| Vera Louise Gorman | |
|---|---|
 Beth Howland as Vera Louise Gorman Novak on the CBS-TV series "Alice". | |
| Personal Information | |
| Alias/Also known as: | Vera Gorman-Novak |
| Character description: |
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| Spouse(s): | Elliot Novak (on TV series, in Seasons 8-9) |
| Character information | |
| Appeared on: | |
| Character played by: | Valerie Curtin (in the movie) Beth Howland (on the TV series) |
Vera Louise Novak (nee Gorman) was a character in the 1974 movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and then on the long-running CBS-TV situation comedy series, Alice. In the film, the role was played by actress Valerie Curtin. On the TV series, she was played by actress Beth Howland.
About Vera[]
Vera was the only original waitress besides Alice who lasted the show's entire run. She was born in New England (possibly Boston, where her Aunt Agatha still lived) and moved to Phoenix, Arizona, some time before the series began.
Vera was often remembered for her shy, quiet nature and her clumsiness. An ardent nature and animal lover, she had several pets, most notably hamsters Harold and Mitzi, and a parakeet. Through the series' 9-year run, she also mentioned her goldfish Starsky and Hutch, her parrot Birdie, and toward the series' end, a cat named Mel.
One of Vera's memorable quirks is her uncanny ability to do math quickly by using her finger to "write" out the numbers in thin air, and racing against Mel and acalculator, she often had the answer before Mel did.
Vera was also the only waitresses who lacked a drivers license, but she often forgot this until 10-15 seconds after becoming part of a situation involving her and a motorized vehicle, in which she'd say "Wait a minute, I don't know how to drive." (Two instances of this were when Mel offered her his car in his will, and when she and the other waitresses were charged with driving a tractor-trailer truck and when they all changed seats, she landed in the driver's seat.)
Vera's cousin is actor Art Carney. She clearly loved her co-workers, notably Alice Hyatt and Florence Jean Castleberry, and developed a close friendship with Jolene Hunnicutt, who called her "shoebutton". Vera was also fond of Alice's son Tommy, whom she called "Toms," and got along well with Mel's mother, Carrie Sharples.
Her relationship with Mel was difficult to figure out. During the first season, Mel referred to Vera as "the Banana"; the catchphrase never caught on and was dropped after only a few references. Sometimes Vera and Mel would get along wonderfully, but Mel would also get angry with the very nervous Vera, and as the series evolved, often called her "Dinghy," explaining, "It's a lot nicer than calling you a stupid broad!" She would sometimes get mad at him and scream, "In a rat's hat, Dumbo!" and also called him "fatso" on angry occasions. She once got furious at him when she brought Birdie to the diner and Mel and the bird got into a screaming match, trading the "Stow it!" line until Birdie collapsed and died. Brokenhearted Vera thought Mel had killed her pet, until the truth came out that her beloved Birdie was 106 years old and senile--he had made a pass at the pet-store owner's cuckoo clock.
Vera tended to be very emotional and would start crying when someone really hurt her feelings. A prime example of this was when Randolph Briggs (Hans Conreid), a strict no-nonsense chef who bought the diner from Mel, fired Vera just for messing up an order; at Mel's Diner, messed-up orders were commonplace and not all of them were Vera's.
Once when Vera thought she wasn't attractive enough, she enlisted the help of fellow waitress Belle Dupree, who taught shy, awkward Vera to "move like the waves in the ocean." This was an attempt by the writers to develop Belle's character as much as Vera's.
Belle also aided Vera when Mel was determined to cut down a century-old tree near the diner property. Nature-loving Vera chained herself to the tree and convinced Alice and Belle to help her, along with the construction workers who were moved by their plight. Furious at this, Mel cut down the tree himself, enraging Vera. As Belle, Alice, and construction foreman Sonny Santini were trying to comfort her, the tree crashed through the diner roof, sending Mel into a howling frenzy. He later bought her a new tree to replace the old one.
Vera's character became stronger over time, developing from being clueless and clumsy to somewhat-more sophisticated woman who saw things from a unique perspective while not always being able to related to the rest of the world. She dated fairly regularly, even dating Mel briefly during the 5th season (it was a major disaster). Her most frequent boyfriends were Brian (Alan Haufrect), with whom she attended Katharine Hepburn film festivals, and her former boyfriend from Boston, Steve Marsh (played by Linda Lavin's second husband Kip Niven). She and Steve reconnected at their high-school reunion and quickly got engaged, but they parted after realizing they were going too fast. He had visited Phoenix previously and inadvertently bounced a check after well-meaning Vera cashed it, infuriating Mel. Steve's twin brother Travis, also played by Niven, was the one who finally helped Alice realize her singing dream.
Then, out of the blue, true love came to Vera Louise Gorman in the person of policeman Elliot Novak. They met when he ticketed her for jaywalking (they planned to reenact this the next year to celebrate their first anniversary). They fell in love at first sight and soon married; Mel almost blundered their wedding, earning him Alice and Jolene's wrath. Elliot and Vera moved into a huge house with all her pets. Two different episodes feature her wizened former landlady Debbie Walden (also played by Linda Lavin), and the often-forgetful pastor who married them, moving in and taking over.
When the last episode aired, it was discovered that Elliot was promoted to detective and Vera was expecting their first child, which she said she'd name after Mel if it were a boy. Mel was so touched and honored that he gave Vera his beanie and told her to give it to his namesake. The diner was shutting down for good and Mel was selling out; Elliot would be the breadwinner and Vera would be able to be a stay-at-home mom.