Supporting Actor: Nancy Walker

 

Nancy Walker (May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992) was an American actress and comedienne of stage, screen, and television. She was also a director. During her five-decade long career, she may be best remembered for her long-running role of Ida Morgenstern, who first appeared on several episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and later became a prominent recurring character on the spinoff series Rhoda.

For those of you who don't already know, this is Aunt Angela!

  

Walker made her stage debut in 1941 in Best Foot Forward. The role provided Walker with her film debut too when she signed a contract to make a film version, starring Lucille Ball, which was filmed in 1943. That same year she appeared in the second film version of Girl Crazy. Her next film was Broadway Rythym, in which she had a featured musical number, "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet".

Her height (4'11") reportedly made her difficult to cast, however her comic talents did garner her a few roles. She was nominated for a Tony Award in 1956 for her work in the musical Phoenix '56 and again in 1960 for her performance in the hit musical Do Re Mi.

Her appearances in musicals led to several record releases. One such release, I Hate Men (1959), has been identified as having one of the worst album covers of all time

Dozens of television roles followed, providing her with steady work. Her career spanned five decades, and her work includes: The Carol Burnett Show, Family Affair, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, McMillan and Wife, The Nancy Walker Show, Alice, The Golden Girls and True Colors. Walker also occasionally worked as a director as well, mostly for television, but she did direct one major motion film, Can't Stop the Music, which was a huge failure but now has a cult following.

Nancy Walker and her second husband, musical theater teacher David Craig, had a daughter, Miranda. David died in 1998, aged 75, from lung cancer. Miranda Craig was an advertising copywriter; she died in 2000, aged 47. Nancy also died from lung cancer on March 25, 1992, aged 69.  Her ashes were scattered in the Virgin Islands.