Nancy Walker

Nancy Walker (May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992) was an American actress and comedian of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director (most notably of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, on which she also made several guest appearances). During her five-decade long career, she may be best remembered for her long-running roles as Mildred on McMillan & Wife and 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. 2Early life Walker was born in 1922 as Anna Myrtle Swoyer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the elder of two daughters of vaudevillian Dewey Barto (né Stewart Steven Swoyer; 1896–1973) and Myrtle (née Lawler; born January 6, 1898–died January 2, 1931). Walker and her father both stood 4'11" (1.50 m). Her younger sister, Betty Lou (1930-2003?), also had a musical career. The sisters were raised "in a trunk" by their father, a vaudeville entertainer with George Mann in the comedic and acrobatic dance act, Barto and Mann. 2Acting career In 1937, as "Nan Barto", Walker appeared on the NBC radio programs Coast to Coast On A Bus and Our Barn. 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 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to make a movie version, starring Lucille Ball (filmed in 1943