Career
Best known for her role as the raspy-voiced bailiff Florence Kleiner on the sitcom Night Court, Halop was the sister of Billy Halop, one of the original Dead End/East Side Kids. Born in Jamaica, New York, Halop had a long career on radio and transitioned to television in the early 1950s with a role in the series Meet Millie. After the series ended in 1956, Halop guest starred on various television series during the late 1950s and 1960s including roles in Playhouse 90, Going My Way, and I Spy.
Between 1976 and 1982, she played six different characters on the television series Barney Miller.
In 1984, she had a guest stint on Saint Elsewhere. Halop’s character, Mistress
Hufnagel, was originally intended to be a one-episode spot, but her role was so well received the writers found a way to get her into 15 more episodes over the course of the season. In 1985, Halop succeeded Selma Diamond as a bailiff on Night Court after Diamond"s death from lung cancer.
Halop herself also developed lung cancer and died during the series run.
She was replaced on Night Court by Marsha Warfield, who played Roz Russell until the series ended in 1992. Halop was married to George Gruskin, who died in 1976. They were the parents of two daughters, Georgeanna and Benita.
She is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.