Betty Aberlin (born Betty Kay Ageloff; December 30, 1942) is an American actress, poet, and writer. She is best known for playing Lady Aberlin on the children's television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, a role she played for the entirety of the show's 33-year run.
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Personal life
Betty Kay Ageloff was born in New York City. Aberlin grew up in a Jewish family. She attended public schools in Queens and Staten Island. In Staten Island, she attended Curtis High School, graduating in 1959. She graduated from Bennington College, having studied art, modern dance, and literature with Howard Nemerov and Bernard Malamud.
Career
She made her debut at the Phoenix Theatre in 1954 in Sandhog, a folk-opera by Waldo Salt and Earl Robinson.
Aberlin had a regular role as Lady Aberlin for 33 years on the children's television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Lady Aberlin was King Friday's niece and frequently the "main" character of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segments. Often the only human non-puppet character in the segments, she acted as something of a level-headed older sister to the puppet characters and audience alike, and an audience surrogate, providing exposition for the story's narrative. She could occasionally be seen dancing around the Neighborhood whenever she was by herself. Sometimes nicknamed "Lady A", she also sometimes acted as a surrogate mother to Daniel Stripèd Tiger. In a memorable episode from June 7, 1968 (just two days after the Robert F. Kennedy shooting), Daniel asks Lady Aberlin about the word assassination after his balloon deflated.
