Nancy Walker

 Nancy Walker (May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992)

Nancy was an actress and comedienne of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director (most notably of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, on which she made several guest appearances). During her five-decade long career, she may be best remembered for her long-running role of Ida Morgenstern, who first appeared on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and later on the spinoff series Rhoda. She made her Broadway debut in 1941 in Best Foot Forward. The role provided Walker with her film debut when she signed a contract with M-G-M to make a movie version, starring Lucille Ball (filmed in 1943). In 1943, she also appeared with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in the second film version of Girl Crazy. Her next film, Broadway Rhythm, in which she had a featured musical number backed by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet", ended Walker's contract with Metro. Her dry comic delivery enabled her to continue acting throughout the 1940s and 1950s, originating the roles of Hildy Eszterhazy ("I Can Cook, Too!") in On the Town (1944) and Lily Malloy in Look Ma, I'm Dancin'! (1948) on Broadway. She was nominated for a Tony Award in 1956 for her work in the musical revue Phoenix '55, and again in 1960 for her performance in Do Re Mi, opposite Phil Silvers. Among her final guest appearances in a television series was the recurring role of "Aunt Angela", Sophia Petrillo's (Estelle Getty) widowed sister, on The Golden Girls, for which she received an Emmy Award nomination. She died of lung cancer in 1992 at age 69, and was cremated.