Dorothy Meyer (November 6, 1924 – September 24, 1987) was an American character actress of film and television who made a name for herself portraying wisecracking maids, neighbors, friends, nurses, and church ladies throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
During World War II, Meyer's worked as both a secretary and typist in a steel factory in her native Indiana during the daytime and later started appearing in amateur theatre during nights and her weekends off.
In the early 1950s, she moved to California and began her career modeling, appearing in advertisements for such popular brand names as Maxwell House Coffee, Hallmark Greeting Cards, Westinghouse, Walgreens, Sears Roebuck, and Hersey's Chocolates.
Between 1971 and 1987, she would have 42 credits to her resume, including appearances on such syndicated programs as That's My Mama, Sanford and Son, The Waltons, Starsky & Hutch, The Jeffersons, Lou Grant, Hill Street Blues, Murder, She Wrote, and 227.
[1] Aside from acting, Meyer was also noted as being a staunch liberal Democrat and African American rights activist, who was very supportive of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and spoke on numerous occasions regarding civil liberties in low-income communities.