RIP Betty Hartford

 

Betty Harford Dead: ‘Dynasty’ & ‘The Paper Chase’ Actress Was 98

TV Insider

By Michelle Stein

November 9, 2025

 

Betty Harford — the actress best known for her roles in the ’80s primetime soap opera, Dynasty, and the ’70s drama, The Paper Chase — is dead at 98.

On November 2, she died in Santa Barbara, California, her friend, Wendy Mitchell, told The Hollywood Reporter in an article published on Sunday, November 9. Her cause of death was not publicly shared.

Mitchell also wrote via Facebook, “Betty’s son contacted me this morning and Betty Harford Naszody passed away peacefully with family at her side, noon on November 2, 2025, she was 98.”

Harford memorably played Mrs. Nottingham, John Houseman‘s secretary, on The Paper Chase in 1978 and 1979, and Mrs. Gunnerson, the Carrington family cook, on Dynasty from 1981 to 1989. She also returned for the 1991 reunion mini-series. Additionally, she had TV credits in shows like The Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

Movie-wise, Harford was best known for The Wild and the Innocent (1959), and as Gloria, the sister of Natalie Wood‘s character, in Inside Daisy Clover (1965). She also appeared in Spartacus, Signpost to Murder, and Win, Place or Steal.

On X, one fan tribute read, “Farewell to the wonderful Betty Harford, the foul-mouthed cook of the Carringtons (the legendary lamb stew for Blake) in the nine seasons of Dynasty. American actress, she stood out in film as the sister of Natalie Wood’s character.”

Harford was preceded in death by her first husband, Oliver Andrews, who died in 1978, and her second husband, actor Sándor Naszódy, who died in 1996. She is survived by her son, Chris, and her grandsons.

HARTFORD, Betty

Born: 1/28/1927, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 11/2/2925, Santa Brbara, California, U.S.A.

 

Betty Hartford’s westers – actress:

The Wild and the Innocent – 1959 (Mrs. Forbes)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1960 (Medora Dodie)

Stoney Burke (TV) – 1962 (nurse)

The Big Valley (TV) – 1966 (Grace Stullman)