Spring Dell Byington

 Spring Dell Byington (October 17, 1886 – September 7, 1971 )

Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a former MGM contract player who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1960s. Byington received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Penelope Sycamore in You Can't Take It with You (1938). During World War II, Byington worked in radio, and decided to continue working in this medium, as her film career began to decline after the war. In 1952, she joined CBS Radio to become the lead role of the widowed Lily Ruskin, in the sitcom December Bride. In 1954, the television company Desilu Productions produced a pilot of the show for a sitcom, also starring Byington. The pilot was successful, and the new hit sitcom aired in its first two seasons immediately following I Love Lucy. December Bride broadcast 111 episodes through 1959. Byington guest-starred as herself in the CBS sitcom Dennis the Menace, starring Jay North, in the episode titled "Dennis Birthday" (1961), with character actor Vaughn Taylor also appearing in this segment. From 1961 to 1963, Byington was cast as the wise, matronly housekeeper, Daisy Cooper, in the NBC Western series Laramie, starring John Smith and Robert Fuller. On Laramie, Daisy serves as a surrogate grandmother to orphaned Mike Williams, played by the child actor Dennis Holmes. On September 7, 1971, Byington died of cancer at her home in the Hollywood Hills. At her request, her body was donated to medical research.