Betty Harford, television actress best known for her roles on the ABC soap opera Dynasty and the CBS/Showtime serialized adaptation of The paper huntdied at the age of 98.
Her death was confirmed by her friend Wendy Mitchell, who wrote on Facebook that Harford “passed away peacefully with her family by her side, at noon on November 2, 2025.”
In The paper hunt — based on John Jay Osborn Jr.’s 1971 novel and the subsequent 1973 film adaptation starring John Houseman (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor) — Harford portrayed the extremely efficient legal secretary, Mrs. Nottingham, to longtime law professor Charles W. Kingsfield, the role Houseman originated and which he reprized in the series. The show, which followed the lives of law students like Principal James T. Hart (James Stephens) at a fictional Harvard-inspired university, first aired on CBS from 1978 to 1979 before being canceled and then resurrected by Showtime for three additional seasons in 1983, culminating with James’ graduation from law school.
Harford later had a recurring role as Hilda Gunnerson on Sudser. Dynastywhich followed the rivalries between two warring oil-rich families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, in Denver, Colorado. Ms. Gunnerson worked as a staff member/chef for John Forsythe’s Blake Carrington in 34 episodes of the primetime soap, reprising her role for the 1991 reunion miniseries.
In addition to his most notable performances, Harford has recorded credits in series such as Alfred Hitchcock presents (and its sequel The Alfred Hitchcock Hour), Gun smoke, Dr Kildare, The Twilight Zone And The Great Valley.
On the cinema side, Harford appeared in 1959. The wild and the innocent as Mrs. Forbes, who cared for Sandra Dee’s Rosalie Stocker, and as the sister of Natalie Wood’s title character in 1965 Inside Daisy Clover.
Harford has recorded several collaborations with director James Bridges (who directed both The paper hunt film and later developed the series), appearing in a 1963 episode of The great adventure written by the two-time Academy Award-nominated scribe-director, who played a nurse in his 1977 film September 30, 1955 and featured in his 1979 action thriller The Chinese syndrome.
She was also a member of the UCLA Theater Group in the 1960s, supported by Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint.
