released, but only did so after being threatened with the exposure of an extramarital affair he had with Florence Baedecker, the choir mistress of his church. Mary Carver as Christine Standfast, Reverend Standfast's wife, who knew all about her husband's extramarital affair. Shelley Fabares as Eleanor Major, a woman who Tom Hartman fell in love with after Mary had left him and Heather for Sgt. Foley. Judith Kahan as Penny Major, Eleanor's sister, who married Tom Hartman in the series finale. Will Seltzer as Davey Jessup, the murderer of the Lombardi family, their two goats and eight chickens, who held Mary and Sgt. Foley hostage. Before that, he had also held Mary's daughter Heather and her best friend, Trudy Weathersby, hostage. Doris Roberts as Dorelda Doremus, a faith healer. Michael Lembeck as Clete Meizenheimer, television news reporter for Fernwood's local television station. Archie Hahn as Harold Clemens, a reporter for the town's newspaper, the Fernwood Courier. Vivian Blaine as Betty McCullough, Mary's fortune teller neighbor who was helping her son and his male partner hide their true relationship. Sid Haig as Texas, a production worker at the automobile plant in Fernwood. Ed Begley Jr. as Steve, a deaf man who dated Cathy. John Heffernan as Chester Markham. Laurence Haddon as Ed McCullough Beeson Carroll as Howard McCullough Hugh Gillin as Tiny History and production In December 1974, Norman Lear and his entertainment company, Tandem Productions, created a pilot for his new serial, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, a satire of the impact of American consumerism. The pilot, consisting of two episodes and shot on a $100,000 (equal to $ today) budget, was not picked up by the networks. Lear then pursued a syndication strategy by hiring a sales agent to sell the show at the 1976 National