The Life of Jan Miner: A.K.A. “Madge,” the Palmolive TV Lady
She was born Janice Miner on October 15, 1917, in Boston, MA, and she died of natural causes on February 15, 2004, in Bethel, Connecticut. She was an actress best known as “Madge,” the manicurist in Palmolive TV commercials. Her stage name was Jan Miner, and this is her story.
A Closer Look
“You’re soaking in it right now.”
Such is the famous phrase made popular by Jan Miner as Madge, an actress and her character who became a television legend to millions of viewers who watched her Palmolive Dishwashing Detergent commercials. Miner played the part for 27 years, one of the longest ongoing product endorsement associations in television history.
Minor appeared in various foreign-language Palmolive commercials around the world, in French, German, Danish, and Italian.
But what many do not know is that Miner co-starred as Mary Wesley on the syndicated radio show Boston Blackie from 1945–1949. She was also a revered performer on the New York stage, especially respected for her Shakespearean performances. For example, in 1972, the actress spent the summer as a featured player at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut.
Two years later, she portrayed Lenny Bruce’s mother, Sally Marr, in the feature film…
