Beth Howland was an actress best known for the role of Vera, the naive waitress in the long-running comedy series Alice.

Based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, the series, which aired on CBS from 1976 to 1985, starred Linda Lavin in the title role as a waitress at a Phoenix diner.

Born in Boston, Howland moved to New York to pursue an acting career shortly after graduating from high school. She racked up numerous theater credits, including Once Upon a Mattress, Bye Bye Birdie, Li'l Abner and the original Broadway production of Company, in which she played Amy and sang the song "Getting Married Today."

She later moved to Los Angeles, where she found steady work in television, including episodes of such programs as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Rookies and Love, American Style.

After Alice, for which Howland earned four Golden Globe nominations, she appeared in several other shows, including Eight Is Enough, Little House on the Prairie and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.

Howland died December 31, 2015, in Santa Monica, California. She was 74.