The madcap life of eccentric Mame Dennis and her bohemian, intellectual arty clique is disrupted when her deceased brother's 10-year-old son Patrick is entrusted to her care. Rather than bow to convention, Mame introduces the boy to her free-wheeling lifestyle, instilling in him her favorite credo, "Life is a banquet, and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death."

Lucille Ball
as Mame Dennis

Bea Arthur
as Vera Charles

Robert Preston
as Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside

Bruce Davison
as Patrick as an adult

Kirby Furlong
as Patrick as a boy

Jane Connell
as Agnes Gooch

George Chiang
as Ito

Joyce Van Patten
as Sally Cato

Doria Cook-Nelson
as Gloria Upson

Don Porter
as Mr. Upson